Understanding and Tuning CPU Throughput
June 14, 2017
Few topics related to AIX performance analysis and tuning are more misunderstood than CPU throughput: how databases, applications, middleware and utilities use CPUs in an IBM Power Systems environment. What follows is a basic primer on determining CPU throughput and usage in your AIX systems. By combining this knowledge with performance statistics, you can tune […]
ArticlesSlicing Time: Curing the Context Switch in AIX
May 17, 2017
Now that we’ve laid a solid groundwork for performance analysis, I'll show you how to tune your systems based on information you’ve gleaned from your diagnostic data.
ArticlesWhy Organizations Should Reconsider Their Current Chargeback Systems
April 1, 2017
Imagine Mary, Fred and George are gathered for a budget meeting with Ellen, their company’s CIO, to discuss another budget shortfall. Ellen asks, “What caused this million-dollar shortfall?” George says, “We think it’s related to the decision by accounting to shift one of their major workloads from our Power Systems* platforms to our VMware tower. […]
ArticlesSPLAT: The Simple Performance Lock Analysis Tool
February 14, 2017
Understanding locking activity and how it affects the performance of databases, applications and the OS itself is an essential part of every AIX specialist's diagnostic arsenal.
ArticlesAnalyzing System Dumps
February 8, 2017
A system dump indicates a severe problem with an AIX system. System dumps usually halt the system, necessitating a reboot.
Virtualization’s Past Helps Explain Its Current Importance
February 6, 2017
With VM celebrating 45 years as an IBM product, it’s a good time to look at the history of virtualization technology. Everyone seems to want to take credit for something IBM invented and brought to maturity about 50 years ago. In this two part article, we will chronical the key milestones in the development of […]
ArticlesPaging, Memory and I/O Delays
September 1, 2010
Jacqui Lynch offers expert tips for AIX tuning in this first of a two-part series. Learn how to optimize paging, memory, and I/O delays for AIX 5.3, 6.1, and 7.
ArticlesSystem Programmers’ Tips and Tricks for ISPF Revisited
March 30, 2006
More on the ISPF Editor and SDSF.
ArticlesAccessing the Data in Core Dumps
January 22, 2006
If you're like most UNIX administrators, you probably have a crontab or some other housekeeping program that regularly searches your systems for core dumps, backs them up (maybe), and then deletes them. This leaves you to try to puzzle out their cause from information contained in the AIX error log. Of course, about half the […]