When to Use Pools

Resource pools offer a versatile mechanism that can be applied to many administrative scenarios, as described in the following sections.

Batch Compute Server

Use pools functionality to split a server into two pools.

One pool is used for login sessions and interactive work by timesharing users. The other pool is used for jobs that are submitted through the batch system.

Application or Database Server

Partition the resources for interactive applications in accordance with the applications' requirements.

Turning on Applications in Phases

Set user expectations.

You might initially deploy a machine by running only a fraction of the services that the machine is ultimately expected to deliver. User difficulties can occur if reservation-based resource management mechanisms are not established when the machine comes online.

For example, the fair share scheduler optimizes CPU utilization. The response times for a machine that run only one application can be misleadingly fast when compared to the response times users see with multiple applications loaded. By using separate pools for each application, you can ensure that a ceiling on the number of CPUs available to each application is in place before all applications are deployed.

Complex Timesharing Server

Partition a server that supports large user populations.

Server partitioning provides an isolation mechanism that leads to a more predictable per-user response.

By dividing users into groups that bind to separate pools, and using the fair share scheduling (FSS) facility, you can tune CPU allocations to facilitate sets of users that have priority. This assignment can be based on user role, accounting chargeback, and so forth.

Workloads That Change Seasonally

Use resource pools to adjust to changing demand.

If your site experiences predictable shifts in workload demand over long periods of time, such as a monthly, quarterly, or annual cycles, you can alternate between multiple pools configurations by invoking pooladm from a cron(1M) job.

Real-Time Applications

Create a real-time pool by using the RT scheduler and designated processor resources.