About Capacity Planning

If Oracle Internet Directory and the corresponding Oracle9i database are running on the same computer, then these are the configurable resources that capacity planners need to consider:

• I/O subsystem (the type and size)

• Memory

• Network connectivity

• CPUs (speed and quantity)

When you plan to acquire hardware for Oracle Internet Directory, you should ensure that all components--such as CPU, memory, and I/O--are effectively used. Generally, good memory usage and a robust I/O subsystem are sufficient to keep the CPU busy.

Any new installation of the Oracle Internet Directory needs two things to be successful:

• Adequate hardware resources so that the installed system can satisfy user demands at peak load rates

• A well tuned system--hardware and software--that makes the best use of available resources, one that squeezes the maximum performance out of available hardware

We begin by looking at an example of a directory deployment for an e-mail messaging application in a hypothetical company called Acme Corporation. As we examine each component of the capacity plan, we will apply our recommendations to the example of Acme Corporation.

The following terms are used throughout this chapter:

• Throughput

  The overall rate at which directory operations are being completed by Oracle Internet Directory. This is typically represented as "operations every second."

• Latency

  The time a client has to wait for a given directory operation to complete

• Concurrent clients

  The total number of clients that have established a session with Oracle Internet Directory

• Concurrent operations

  The amount of concurrent operations that are being executed on the directory from all of the concurrent clients. Note that this is not necessarily the same as the concurrent clients because some of the clients may be keeping their sessions idle.