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Configuring your reporting requirements can be challenging in environments with limited hardware and CPU power, where it is necessary to retain the ability to handle concurrent user load on applications alongside real time reporting requirements. Running large and complex reports in real time could adversely affect IRIS application performance, this can be particularly apparent in larger practices with many users and large mature databases.
There are a number of ways in which Practice Reporting Reports can be run, to support your business needs. Simple reports can be run in real time against the application system, concurrently with your business users. For more complex reports they can either be scheduled to run overnight, or in real-time from a replicated copy of your application database.
It is important that you understand how your reports will be used, whether they need to be delivered in real time, or periodically. Depending on these needs, you will be able to select the best deployment approach for your reports.
Microsoft SQL Server offers a number of different services and configurations that you should consider when deploying your reports. For more information on the different editions of Microsoft SQL Server and the features included please visit: https://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2008/en/us/editions-compare.aspx
The IRIS Professional Services team can assist you with all of the following services and configurations:
Database replication is a technology that can copy and distribute data from one database to another and then synchronisation is performed between the databases in real time to maintain consistency. Replication can effectively create a copy of your IRIS database, the copy encompasses real time transactions posted by the IRIS applications which provides two significant advantages over a traditional single database environment.
There are a number of different ways in which Microsoft SQL Server can replicate your IRIS database:
Snapshot publication - the Publisher (IRIS application database) sends a snapshot of the published data to Subscribers (reporting database) at scheduled intervals.
Transactional publication - the Publisher streams transactions to the Subscribers after they receive an initial snapshot of the published data.
Transactional publication with updatable subscriptions - the Publisher streams transactions to SQL Server Subscribers after they receive an initial snapshot of the published data. Transactions originating at the Subscriber are applied at the Publisher.
Merge publication - the Publisher and Subscribers can update the published data independently after the Subscribers receive an initial snapshot of the published data. Changes are merged periodically. Microsoft SQL Server Compact Edition can only subscribe to merge publications.
Replicating your IRIS database to an additional server you will remove
the processing load generated by users that run frequent and large reports
away from IRIS application database server. Running a reporting
server with database replication will significantly improve reporting
performance without an adverse effect on the IRIS Practice Software.
A by-product of creating a reporting server through data replication is data redundancy. Should the unfortunate circumstance arise where your SQL database server fail you have a real time backup and IRIS can be quickly re-configured to use the reporting server instead without loss of data and long periods of down time.
Reporting caching is a performance enhancement that can shorten
the time taken to retrieve a report for your users for large and frequently
used reports. SQL Reporting Services can cache a copy of a report
and return the copy to users when they wish to view the report. Reports
can be preloaded to the reporting services cache a predetermined times,
for example overnight, to increase server performance.
A report snapshot is a report that contains data that was retrieved at a predetermined point in time; for example in the evening and therefore creating report snapshots prevents reports being run at times that might effect other people using the IRIS applications. Report snapshots are saved in the report server database, it is possible to configure Microsoft Reporting Services to create a report history of all report snapshots taken.
Reports that contain prompts for user credentials or use Windows authentication can not be configured to run as a snapshot. Reports that contain parameters must have a default parameter specified, unlike real time reports it is not possible to change the default parameter as that would require a new report processing request which is not permitted for snapshot reports.
It is possible to create a linked report by cloning in Microsoft Reporting
Services and then apply different default parameters to the linked report
by doing this in conjunction with report history it is possible to retain
reports at set periods of time; for weekly or monthly KPI reporting purposes.
Using Report Subscriptions you can subscribe users to receive copies of reports via file delivery to a folder share on network or via email. Reports delivered via email can either be embedded into the email or sent as an attachment in various formats (PDF, spreadsheet and so on), subscribed reports can have the report parameters can passed into them.
More information about Reporting Services is available here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms159106.aspx