Configuring Visio Graphics Services SharePoint 2013

As you know, like Excel Services, the Visio Graphics Service service application is an interactive reporting solution rather than a shared or multiuser version of Visio 2013. This service enables users to render Visio 2010 Professional, Visio 2010 Premium and Visio Professional 2013 files onto a Web browser in the Visio Web Access Web Part. This means that the users, including mobile device users, do not need Visio 2013 or the Visio Viewer installed to view Visio diagrams. These drawings must be created in Visio 2010 or Visio 2013 and then published to the Visio Graphics Service. Visio diagrams are stored in a Document Library, from which they can be rendered by the Visio Graphics Service. You can secure these diagrams in the same way that you would secure other files in SharePoint 2013.

New Features in Visio Services for SharePoint 2013

There are four new Visio Graphics Service features available in SharePoint 2013, that primarily focus on improving rendering performance:

• Maximum Cache Size: This is a new service parameter that is located on the Central Administration Visio Graphics Service Application Global Settings page. The new parameter increases the performance of graphics rendering and has a default value of 5120 MB.

• Health Analyzer rules: New Health Analyzer rules have been added to reflect functionality of the new Maximum Cache Size parameter.

• Updated Windows PowerShell cmdlets: The Set-SPVisioPerformance cmdlet has been updated to include the new MaxCacheSize parameter.

• Commenting on drawings support: This enables multiple users to add comments to a Visio Drawing collaboratively on the web through Visio Services.

Planning Your Visio Graphics Service Deployment Visio 2013 is a relatively specialist tool, particularly when you compare it to BI solutions such as Excel 2013. You must identify process-driven options in your business that would benefit from visualization. For wider use, you may consider provisioning workflow diagrams that show current status and visually flag overdue or failed workflow steps. Planning a Visio Graphics Service service application deployment is relatively simple. Performance issues are mostly based on the number, complexity and size of the diagrams used in your organization and the peak loading, triggered by usage. The complexity of the diagrams should mostly focus on the frequency of diagram refreshes for data from internal or external data-connections. As with all implementations, you should pilot your Visio Graphics Service and monitor the resource consumption. When you are confident that the consumption is within Service Level Agreement requirements you can deploy the service. As with all services, you should continue to monitor performance and usage, so that you can make changes to service deployment as necessary. If you need to have multiple WFE services to support your Visio Graphics

You must be a member of the farm administrators group or a Visio Services service application administrator.

Configure a Visio Graphics Service application

To configure a Visio Graphics Service application using Central Administration:

1. Verify that you have the following administrative credentials:

   To configure a service application, you must be a member of the farm administrators group or a Visio Services service application administrator.
   

2. Start SharePoint 2013 Central Administration.

3. On the SharePoint Central Administration website Home page, in the Application Management section, click Manage service applications.

4. Click the Visio Graphics Service service application that you want to configure.

5. On the Visio Graphics Service Settings page, configure default values.

6. Click OK.