IDS Performance on RS6000
Joe Trubisz wrote: > Hi... > We are contemplating either using Sun E-class servers or > IBM RS6K servers to install IDS9.2. Problem we are having is > that the Informix reps here are saying that "Informix does not > run well on RS6K boxes", specifically because of AIX 4.1+. > > Is this hogwash or something I sould be concerned about. Many users are running Informix on RS6k and AIX and are happy. That does not change the fact that you will likely be happier with the performance of Informix on Sun. Art S. Kagel
Hi... We are contemplating either using Sun E-class servers or IBM RS6K servers to install IDS9.2. Problem we are having is that the Informix reps here are saying that "Informix does not run well on RS6K boxes", specifically because of AIX 4.1+. Is this hogwash or something I sould be concerned about. Thanks in advance, Joe
In article <38FB4DCC.98B4F31D@bloomberg.net>, "Art S. Kagel" <kagel@bloomberg.net> wrote: > Joe Trubisz wrote: > > > Hi... > > We are contemplating either using Sun E-class servers or > > IBM RS6K servers to install IDS9.2. Problem we are having is > > that the Informix reps here are saying that "Informix does not > > run well on RS6K boxes", specifically because of AIX 4.1+. > > > > Is this hogwash or something I sould be concerned about. > > Many users are running Informix on RS6k and AIX and are happy. That > does not > change the fact that you will likely be happier with the performance of > Informix on > Sun. > > Art S. Kagel > > I don't mean to dispute one of the recognized experts of this group, but that last statement strikes me as pretty bold. May I ask what this is based upon? -- Irwin Goldstein Objective Software Systems, Inc. http://www.objectsoft.com Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.
irwin_goldstein@my-deja.com wrote: > In article <38FB4DCC.98B4F31D@bloomberg.net>, > "Art S. Kagel" <kagel@bloomberg.net> wrote: > > Joe Trubisz wrote: > > > > > Hi... > > > We are contemplating either using Sun E-class servers or > > > IBM RS6K servers to install IDS9.2. Problem we are having is > > > that the Informix reps here are saying that "Informix does not > > > run well on RS6K boxes", specifically because of AIX 4.1+. > > > > > > Is this hogwash or something I sould be concerned about. > > > > Many users are running Informix on RS6k and AIX and are happy. That > > does not > > change the fact that you will likely be happier with the performance > of > > Informix on > > Sun. > > I don't mean to dispute one of the recognized experts of this group, but > that last statement strikes me as pretty bold. May I ask what this is > based upon? Irwin, you, and anyone else for that matter, can dispute me anytime. As long as you don't promote RAID5 I may not even give you a hard time. :-) My statement, made with no evidence or references, is based partially on anectodal observation of this list and its denizens and partially on my own knowledge of the two systems, which is admittedly sparse in the case of RS6K. Over the years I have seen relatively few complaints about performance on Sun systems and about performance related hardware and OS problems. On the other hand there have been performance problems reported by some users of RS6K systems and because of its design with AIX if not properly tuned. For example AIX requires a kernel parameter tuned to permit more than (IMS) 5 shared memory segments per process which can cause problems for unwary users. Since this did not bite the Informix porting team it is not noted in the release notes. On the Sun side, as the primary development platform for IDS Sun releases tend to be more problem free than other ports and bug fixes are often available there first. Having lived with a second tier platform I can tell you what a pleasure it has been maintaining our Sun news system servers versus our DG servers. Over the last three years the Suns and their Informix engines have been almost trouble free while I have bugs on the DG releases that it just does not pay to track since the next version upgrade will often come faster than the patches. Back to performance, Suns are excellent platforms for Informix. Their memory and (memory) cache systems and high speed bus tend to enhance Informix's reliance on memory and SMP performance. Having worked on systems (M88K) with Motorolla based processors I have to say I am not as comfortable with the performance and reliability of the memory and bus sub-systems for these processors. My opinion, as always, FWIW. Art S. Kagel
In article <38FB6AC0.7452A31@bloomberg.net>, "Art S. Kagel" <kagel@bloomberg.net> wrote: > irwin_goldstein@my-deja.com wrote: > > > In article <38FB4DCC.98B4F31D@bloomberg.net>, > > "Art S. Kagel" <kagel@bloomberg.net> wrote: > > > Joe Trubisz wrote: > > > > > > > Hi... > > > > We are contemplating either using Sun E-class servers or > > > > IBM RS6K servers to install IDS9.2. Problem we are having is > > > > that the Informix reps here are saying that "Informix does not > > > > run well on RS6K boxes", specifically because of AIX 4.1+. > > > > > > > > Is this hogwash or something I sould be concerned about. > > > > > > Many users are running Informix on RS6k and AIX and are happy. That > > > does not > > > change the fact that you will likely be happier with the performance > > of > > > Informix on > > > Sun. > > > > > I don't mean to dispute one of the recognized experts of this group, but > > that last statement strikes me as pretty bold. May I ask what this is > > based upon? > > Irwin, you, and anyone else for that matter, can dispute me anytime. As > long as you don't promote RAID5 I may not even give you a hard time. > :-) > > My statement, made with no evidence or references, is based partially on > anectodal observation of this list and its denizens and partially on my own > knowledge of the two systems, which is admittedly sparse in the case of > RS6K. Over the years I have seen relatively few complaints about > performance on Sun systems and about performance related hardware > and OS problems. On the other hand there have been performance > problems reported by some users