Setup / Installation Checklist; Tuning Guidelines - HP ML570 - ProLiant - G2 Tuning Manual

Novell NetWare 6 performance tuning guidelines for ProLiant servers
setup / installation
checklist

tuning guidelines

concurrently on a single processor by the means of a round robin technique. An MP-
enabled program has the ability of executing one thread on several processors in a system
at exactly the same time. In order to enhance scalability, NetWare 6 uses per-processor
run queues technique for efficiency and to improve server performance. This method
"affinitizes" threads to processors by allowing threads to run on the same processor they
ran previously. That way, the likelihood of having useful data in the high-speed cache for
immediate access by the threads is improved. For further details, refer to
www.novell.com/info/collateral/docs/4621199.03/4621199.pdf.
For this document, Novell's NetWare 6 with Support Pack 2 (SP2) was used. According to
Novell, NetWare 6 is optimized out-of-the-box and is also capable of tuning itself
dynamically without user intervention. The results of comparing an out-of-the-box version to
one with adjusted values are provided later in this document. Furthermore, an explanation
of the parameters and the values that were adjusted are also presented. Examples of some
useful tools to monitor and make changes to the parameter values are also provided.
The following information is a guideline to assist you after you reached the decision that
NetWare is the right operating system for your platform. This list is by no means an
exhaustive one.
know the environment in which the server is being deployed.
know what types of applications are going to be run (profile if possible).
know the number of users and their potential usage requirements.
identify the disk (RAID), memory, NIC, and processor requirements.
determine if your hardware/software is Novell "YES" certified. Refer to
www.developer.novell.com
use the latest hardware and software (device drivers) from all vendors you plan to
use. Visit their website to check for their current product offerings.
apply the latest support pack and updates.
According to Novell, NetWare 6 is optimized out-of-the-box by default. However,
depending on the application platform and/or customer needs, you can adjust many
parameter values in order to optimize the performance of your server.
First collect a baseline measurement before making any adjustments to the values in the
parameter lists. That way, you will be able to evaluate whether the changes you made had
any effects on the performance objectives you're trying to achieve. Some suggestions are
as follows:
define your performance objectives or requirements.
record your baseline measurements.
use the NetWare monitoring tools to regularly observe how the server is performing.
That way, you will be able to spot any imbalance before it becomes a server
bottleneck.
collect and analyze your measurement results in order to pin point a bottleneck.
Once a bottleneck has been identified, fix it.
only make one change at a time. Run your benchmark, analyze and record the
results and compare it with the baseline measurement.
repeat the above exercise until the desired performance levels or objectives are
achieved.
for tested and approved listings.
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