Tuning the Operating System

This section discusses tuning the operating system (OS) for optimum performance.

Server Scaling

This section provides recommendations for optimal performance scaling for the following application server subsystems:

• Processors

• Memory

• Disk Space

• Networking

Processors

The application server automatically takes advantage of multiple CPUs. In general, the effectiveness of multiple CPUs varies with the operating system and the workload, but more processors will generally improve dynamic content performance.

Static content involves mostly input/output (I/O) rather than CPU activity. If the application server is tuned properly, increasing primary memory will increase its content caching and thus increase the relative amount of time it spends in I/O versus CPU activity. Studies have shown that doubling the number of CPUs increases servlet performance by 50 to 80 percent.

Memory

For optimal Oracle Identity Analytics performance, have at least 4 Gbytes of system memory. GlassFish specific memory requirements can be found in the "Hardware and Software Requirements" section in the GlassFish release notes.

Disk Space

It is best to have enough disk space for the OS, document tree, and log files. In most cases, have 20 Gbytes of free disk space for optimal operation of Oracle Identity Analytics, with the database and application running on separate machines.

Networking

To determine the bandwidth the application needs, determine the following values:

• The number of peak concurrent users (Npeak) that the application server needs to handle.

• The average request size on your site, r. The average request can include multiple documents. When in doubt, use the home page and all its associated files and graphics.

• Decide how long, t, the average user will be willing to wait for a document at peak utilization.

  The formula for the bandwidth required is Npeakr / t

For example, to support a peak of 50 users with an average document size of 24 Kbytes, and transferring each document in an average of five seconds, requires 240 Kbytes (1920 Kbit/s). So the site needs two T1 lines (each 1544 Kbit/s). This bandwidth also allows some overhead for growth.

The application server's network interface card must support more than the WAN to which it is connected. For example, if you have up to three T1 lines, you can get by with a 10BaseT interface. Up to a T3 line (45 Mbit/s), you can use 100BaseT. But if you have more than 50 Mbit/s of WAN bandwidth, consider configuring multiple 100BaseT interfaces, or look at Gigabit Ethernet technology.