What every system administrator should know about managing a BizTalk Server environment.

1. BizTalk Server
Administration
What Every
System Administrator
Should Know
Daniel Toomey
presenter

2. What Is BizTalk Server?
• Systems Integration Platform
• Multi-Server Product
• SQL Server Backend
• Multiple Configuration Points
• Multiple Components:
– Orchestrations
– Pipelines / Adapters
– Rules Engine
– BAM
– etc

3. System Implications
• BizTalk is not “install and forget” platform
software
• Solutions require regular attention &
maintenance:
– Performance monitoring
– Database tuning
– Backups
• Administrator Knowledge / Training
• DBA Expertise

4. Database Considerations
• SQL Server Agent Jobs
• Auto Update / Auto Create Statistics
– BizTalkMsgBoxDb – turned off by default
• Max Degree of Parallelism
– Set to “1” on the SQL Server
• BizTalk Database Auto-growth Settings
– Default (1MB, 10% log files) is not sufficient;
should be at least 100 MB)
• Disc redundancy / file locations

5. SQL Server Agent Jobs
• Backup BizTalk Server job
– Not enabled by default; requires configuration
• DTA Purge and Archive
– Not enabled by default; requires configuration
• MessageBox_Message_Cleanup_BizTalk
MsgBoxDb
– Should not be scheduled

6. Name of Job Description
MessageBox_Message_Cleanup_BizTalkMsgBoxDb This job removes all messages that are no longer being referenced
by any subscribers in the BizTalk MessageBox database tables. This
is an unscheduled job and is automatically started by the
ManageRefCountLog job.
MessageBox_Message_ManageRefCountLog_ This job manages the reference count logs for messages and
BizTalkMsgBoxDb determines when a message is no longer referenced by any
subscriber.
MessageBox_Parts_Cleanup_BizTalkMsgBoxDb Removes all message parts that are no longer being referenced by
any messages. All messages are made up of one or more message
parts, which contain the actual message data.
PurgeSubscriptionsJob_BizTalkMsgBoxDb Removes unused subscription predicates left over from things like
correlation subscriptions.
MessageBox_DeadProcesses_Cleanup_ Called when BizTalk detects that a BTS server has crashed and
BizTalkMsgBoxDb releases the work that that server was working on so another
machine can pick that work up.
TrackedMessages_Copy_BizTalkMsgBoxDb Copies tracked message bodies from the Message Box database
into the DTA (tracking) database.
MessageBox_UpdateStats_BizTalkMsgBoxDb This job manually updates the statistics for the BizTalk
MessageBox (BizTalkMsgboxDb) database.
Rules_Database_Cleanup_BizTalkRuleEngineDb This job automatically purges old audit data from the Rule Engine
(BizTalkRuleEngineDb) database every 90 days. This job also
purges old history data (deploy/undeploy notifications) from the
Rule Engine (BizTalkRuleEngineDb) database every 3 days.
Backup BizTalk Server (BizTalkMsgboxDb) This job performs full database and log backups of the BizTalk
Server databases.
DTA Purge and Archive (BizTalkDTADb) This job automatically archives data in the BizTalk Tracking
(BizTalkDTADb) database and purges obsolete data.

7. “Get the Message??”
• Monitoring message flow / suspended
instances
• Tracking vs. “actual” data
• Checking the message queues

8. Performance
• Network Health
• Tracking overkill
• Dedicated Tracking Host Instance
• Unnecessary artefacts
• Correct use of pipelines
• Cache refresh interval
• Perfmon filters

9. Security
• Users / Groups privileges
– Domain Groups/Account for Production
– Membership in SharePoint, etc
• MS DTC Settings
– Both on SQL Server & BizTalk Server
• Host Separation

10. Environment
• Latest Service Packs / Hotfixes
• High Availability
• Time Synchronisation
• Network Health

11. SCOM
• Microsoft Systems Center Operations
Manager
– Monitors system event log
• BizTalk Management Pack f/SCOM
– Monitors suspended instances/messages
– Alerts for performance counters (e.g. Host
Q or Message Box Q size)
– Transition to BizTalk Admin Console

12. Summary
• Adding BizTalk to your organisation is a
major step
– Developer proficiency
– Administrator proficiency
• Requires a mature enterprise
environment & infrastructure
• Impact to database system
• Appropriate monitoring tools / practices

13. Tools & Utilities
• BizTalk Server Best Practices Analyzer
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=93d432fe-
1370-4b6d-aaa8-a0c43c30f5ab&displaylang=en
• Message Box Viewer
http://blogs.technet.com/jpierauc/pages/msgboxviewer.aspx
• System Center Operations Manager 2007
http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/opsmgr/default.mspx
• Microsoft BizTalk Server Management Pack for Operations
Manager 2007
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=389FCB8
9-F4CF-46D7-BC6E-
57830D234F91&displaylang=en&displaylang=en
• Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) Tool
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=F32921A
F-9DBE-4DCE-889E-ECF997EB18E9&displaylang=en

14. References
• Maintaining BizTalk Server Databases
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/cc296892%28BTS.10%29.aspx
• How to Configure the Backup BizTalk Server Job
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa546765.aspx
• How to Configure the Destination System for Log Shipping
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa560961.aspx
• Windows Group and User Accounts in BizTalk Server
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/aa577661%28BTS.10%29.aspx
• How to troubleshoot network connectivity problems
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325487
• Configuring Tracking Using the BizTalk Server Administration
Console
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa559964.aspx
•

15. Training
• QuickLearn: BizTalk for Administrators
http://www.quicklearn.com/class_BizTalk_
for_Administrators.aspx
• Microsoft Learning: BizTalk for IT
Professionals
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/c
ourse.aspx?ID=2955C&locale=en-us
•

16. Need More Help?
Enterprise Integration Specialists
www.mexia.com.au

17. Questions?