Manage Application Pool Recycling in IIS7
If you manage a website that is hosted with the latest Windows Server 2008 and IIS7 you probably want to be aware of the Application Pool settings in general, and in particular the Application Pool Recycle settings. As it turns out, by default, Windows Server 2008 sets the Application Pool to recycle every 1740 minutes. Which is exactly 29 hours or one full day and 5 hours or the number of lattes I had in the winter. All kidding aside, this number is a bit random, especially because it determines when the website’s application pool will recycle and the website will need to recompile, recache, etc. Here is a screenshot:
Instead, what I recommend is that you uncheck the regular time intervals checkbox and use the Specific time one. I chose here 2:00 AM because it is when the site sees the lowest numbers of hits and it is the best time to handle a recycle. You should setup your webserver to recycle when your site is experiencing the lowest traffic levels. So, you’ll probably need to dig into the analytics a bit. Here is a screenshot of how I setup my server:
Pros:
- Recycles during off peak hours
- You actually control when it recycles
- Typically a performance boost on average
Cons:
The application will now recycle every 24 hours, instead of 29 hours. In fact, if you are certain that your website has no major problems and no memory leaks you can potentially set the application pool to not recycle automatically at all. This state needs to be monitored but may result in a longer smooth ride. Enjoy!
Most Commected Posts
.NET Framework, Performance Optimization, Web Application Hosting
