System Administration Guide: Resource Management and Network Services

Supporting a Large or Varied User Population

Use resource management features in any system that has a large and diverse user base, such as an educational institution. If you have a mix of workloads, the software can be configured to give priority to specific projects.

For example, in large brokerage firms, traders intermittently require fast access to execute a query or to perform a calculation. Other system users, however, have more consistent workloads. If you allocate a proportionately larger amount of processing power to the traders' projects, the traders have the responsiveness they need.

Resource management is also ideal for supporting thin-client systems. These platforms provide stateless consoles with frame buffers and input devices, such as smart cards. The actual computation is done on a shared server, resulting in a timesharing type of environment. Use resource management features to isolate the users on the server so that the excess load that one user generates does not monopolize hardware resources and significantly impact others who use the system.