AIX 5L System Administration III: Performance Management - AU180 Training Class

Performance analysis and tuning overview

• 
  Describe performance terminology


• 
  Explain performance components


• 
  Describe the performance tuning process


• 
  Explain performance metrics


• 
  List tools available for analysis and tuning

Data Collection

• 
  Distinguish between a performance and a functional problem


• 
  Provide a clear description of a performance problem


• 
  Install the PerfPMR tool


• 
  Collect performance data using PerfPMR


• 
  Describe the use of topas and nmon performance monitoring tools

Monitoring, analyzing and tuning Central Processing Unit (CPU) usage

• 
  Explain processes and threads


• 
  Explain how priorities and scheduling work


• 
  Use the output of vmstat, sar, ps, topas, and tprof to determine symptoms
  of a CPU bottleneck


• 
  Use schedo options to tune CPU scheduling


• 
  Enable/disable simultaneous multi-threading (SMT)

Virtual memory performance monitoring and tuning

• 
  Explain basic virtual memory concepts and what issues affect performance


• 
  Explain how to analyze memory usage


• 
  Explain page replacement


• 
  Analyze and tune page replacement


• 
  Identify memory leaks


• 
  Use Virtual Memory Management (VMM) monitoring and tuning tools

Physical and logical volume performance

• 
  Identify factors related to physical and logical volume performance


• 
  Use performance tools to identify I/O bottlenecks


• 
  Configure physical disks and adapters for optimal performance


• 
  Configure logical volumes for optimal performance

File system performance monitoring and tuning

• 
  List characteristics of the file system that apply to performance


• 
  Describe how file fragmentation affects disk I/O performance


• 
  Use the filemon tool to evaluate file system performance


• 
  Tune asynchronous I/O, synchronous I/O and Journaled File System (JFS)
  log


• 
  Tune direct I/O and release-behind


• 
  Tune page read-ahead and write-behind


• 
  Identify resource bottlenecks

Network performance

• 
  List the factors and system parameters that affect network performance


• 
  Measure network throughput and response time


• 
  Use netstat to monitor network statistics


• 
  Use no, chdev, ifconfig, and smit to tune network performance

NFS performance

• 
  Define the basic NFS concepts


• 
  List the differences between NFS V2, V3 and V4


• 
  Tune NFS servers


• 
  Tune NFS clients

Performance Management Methodology

• 
  List the steps to approach performance analysis


• 
  Describe the distinct areas of performance that need to be investigated
  and how to go about monitoring those areas


• 
  Use tools that will aid with performance monitoring and tuning on
  partitioned system

This is an advanced course for system administrators, system engineers, and system support individuals.

• AIX 5L System Administration I: Implementation - AU140 and AIX 5L System
  Administration II: Problem Determination - AU160, or at least six months of
  equivalent experience


• Ability to manage AIX physical and logical storage, manage networking
  configurations from an application server viewpoint, utilize additional
  subsystems including cron to schedule system tasks and accounting to analyze
  system activity, and pull together many of the topics learned