ODBC Data Source Won't Recover from Connection Errors

Question

I have several ODBC data sources to a mainframe and want to
use the "Maintain Connections" setting as it dramatically improves
performance under heavy load. Problem is that we frequently have
path problems between the CF server and the mainframe 180 miles
away. With the Maintain Connections checked, the data source
doesn't consistently start working again after the path problem
clears up. The path problem usually only lasts a minute or two, but
SOME queries through the affected data sources continue to raise
errors until the ODBC Service is cycled. The SOME aspect is really
weird because not every hit through that data source reports an
error after the path comes back up. I've had side-by-side users hit
the same page using that DS and one consistently get's an error and
the other works fine. Restarting the ODBC service clears the
problem so it works fine for everybody. Of course that breaks all
the connections that were still working so I just affected a bunch
more users. Silver lining there is that at least nobody can claim
preferential treatment right. It's also kind of bizzare that I can
use the CF Administrator to verify all data sources and they
usually all report that they are working fine even while some
connections are still reporting problems.
The specific ODBC drivers we are using are Neon Shadow
Drivers (Multi Threaded). I'm thinking about using the Admin API to
hit the Disable Connections and then re-enable it.
Any constructive, tactful input for addressing this problem
would be appreciated.

Answer 1

spikehenning wrote:
> I have several ODBC data sources to a mainframe and want
to use the "Maintain
> Connections" setting as it dramatically improves
performance under heavy load.
> Problem is that we frequently have path problems between
the CF server and the
> mainframe 180 miles away. With the Maintain Connections
checked, the data
> source doesn't consistently start working again after
the path problem clears
> up. The path problem usually only lasts a minute or two,
but SOME queries
> through the affected data sources continue to raise
errors until the ODBC
> Service is cycled. The SOME aspect is really weird
because not every hit
> through that data source reports an error after the path
comes back up. I've
> had side-by-side users hit the same page using that DS
and one consistently
> get's an error and the other works fine. Restarting the
ODBC service clears the
> problem so it works fine for everybody. Of course that
breaks all the
> connections that were still working so I just affected a
bunch more users.
> Silver lining there is that at least nobody can claim
preferential treatment
> right. It's also kind of bizzare that I can use the CF
Administrator to verify
> all data sources and they usually all report that they
are working fine even
> while some connections are still reporting problems.
>
> The specific ODBC drivers we are using are Neon Shadow
Drivers (Multi
> Threaded). I'm thinking about using the Admin API to hit
the Disable
> Connections and then re-enable it.
Do you have a JDBC Type 4 alternative for these drivers? I
got rid of
all my datasource problems long ago when I got rid of ODBC
altogether.
Jochem
Jochem van Dieten
Adobe Community Expert for ColdFusion