of RS6K systems and because of its > design with AIX if not properly tuned. For example AIX requires a > kernel parameter tuned to permit more than (IMS) 5 shared memory > segments per process which can cause problems for unwary users. > Since this did not bite the Informix porting team it is not noted in the > release notes. > > On the Sun side, as the primary development platform for IDS Sun > releases tend to be more problem free than other ports and bug fixes > are often available there first. Having lived with a second tier platform > I can tell you what a pleasure it has been maintaining our Sun news > system servers versus our DG servers. Over the last three years the > Suns and their Informix engines have been almost trouble free while I > have bugs on the DG releases that it just does not pay to track since > the next version upgrade will often come faster than the patches. > > Back to performance, Suns are excellent platforms for Informix. Their > memory and (memory) cache systems and high speed bus tend to > enhance Informix's reliance on memory and SMP performance. Having > worked on systems (M88K) with Motorolla based processors I have to > say I am not as comfortable with the performance and reliability of the > memory and bus sub-systems for these processors. > > My opinion, as always, FWIW. > > Art S. Kagel > > You won't get any arguments from me on RAID5! :-) Anyway, thanks for the thorough and thoughtful response. My own experience has been more on RS6000s than SUN systems. The only SUN systems I've touched have been smaller databases and the only RS6000s have been larger, so I've never been in a position to do an "apples to apples" comparison. The most SUN work I did was following and cleaning up after what must have been an incompetent DBA/SA who had Informix configured for all DSS queries in an OLTP environment on a single CPU machine. The client was ready to scrap either Informix, SUN or both based on this. My experience with the RS6000 has been overall quite good and I have found performance tuning to be relatively straight forward. From a Unix administration standpoint I have found AIX to be one of the easiest varieties of Unix to maintain. Based on all of this I've formed the opinion that the greatest contributor/detractor to performance across platforms is the competency of the DBAs, SAs and application developers. I have not noticed a significant difference in Informix bugs (quantity or severity) or responsiveness in new releases for Informix on IBM and SUN. It's always good to hear about the experiences of others, however. Exactly why we all participate in this group, right? Thanks again, -- Irwin Goldstein Objective Software Systems, Inc. http://www.objectsoft.com Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.
"Art S. Kagel" wrote: > > irwin_goldstein@my-deja.com wrote: > > > In article <38FB4DCC.98B4F31D@bloomberg.net>, > > "Art S. Kagel" <kagel@bloomberg.net> wrote: > > > Joe Trubisz wrote: > > > > > > > Hi... > > > > We are contemplating either using Sun E-class servers or > > > > IBM RS6K servers to install IDS9.2. Problem we are having is > > > > that the Informix reps here are saying that "Informix does not > > > > run well on RS6K boxes", specifically because of AIX 4.1+. > > > > > > > > Is this hogwash or something I sould be concerned about. > > > > > > Many users are running Informix on RS6k and AIX and are happy. That > > > does not > > > change the fact that you will likely be happier with the performance > > of > > > Informix on > > > Sun. > > > > > I don't mean to dispute one of the recognized experts of this group, but > > that last statement strikes me as pretty bold. May I ask what this is > > based upon? > > Irwin, you, and anyone else for that matter, can dispute me anytime. As > long as you don't promote RAID5 I may not even give you a hard time. > :-) > > My statement, made with no evidence or references, is based partially on > anectodal observation of this list and its denizens and partially on my own > knowledge of the two systems, which is admittedly sparse in the case of > RS6K. Over the years I have seen relatively few complaints about > performance on Sun systems and about performance related hardware > and OS problems. On the other hand there have been performance > problems reported by some users of RS6K systems and because of its > design with AIX if not properly tuned. For example AIX requires a > kernel parameter tuned to permit more than (IMS) 5 shared memory > segments per process which can cause problems for unwary users. > Since this did not bite the Informix porting team it is not noted in the > release notes. > > On the Sun side, as the primary development platform for IDS Sun > releases tend to be more problem free than other ports and bug fixes > are often available there first. Having lived with a second tier platform > I can tell you what a pleasure it has been maintaining our Sun news > system servers versus our DG servers. Over the last three years the > Suns and their Informix engines have been almost trouble free while I > have bugs on the DG releases that it just does not pay to track since > the next version upgrade will often come faster than the patches. > > Back to performance, Suns are excellent platforms for Informix. Their > memory and (memory) cache systems and high speed bus tend to > enhance Informix's reliance on memory and SMP performance. Having > worked on systems (M88K) with Motorolla based processors I have to > say I am not as comfortable with the performance and reliability of the > memory and bus sub-systems for these processors. > > My opinion, as always, FWIW. > > Art S. Kagel The total amount of shared memory on AIX for a 32-bit platform is, and always has been, 2.5GB ... that is, 10 256MB segments. Since the total addressable space of a 32-bit box is 4GB, that's not bad. And, there is an additional (discontiguous) shared segment on AIX, which Informix does not exploit, giving a total of 2.75GB shared memory. I don't think you can regard IBM, HP or SGI as "second tier"; Informix attempts to release simultaneously for them all.