Question & Answer
Question
How should the MAX-AGE mechanism be implemented to improve network performance high network latency
Cause
Minimal documentation
If a client pings the Maximo application server and has a round trip time higher than 50 milliseconds, user may experience slow screen refreshes and perceived poor performance from the Maximo application.
Answer
IBM Maximo Asset Management implements an HTTP filter that can be used to modify expiration date of objects stored in each client browser cache. Local objects are stored in the client browser cache for the time period specified by the MAX-AGE setting in the file:
<maximo_root>/applications/maximo/maximouiweb/webmodule/WEB-INF/web.xml
<filter>
<filter-name>HttpMaxAgeFilter</filter-name>
<filter-class>psdi.webclient.system.filter.HttpMaxAgeFilter</filter-class>
<init-param>
<param-name>Cache-Control</param-name>
<param-value>max-age=2764800</param-value>
</init-param>
<init-param>
<param-name>Pragma</param-name>
<param-value>max-age=2764800</param-value>
</init-param>
</filter>
MAX-AGE is a parameter created by the Maximo development team to provide a value for the expiration of browser cached objects. The default value for this parameter is 3600 (measured in seconds), or one hour. One hour after an object is transferred from the web application server to the browser client, it will need to be transferred again. In high latency networks, the more often an object must be transferred, the more often the client will wait for that transfer to complete. In some cases, IBM Support has recommended setting this value to 86400, or one day.
There are positive and negative features when configuring this setting such as this. The positive results of setting a high value is improved response time in high latency environments. The negative results are that changes in pages will not be realized by cached users until the cache expires or is manually cleared. This negative may be more prevalent in the developmental and implementation stages of Maximo.
Manually clearing the cache by browser:
Microsoft Internet Explorer
- Select Tools (via the Gear Icon) > Safety > Delete browsing history....
- NOTE: You can also access this menu by holding Ctrl + Shift + Delete.
- Uncheck Preserve Favorites website data and check both Temporary Internet Files and Cookies then click Delete.
- You will get a confirmation at the bottom of the window once it has successfully cleared your cache and cookies.
Mozilla Firefox
- From the 'Hamburger' menu, select Options.
- On the left, click on Advanced
- Select Network from the item bar.
- Under Cached Web content, click on the Clear Now button. You may have to do this several times to get it to 0.
- On the left, click on Privacy
- You may want to clear your recent history, or remove some or all cookies.
Apple Safari (Mac only)
- Click Safari in the upper left hand side of your screen.
- In the menu that appears, click Preferences.
- In the window that appears, click the Privacy tab.
- Click the button Remove All Website Data....
- Click Remove Now in the pop up window that appears.
Microsoft Edge
- Click the Hub icon.
- Click the History icon.
- Click the link labeled Clear all history.
- Check the boxes for each item you want to clear.
- Click the Clear button.
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Document Information
Modified date:
13 April 2021
UID
swg21292557