The Vector client-server architecture allows multiple users access to databases through connections to one or more DBMS Server processes. The DBMS Server (iidbms) is a multi-threaded daemon process that performs asynchronous disk input and output. The number of users connected to a server is limited by hardware or the operating system.

Since it is unlikely that the default DBMS server configuration suits all users' requirements, the DBMS Server is usually configured to improve performance in a configuration. For a selected DBMS server definition, its buffer caches can be configured as well as other parameters and derived parameters.

The X100 Engine uses its own configuration file called vectorwise.conf, which configures memory, the X100 server, system, buffer manager, and engine.

Important parameters include:

For details, see X100 Configuration File (vectorwise.conf) on page 61.

Data Access Server parameters include the maximum number of inbound sessions, client connections, connection pooling, pooling timeouts, network port, listen address, and protocol status. Configuration of the Data Access Server is done at installation and rarely requires reconfiguration.

For additional information on the Data Access Server’s role in Vector connectivity, see the Connectivity Guide.

Communications Server parameters include the encryption mode, encryption mechanism, logging level, registry type, number of inbound and outbound sessions, and the logging and error levels. Configuration of the Communications Server is done at installation and rarely requires reconfiguration. However, changes to a protocol or the listen address are needed. For information on the Communications Server’s role in Vector connectivity, see the Connectivity Guide.

The Bridge Server parameters include the number of inbound sessions, the enabling of specific protocols, and a listen address.

The Name Server parameters include the time interval for checking for active servers, and session limits. The Name Server rarely needs to be reconfigured.

The configurable Recovery Server system parameters include connection limits, consistency points, events, gather write algorithms, server name, thread count, Name Server registration and stack memory allocation.

You can set a variety of parameters for the Security component, including options, system parameters, security mechanisms, derived parameters, audit log file specifications, and auditing derived parameters.

Configuration of this component is required to enable security auditing and to change specifications for the audit log, which is set up during installation.

A Vector instance can be set up to comply with the C2 security standard of the National Computer Security Council (NCSC). Level C2 security requires individual log-on with password and an audit mechanism.

Vector authenticates users through the operating system account and password together with a corresponding user object definition in Vector, or through DBMS authentication. Additional passwords can also be set on users and roles.

By default, Vector uses the Ingres security mechanism (security_mechanism parameter). The Kerberos authentication mechanism can be used as an alternative to the Ingres security mechanism. Also, multiple mechanisms can be enabled concurrently. For details on using Kerberos, see the Security Guide.

Reconfiguration of the locking system is sometimes required. You can set the default locking level (system_lock_level) and the maximum number of locks that can be obtained per transaction (system_maxlocks). These parameters are located under the DBMS Server component. The locking parameters are installation-wide.

On Linux systems, shared memory is used as a resource during lock control. The shared memory used by your installation is configured in the operating system when the Linux kernel is configured.

Configurable parameters for the transaction log files include: transfer block size, buffer count, full limit, logging memory status, location, name, and number of partitions.

For more details on the logging system, see the User Guide.

Vector allows both the primary and dual transaction log files to exist on multiple devices (up to 16). Vector improves logging system performance by allowing it to write to multiple disk devices and, on 32-bit file systems, allowing the total log file size to be greater than 2 GB.

You can configure multiple log partitions using the log_file_parts parameter. When configuring multiple log partitions, keep the following in mind:

For instructions on configuring multiple log partitions, see the following topic in Configuration Manager online help:

If the Vector installation is running, configurable information on the primary and dual transaction log files is read‑only. If Vector is not running, and no recovery is required from a system failure, various operations are allowed, including editing the log file name, setting the log size per file, and adding, modifying or deleting locations for the primary and dual transaction log files.

For instructions on configuring transaction log parameters, see the following topic in Configuration Manager online help:

The following components cannot be configured.

If the visual tools are available for your system, you can use the History of Changes page in Configuration Manager to view a list of all the changes to parameters that have been made by Configuration Manager or the Configuration-By-Forms utility. Changes are listed beginning with the least recent. Each “CHANGE” line is followed by a list of all modified parameters that were derived because of the user change. Pressing F3 or Ctrl+F in Configuration Manager displays a Find dialog for searching for text.