A concise reference for IT professionals, this book goes beyond the rules and contains the best practices and strategies for solid tuning methodology. Tips based on years of experience from an AIX tuning master show specific steps for monitoring and tuning CPU, virtual memory, disk I/O, and network components. Also offering techniques for tuning Oracle and Linux structures that run on an IBM power system—as well as for the new AIX 6.1—this manual discusses what tools are available, how to best use them to collect historical data, and when to analyze trends and results. The only comprehensive, up-to-date guide on AIX tuning, this is a must-have for administrators, systems engineers and architects, and other capacity planners. “[This book] has a plethora of tuning tips for the IT department embracing AIX . . . I would recommend this book.”  —Susan Schreitmueller, engineer and member, IBM Academy of Technology "For any experienced AIX admin that is looking for a guide on tuning your AIX systems, I recommend you get yourself a copy of this book.”  —Chris Gibson, PowerVM & AIX specialist, Australia Post "Whether Ken's discussing the AIX Virtual Memory Manager, persistent and working memory, or why he prefers nmon to topas, he makes it understandable to readers. Clearly, Ken's been in the trenches tuning real-world production machines." —Rob McNelly, IBM Systems Magazine, AIX Exchange A concise reference for IT professionals, this book goes beyond the rules and contains the best practices and strategies for solid tuning methodology. Tips based on years of experience from an AIX tuning master show specific steps for monitoring and tuning CPU, virtual memory, disk I/O, and network components. Also offering techniques for tuning Oracle and Linux structures that run on an IBM power system—as well as for the new AIX 6.1—this manual discusses what tools are available, how to best use them to collect historical data, and when to analyze trends and results. The only comprehensive, up-to-date guide on AIX tuning, this is a must-have for administrators, systems engineers and architects, and other capacity planners. Ken Milberg is the president and managing consultant of PowerTCO Solutions, a New York–based IBM business partner. He is a technical editor for IBM Systems Magazine and Power Systems Edition , as well as a frequent contributor to IBM developerWorks . He has consulted with many global Fortune 400 companies, is a PMI-certified project management professional and an IBM certified advanced technical expert, and holds certifications in Solaris and HP-UX.technical. He lives in New York City. Driving the Power of AIX Performance Tuning on IBM Power Systems By Ken Milberg MC Press Copyright © 2009 Ken Milberg All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-58347-098-5 Contents Foreword, Preface, SECTION I: INTRODUCTION, Chapter 1: Performance Tuning Methodology, Chapter 2: Introduction to AIX, Chapter 3: Introduction to POWER Architecture, SECTION II: CPU, Chapter 4: CPU: Introduction, Chapter 5: CPU: Monitoring, Chapter 6: CPU: Tuning, SECTION III: MEMORY, Chapter 7: Memory: Introduction, Chapter 8: Memory: Monitoring, Chapter 9: Memory: Tuning, SECTION IV: DISK I/O, Chapter 10: Disk I/O: Introduction, Chapter 11: Disk I/O: Monitoring, Chapter 12: Disk I/O: Tuning, SECTION V NETWORK I/O, Chapter 13: Network I/O: Introduction, Chapter 14: Network I/O: Monitoring, Chapter 15: Network I/O: Tuning, SECTION VI: BONUS TOPICS, Chapter 16: AIX 6.1, Chapter 17: Tuning AIX for Oracle, Chapter 18: Linux on Power, CHAPTER 1 Performance Tuning Methodology Performance tuning is a never-ending process, and an important concept to understand is that it is not unusual to fix one bottleneck only to create another. That's part of what makes our lives as AIX administrators so indispensable! The following time-tested tuning and analysis methodology will aid you throughout the tuning lifecycle: 1. Establish a baseline 2. Stress test and monitor 3. Identify bottleneck 4. Tune 5. Repeat (starting with step 2) Step 1. Establishing a Baseline Well before you ever tune a system, it is imperative to establish a baseline. The baseline is a snapshot of what the system looks like when you first put it into production, while it is performing at acceptable enough levels to the business for it to be deployed. The baseline should not only capture performance statistics but also document the actual configuration of the system (amount of memory, CPU, and disk). It's important to document the system configuration because otherwise you won't be comparing apples with apples when the time comes to examine the baseline to your current configuration. This step is particularly relevant in our new partitioned world, when you can dynamically add or subtract CPU resources at a moment's notice. To come up with a proper baseline, you must first identify the appropriate tools to use for monitoring. Some t