MEMORY/PAGING SPACE REQUIREMENTS FOR DB2/6000
ITEM: RTA000052183
QUESTION:
A RS/6000 580H system running AIX 3.2.5 and DB2/6000 crashed last
week with an error description of "data storage interrupt, processor"
with a failure cause listed as "software problem". The system dump
did not complete.
Since this box only is only used for DB2/6000, we think that might
have caused the crash. The system has an average workload of 8-12
users, and we are wondering if the box is undersized or under-
configured. Could you please give me your thoughts on the following
questions:
1) This system has 64 MB of real memory. Being a database server,
I'm sure that more memory will translate to better performance,
but is 64MB even enough to run DB2/6000 adequately for these users?
2) This system has 144MB of paging space defined. What amount of
paging space is needed for DB2/6000? Is this 144MB adequate?
Would running out of paging space while running DB2/6000 crash
the system and give the above error message?
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A: A 580H is certainly fast enough to handle DB2/6000 for the
8-12 users under "normal" conditions. I am assuming a
good database design, moderate database size, well chosen
indexes.... The 64MB memory should also suffice but is more
problematic. For large databases, or queries that cause
table scans, or have large answer sets, you may very well
need more memory. While lack of memory can easily cause poor
performance, it should not cause dumps and messages of the
type you are reporting.
I suspect the database server has not had its memory management
buffer configuration tuned. The major parameters that need
tuning are "buffpage" and "sortheap". There is a HONE item
CVKNR that describes the procedure for tuning these.
These parameters give DB2 permission to grab larger amounts
of memory for holding onto data pages, and doing in-memory sorts.
If you are running with the system defaults you may not be
efficiently using the 64MB memory that you have available.
I see that you are registered for AIX Specialist phone support.
Please call me at 1-800-AIX-SPEC this week while you are at
the console of the server, and I can talk you through tuning
these parameters. (I will be out of town next week).
I also want to order a PTF that will upgrade the system to
the most recent maintenance level.
You also need to change the SMIT userid settings for the
DB2INSTANCE userid so that it can create large CORE files.
If this happens again we need a complete core dump for
investigation. The "data storage interrupt, processor"
message has many causes, from bad cpu planar board, bad
ethernet card, to software problems. A valid dump will be
needed if this reoccurs. A search of reported problems does
not show this to be a known problem in DB2/6000.
Other points to consider:
Was "runstats" run after creating the database to ensure the
query optimizer has valid database sizing statistics. If this
is not the case then every query is causing a table scan. On
larger tables this could eat all your memory.
144 MB paging should be plenty, but check the paging utilization
with the command "lsps -a". Check the used column.
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This item was created from library item Q675812 FFDMW
Additional search words:
DB2 FFDMW IX JAN95 MEMORY OZNEW OZNOTPID PAGIN PAGING REQUIREMENT
REQUIREMENTS RISCDB2 RISCSYSTEM SOFTWARE SPACE SPACING 6000
WWQA: ITEM: RTA000052183 ITEM: RTA000052183
Dated: 01/1995 Category: RISCDB2
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