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Optimizations for Performance

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To optimize your Visual SourceSafe database for performance, you should consider taking the following steps:

  • Use write caching.

  • Place limitations on virus checkers.

  • Limit database size.

  • Locate databases for maximum performance.

  • Use the ANALYZE utility to find and repair database problems. See ANALYZE Utility.

  • Optimize command speed.

Using Write Caching

To improve database performance, you can enable write caching for block writes.

Limiting Virus Checkers

If your database must support large branching operations, you should be aware that virus checkers degrade performance, as they must perform many database accesses.

Limiting Database Size

Under normal use, a Visual SourceSafe database should not exceed 3 to 5 GB. Performance is degraded for large databases, which take longer to perform normal operations and maintenance tasks, such as running the ANALYZE utility. Be sure to take all measures to limit the size of the databases for your team environment. See How to: Reduce the Size of a Database.

Locating Your Databases to Maximize Performance

Although you can store databases on any Windows-compatible file server, database performance is best on Windows NT. Network operations are generally faster. In addition, in the server-based Windows environment you can run ANALYZE and other highly intensive file I/O operations directly on the server, which can greatly decrease execution time.

Using ANALYZE

To ensure optimal performance, use the ANALYZE utility to detect and repair problems in the database structure. When you run ANALYZE regularly, especially in high-use situations, you can discover small problems and fix them before they become worse. Microsoft occasionally updates ANALYZE to improve performance. For more about the use of ANALYZE, see How to: Find and Repair Data Corruption.

Optimizing Command Speed

To optimize the speed of Visual SourceSafe commands, you can disable any of the following using the SourceSafe Options dialog box: shadow folders, journal files, project rights, keyword expansion.

You can also change the Compare files by setting in the Local Files tab of the SourceSafe Options dialog box. This setting determines if you already have the latest copy of a file in your working folder. The Time option sometimes does not behave as you expect when you try to get earlier versions. A solution is to occasionally delete your local copy to force a get operation to occur.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Find and Repair Data Corruption
How to: Reduce the Size of a Database

Reference

ANALYZE Utility
SourceSafe Options Dialog Box, Local Files Tab (Explorer and Plug-in)