Compiling Large ASP Pages Can Take 100% of CPU Time (193831)

We strongly recommend that all users upgrade to Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) version 6.0 running on Microsoft Windows Server 2003. IIS 6.0 significantly increases Web infrastructure security. For more information about IIS security-related topics, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/prodtech/IIS.mspx

SYMPTOMS

When an ASP file is requested for the first time, it must be compiled. Normally, this will only last a short time. However, if the ASP and associated include files are large, Internet Information Server (IIS) can stay at 100 percent CPU usage, which prevents the server from servicing client requests.

CAUSE

ASP is a run-time interpreted environment designed for small files. Each script block in the ASP file is parsed separately. Processing these blocks is CPU intensive, especially when there are hundreds of disparate script blocks.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows NT 4.0 or Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

152734 How to Obtain the Latest Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, design the ASP to use a single script block instead of individual blocks. For example:

takes longer to compile than:

<%
Response.Write ("<html tag> some text </html tag> " & variableName)
Response.Write ("<html tag> some text </html tag> " &
CallToFunction(param1, param2))
%>

Multiple records can be displayed using ADO and a query loop. This reduces the amount of redundant script blocks and make the compile much faster.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Internet Information Server version 4.0. This problem was first corrected in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition Service Pack 4.