Performance Considerations

Major factors that affect the server layer performance include:

• Simultaneous startup of Sun Management Center components

• Topology group configuration

• Management activity

• Number of console users

Simultaneous Startup of Sun Management Center Components

Simultaneous startup of the server layer and many agents can adversely affect server layer performance. The initialization of a server layer managing hundreds of agents can result in slow console response and the temporary inability to access some agents.

Topology Group Configuration

The number of topology groups in a Sun Management Center server context should not exceed the following:

• Small servers - 25 topology groups

• Medium servers - 50 topology groups

• Large servers - 75 topology groups

• Extra-large servers - 100 topology groups

  The maximum number of immediate child objects in a topology group is 256. For optimal performance, the number of child objects in a group should not exceed 100.

  If you install the Performance Reporting Manager add-on, each topology domain should contain less than 200 Sun Management Center agents to ensure optimal collection of Performance Reporting Manager data.

Management Activity

Sun Management Center server activity depends on the following factors:

• The number of operations initiated by users

• The stability and activity of the host systems under management

• The number of management modules loaded by the host systems

• The specification of alarm thresholds and rule parameters for properties under management

The last two factors greatly influence the tendency of the managed nodes to generate management activity in the form of event processing.

As a result, high management activity can occur with no add-ons if alarm thresholds are poorly configured. Conversely, low management activity can occur with many add-ons if the managed systems are stable and the alarm thresholds are reasonable.

Number of Console Users

Increasing the number of concurrent Sun Management Center console user sessions incurs a modest increase in load on the server layer. The sizing estimates assume 5 active users for a small configuration, 10 users for a medium configuration, and 15 users for a large and extra-large configuration. The sizing estimates assume the users are performing activities such a browsing managed property data and events and editing property attributes.

Some user-initiated actions might temporarily affect the performance of the server layer for the duration of the operation.

• Large group operations that are targeted at 100 or more agents can consume significant server resources. These operations can further affect server performance if the changes generate alarms on the managed agents. These alarms produce additional management activity in the form of event processing.

• Network discovery operations involving the addition of many new entities for the server to manage can incur noticeable load on the server layer host during the discovery process.

• Topology data import operations involving the addition of many new entities to manage can result in slower response from the server layer while the entities are being added.

The effect of these user-initiated actions can be minimized by not executing these operations concurrently, by breaking up large operations, and, when possible, by performing or scheduling the operations during off-peak hours.