Optmization in Alteryx
Optmization in Alteryx
in Alteryx
The Sort/Join memory setting is not a maximum memory usage setting; it’s more
like a minimum, this allocated memory will be split between all the tools that sort in
your workflow, but other tools will still use memory outside that sort/join block, some
of them (e.g. drive times with a long maximum time) can use a lot.
The global Default Dedicated Sort/Join Memory Usage at System level can be
found at Alteryx > Options > Advanced Options > System Settings > Engine >
Default sort/join memory usage (MB)
To set a user level default dedicated Sort/Join Memory Usage, go to Options >
User Settings > Edit User Settings > Defaults tab
1. Memory Settings
32-bit machines:
Setting should be on the lower, conservative side No matter how much actual RAM
is there, only has at maximum 1 GB available, as soon as it is set higher,
the machine will cross over into virtual memory and be unable to recover.
A 32-bit machine should never have a setting over 1000MB, and 512 is a good
setting. Set it low (128 MB), especially when using Adobe products simultaneously
with Alteryx.
Important Message on Alteryx Analytics Support for 32-Bit Windows Systems
64-bit machines:
Set this in the system settings to half your physical memory divided by the number
of simultaneous processes you expect to run If you have 8 GB of RAM and run 2
processes at a time, your Sort/Join memory should be set to 2GB. You might set it
lower if you expect to be doing a lot of memory intensive processes on the machine
besides Alteryx.
3. Run Alteryx at a lower priority: This will ensure that the Alteryx Engine runs at a
lower priority than all the other applications running on the same machine. By doing
so, even the Alteryx GUI will remain responsive when you are running a large
Workflow in the background. This is an especially good idea for a shared server.
Alteryx > Options > Advanced Options > System Settings > Engine
4. Shared Servers: For a shared server, the system owner/IT person should set
the memory to no more than (total memory-2GB)/(Number of Users). This way if all
the users are running Workflows at the same time the system won’t go into virtual
memory, which really slows things down.
5. Web Servers: When running Alteryx on a web server, you really want to set
the memory to the minimum possible without impacting the performance too
much. We recommend trying a system memory setting of 64MB and then
increasing the memory on a per Workflow basis as needed. It is important to note
that the user setting for memory usually has no impact since the web service
typically runs as a separate system user. Make sure to use the system settings.
Another good way to optimize workflow performance is using the Filter tool to remove
unnecessary data. The Filter tool queries records in your file that meet specified criteria and
identifies these records in your data, such as ZIP = 01001. You may choose to handle
records that come from the True output differently than the False output by connecting
additional tools to the workflow on either side. This will allow smaller amounts of data being
passed downstream.
Assign most efficient data types with the AutoField
Tool
Optimize your workflow for speed by setting the field type to the smallest possible size and
most efficient field type. String fields with a big size can be costly and carrying that through
your workflow will slow it down. Use the AutoField tool right after your Input Data tool to
assign the most efficient type and size to your fields.
Below the data types before and after the AutoField tool.
Another benefit of using the AutoField tool is that it will reduce the size of your output file.
Speed up Processing
1- Undo Levels. You can undo or CTRL+Z by default 25 times. In order to undo these many times
data needs to be stored in memory.
You can decrease the Undo Levels if you need to save memory and improve performance.
2- Disable Auto Configure. This option will stop the metadata from being loaded every time you add
a new tool while developing a workflow, thus press F5 to load the metadata only when needed.
3- Autosave interval in Minutes. By default, the designer saves a version of the workflow every 10
minutes. If for some reason you think you lost your work there is this very handy options to save
your skin. However, it can also make use of processing power when you do not expect. You may
want to increase the autosave interval and improve performance too.
4- Tool Results Settings. It is about that little anchor next to most tools that shows results just like a
Have you ever wondered why exactly your workflow is taking so long? Is it the input or a
join that seems to take forever? Performance profiling can answer those questions for you.
It will tell you how long each tool took to process and how much of the overall processing
time was allocated to that specific tool. Simply check the box in the Runtime tab
under Workflow – Configuration and then analyze the Results - Workflow - Messages.