I have some old personal notes that say to use CGI if there is more than one Cognos on the same server. Is this true? We have multiple instances of COgnos on the same server and we are having performance issues and could love to change the dispatchers to ISAPI. We use Cognos 11.0.9 and 11.0.13.


ALso, where would I find the steps for setting up the dispatcher for multiple instance? Found something about for multiple instances make sure the pool has an alias? something like that but cannot find the reference again. 

Found these links, but not sure if they are still current.

Use the ISAPI gateway on Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) version 7 or 8

Converting a working Controller environment/system from using CGI to using ISAPI

Configure Microsoft Internet Information Services 7.x for IBM Cognos 10




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brenda grossnickle
BI Programmer Analyst
FIS
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#CognosAnalyticswithWatson

Hello Brenda,
Cognos Analytics doesn't use ISAPI or CGI in the way that Cognos BI did. With older BI installations yes you could have a web server entry point with the same alias for CGI and ISAPI. 
But you don't need that any more. In fact, with Cognos Analytics you only need a gateway installation on a web server if you want to have a seamless signon type experience. 
If you don't need a web server, then just hit the http://<servername>:<uniqueportnumber>/bi website.

You can have multiple installations of Cognos Analytics on one server just by ensuring that the port numbers are different on each install.  Documentation here:  https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSEP7J_11.1.0/com.ibm.swg.ba.cognos.inst_cr_winux.doc/c_runningreportnetandcognosseries8.html

If you do want a webserver to perform the SSO type function, then all you need to do is configure each with a different alias. IBM Cognos Analytics includes a batch file that makes configuration of Internet Information Services (IIS) a breeze (including alias name). If you look at the parameters in the batch file you can see where you can set an alias and point it at your dispatcher(s). A handy document here: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/automate-configuration-microsofts-internet-information-service-support-ibm-cognos-analytics

Your message indicates you have some "performance" problems. You can bypass the gateway and test to see if it is really related to the web server. It is unlikely to be a bottleneck. Check your application servers to see what resources they have and check the application itself to see if you have any queueing. 

Here is a good tip on HTTP2 to help with dashboards: https://community.ibm.com/community/user/businessanalytics/blogs/jason-tavoularis1/2020/02/18/faster-dashboards-with-http2  

Hope this helps you out. 

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Luke Peterson
Business Analytics Advocate
IBM
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