Configuring AIX for Oracle

[tamuzi]

Hi all.

I am running Oracle 8.1.7 on a Pseries 690 (8 way + 16GB RAM) which runs AIX
5.1L.
The database files are placed on a filesystem (and not as raw devices).
I would like to hear recommendations about configuring the AIX for best
performance.

Especially I would like to hear about the MINPERM and MAXPERM parameters.
What is the best configuration for them????

Ofer.

 

[KC6]

Hey folks,

Please disclose more about the application that you are going to run, is it an OLTP or DW... the application nature can affect the performance dramatically.

 

[tpatwood]

Ofer,

We are running Oracle 8.1.7 on a 7026-6M1 (4way, 10gb memory) and qty 14 x 18.xgb disk drives. We've gone from a hardware raid config to software striping and mirror configuration, primarily for performance reasons, and partially due to availability concerns. We have a 6H1 configured as a failover via HACMP for hardware concerns and the mirroring is attempting to address disk drive availability. We are still looking at application design issues and tablespace and log file placement. We are running a home-grown reservation processing system that requires immediate response to a large quantity of requests against the db.

To respond to your request, the config of the SSA has provided the most obvious improvement so far, while application tuning (pl/sql) has shown substantial returns also.
Let me know if you'd like to share some iostat and vmstat outputs.

Tom

 

[tamuzi]

My application is OLTP

 

[sectorseveng]

tamuzi -

vmtuning is what's known as an 'iterative process', this means basically that it's trial & error.

For minperm/maxperm I'd start with -p 25 -P 50 and then start reducing these values until paging is reduced to an acceptable level. Remember that these changes have semi-immediate effect, allow half an hour after making each vmtune change to allow the system to settle down to the new settings before you do performance assessments.

Have you seen the documents at the AIX tip of the week site?

http://silcon.silcon.com/~baspence/AIXtip/aix_oracle_siebel.htm

http://silcon.silcon.com/~baspence/AIXtip/oracle_aix_tune.htm

 

[Chapter11]

I use 5 and 15 for min and max myself (on dedicated oracle boxes).

 

[bi]

Go to redbooks.ibm.com, search on tuning. There is a Red Book on Database Performance Tuning on AIX that may help you. Its copywrite is 2003, so presumably it includes 5.x.

sectorseveng is correct about vmtuning. you have to make changes, see if they have any effect on the performance and tweak the settings.

 

[DSMARWAY]

hi,
what you also have to consider is the application. It depends how the queries are written , will depend on perfomance , whether your tables etc... have indexes , whether the SQL searches through the whole table(s) to find a result. It is not just about tuning your system, inserting more RAM , buying bigger and faster disks etc..

what problems if any are you experiencing in your current environment ?