Performance Considerations - Tivoli Storage Manager Server

Diagnosing The Problem

Table of contents:

Best Practices & Recommendations
Common and Known Issues
Problem Determination

Tivoli Storage Manager publishes a set of performance considerations and recommendations in the information centers. The tips and recommendations can help to successfully implement and deploy a Tivoli Storage Manager server.

For V6.3, the performance considerations are available at: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/tsminfo/v6r3/topic/com.ibm.itsm.nav.doc/c_performance.html
For V6.4, the performance considerations are available at: http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/tsminfo/v6r4/topic/com.ibm.itsm.nav.doc/c_performance.html
For V7.1, the performance considerations are available at: http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/tsminfo/v7r1/topic/com.ibm.itsm.perf.doc/c_performance.html

The following links provide additional guidance related to performance improvement:

Daily operations for a Tivoli Storage Manager server: avoiding resource contention: http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21419733
Tuning the schedule for daily operations: http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/tsminfo/v6r3/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.ibm.itsm.perf.doc%2Ft_srv_tuning_daily.html
V6/V7 server database size, database reorganization, and performance considerations: http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21452146

• DB2 INTRA_PARALLEL option mistakenly set to YES leads to DB transaction performance degradation.
  
  Symptoms: Slow server processes, slow client backups.
  
  Recommendation: Ensure that the INTRA_PARALLEL option is set to NO. If it is not, review the related links for more information.
  
  Related Links:
  http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg1IC97013
  http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg1IC82940
  
  
• Machines are using a GSKIT level lower than 8.0.14.32 are exposed to performance defect on AIX POWER7 systems.
  
  Symptoms: Slow server processing, slow client backups, and slow client connection times.
  
  Recommendation: Ensure that GSKIT 8.0.14.32 or higher is in use on all AIX POWER7 servers running Tivoli Storage Manager server V6.3 (this does not affect other platforms/versions). This fix is currently targeted for 6.3.5.0, subject to change.
  
  Related Links:
  http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg1IC94804
  http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21647102
  
  
• Slow or broken LDAP user authentication slowing authentication between the Server and DB2.
  
  Symptoms: Slow server processing (particularly with actions that heavily utilize the database, like inventory file expiration).
  
  Recommendation: Ensure that LDAP user authentication is configured properly and is happening quickly. If it is not, consider disabling LDAP user authentication. More information can be found in the related link below.
  
  
• Failed database/index reorganization or RUNSTAT activity preventing database optimization.
  
  Symptoms: Slow server processing.
  
  Recommendation: Ensure that database/index reorganization and RUNSTAT activities are happening, and without error. These activities ensure that the database remains optimized for usage. Significant information regarding these topics can be found in the below related links.
  
  Related Links:
  http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21452146
  http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21590928
  
  
• Ensure that domain name resolution is correctly configured and behaving properly.
  
  Symptoms: Slow server connect times from clients.
  
  Recommendation: Improperly configured systems or slow responding domain name servers can degrade server performance. Ensure that DNS resolution is properly configured on the system and verify that DNS resolution is happening quickly. Your system and network administrators can help with these tasks.
  
  
• Multi-instance machines require DBMEMPERCENT configuration for best performance.
  
  Symptoms: Slow server processing, process failures.
  
  Recommendation: If multiple server instances are running on the same machine, the DBMEMPERCENT option should be utilized to dedicate memory for each instance.
  
  Related Links:
  http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21444747
  https://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/tsminfo/v6/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.ibm.itsm.perf.doc%2Fr_opt_srv_dbmempercent.html
  
  
• Overhead required for Active Memory Expansion feature (AME) degrades memory access performance on AIX systems.
  
  Symptoms: Slow server processing.
  
  Recommendation: Disable AIX's Active Memory Expansion feature to prevent memory from being compressed/decompressed.
  
  Related Links:
  http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/aix/v6r1/topic/com.ibm.aix.prftungd/doc/prftungd/intro_ame_process.htm
  
• Memory starvation trigged by Active Memory Sharing (AMS) degrades performance on AIX systems.
  
  Symptoms: Slow server processing because of DB2 memory starvation.
  
  Recommendation: Disable AIX's Active Memory Sharing feature and dedicate adequate physical memory to any LPAR where a Tivoli Storage Manager server is installed..
  
• Under-sized kernel configuration can cause resource starvation on Linux, HP-UX, and Solaris systems.
  
  Symptoms: Slow server processing, process failures.
  
  Recommendation: On Linux, HP-UX, and Solaris systems, ensure that the kernel parameters have been properly tuned per documented recommendations.
  
  Related Links:
  6.4 on HP-UX: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSGSG7_6.4.0/com.ibm.itsm.srv.install.doc/t_srv_krnlparms_hp.html
  6.4 on Linux:http://www-01.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSGSG7_6.4.0/com.ibm.itsm.srv.install.doc/t_srv_krnlparms_lnx.html
  6.4 on Solaris: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSGSG7_6.4.0/com.ibm.itsm.srv.install.doc/t_srv_krnlparms_sol.html
  7.1 on HP-UX: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSGSG7_7.1.0/com.ibm.itsm.srv.install.doc/t_srv_krnlparms_hp-hpux.html
  7.1 on Linux: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSGSG7_7.1.0/com.ibm.itsm.srv.install.doc/t_srv_krnlparms_lnx-linux.html
  7.1 on Solaris: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSGSG7_7.1.0/com.ibm.itsm.srv.install.doc/t_srv_krnlparms_sol-solaris.html
  
• OLSON timezone format can degrade database performance on AIX 6.1 systems.
  
  Symptoms: Slow server processing. Slow INSERTDB processing if upgrading from V5.
  
  Recommendation: Upgrade to AIX 7.1, or use the POSIX timezone format on AIX 6.1 systems.
  
  Related Links:
  http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg1IC82404
  
• Large volume history can cause backup and sequential media interaction performance degradation.
  
  Symptoms: Slow client backups, slow interaction with server processes that use sequential media.
  
  Recommendation: Prune the volume history file of old entries.
  
  Related Links:
  http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg1IC72761
  
• Server performance degradation on AIX systems during client backups due to single heap memory allocator.
  
  Symptoms: High server CPU utilization, slow server performance, and slow client backup performance during client backup window.
  
  Recommendation: Work with your system administrator and/or AIX support to enable a multiheap memory allocator for applications on AIX.
  
  Related Links:
  http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21671759
• Disk storage pool subsystems may realize a performance benefit from using filesystem cache.
  
  Symptoms: Slow server processing for storage pool data - client backups, migration, reclamation, expiration.
  
  Recommendation: Carefully review the below links and test using filesystem cache (by setting the option DIRECTIO NO) if filesystem cache is available. Note that most environments do not benefit from using DIRECTIO NO, which is why the default is set to YES.
  
  Related Links:
  http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg1IC73238
  http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21614843
  http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSGSG7_7.1.0/com.ibm.itsm.perf.doc/t_ptg_filesys_cache.html?lang=en

Tivoli Storage Manager publishes and maintains a Perl script that can be used to automatically collect monitoring data to evaluate server performance. More information can be found via the following link:

http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21432937