Supporting a Large or Varied User Population
Use resource management features in any system that has a large and diverse user base, such as an educational institution. If you have a mix of workloads, the software can be configured to give priority to specific projects.
For example, in large brokerage firms, traders intermittently require fast access to execute a query or to perform a calculation. Other system users, however, have more consistent workloads. If you allocate a proportionately larger amount of processing power to the traders' projects, the traders have the responsiveness they need.
Resource management is also ideal for supporting thin-client systems. These platforms provide stateless consoles with frame buffers and input devices, such as smart cards. The actual computation is done on a shared server, resulting in a timesharing type of environment. Use resource management features to isolate the users on the server so that the excess load that one user generates does not monopolize hardware resources and significantly impact others who use the system.
Setting Up Resource Management (Task Map)
The following task map gives a basic overview of the steps that are involved in setting up resource management on your system.
Task | Description | For Instructions |
|---|---|---|
Identify the workloads on your system. | Review project entries in either the /etc/project database file or in the NIS map or LDAP directory service. | |
Prioritize the workloads on your system. | Determine which applications are critical. These workloads might require preferential access to resources. | Refer to your business service goals. |
Monitor real-time activity on your system. | Use performance tools to view the current resource consumption of workloads that are running on your system. These tools can help you evaluate whether you must restrict access to a particular resource or isolate workloads from one another. | "Monitoring by System", cpustat(1M), iostat(1M), mpstat(1M), prstat(1M), sar(1), and vmstat(1M) |
Make temporary modifications to the workloads that are running on your system. | To determine which values can be altered, refer to the resource controls available in the Solaris environment. You can update the values from the command line while the task or process is running. | "Available Resource Controls", "Actions on Resource Control Values", "Temporarily Updating Resource Control Values on a Running System", rctladm(1M), and prctl(1) |
Set resource control attributes for each project entry in the project database or name service project table. | Each project entry in the /etc/project database or the name service project table can contain one or more resource controls that constrain tasks and processes attached to that project. For each threshhold value that is placed on a resource control, you can associate one or more actions to be taken when that value is reached. You can set resource controls by using the command-line interface or the Solaris Management Console. If you are setting configuration parameters across a large number of systems, use the console for this task. | "project Database", "Local project File Format", "Available Resource Controls", "Actions on Resource Control Values", and Chapter 9, Fair Share Scheduler |
Create resource pools configurations. | Resource pools provide a way to partition system resources, such as processors, and maintain those partitions across reboots. You can add a project.pool attribute to each entry in the /etc/project database. | |
Make the fair share scheduler (FSS) your default system scheduler. | Ensure that all user processes in either a single CPU system or a processor set belong to the same scheduling class. | "FSS Configuration Examples" and dispadmin(1M) |
Activate the extended accounting facility to monitor and record resource consumption on a task or process basis. | Use extended accounting data to assess current resource controls and plan capacity requirements for future workloads. Aggregate usage on a system-wide basis can be tracked. To obtain complete usage statistics for related workloads that span more than one system, the project name can be shared across several machines. | "How to Activate Extended Accounting for Processes and Tasks" and acctadm(1M) |
(Optional) If you determine that additional adjustments to your configuration are required, you can continue to alter the values from the command line while the task or process is running. | Modifications to existing tasks can be applied on a temporary basis without restarting the project. Tune the values until you are satisfied with the performance. Then update the current values in the /etc/project database or the name service project table. | "Temporarily Updating Resource Control Values on a Running System", rctladm(1M), and prctl(1) |
(Optional) Capture extended accounting data. | Write extended accounting records for active processes and tasks. The files that are produced can be used for planning, chargeback, and billing purposes. | wracct(1M) |