For large installation environments, NIM can be scaled to support anywhere from 20 to 150 client requests simultaneously. This is done by enabling the multi-threaded option on the nimesis daemon. This option provides better handling of the volume of client information change requests and client state changes. Without the use of this option the NIM master machine can become over-loaded by activity on the NIM database and the number of active processes, resulting in failures during the installation of a large number of client machines simultaneously.
The multi-threaded nimesis daemon will serialize and buffer nimclient requests to protect the NIM master machine from process over-load, without causing significant performance degradation. The user must understand that many of the client information changes will not be reflected in the NIM database. The most recent information change for any client, however, are eventually processed. Debugging failed or hung clients will not be adversely affected.
The number of threads assigned to this daemon determines how many simultaneous NIM client requests can be handled in the NIM environment. Since most of the nimclient requests are processed rapidly, it is not necessary to have one thread for every client installing. The number of threads needed to support the activities in a NIM environment is dependent upon several items. The following should be considered when determining the number of threads:
In general, one thread should support two to four clients that are installing BOS at the same time. For example, when installing 150 machines, 50 to 75 threads should be sufficient. The number of threads is highly dependent on the processing power of the NIM master machine, and slower master machines may require more threads.
For smaller NIM environments, enabling the multi-threaded daemon can tie up system resources on the master that will not be utilized. For example, when installing 50 machines simultaneously, 20 to 25 threads or even the single-threaded daemon (this option disabled) would suffice.
Note: This option alone will not allow more machines to be installed simultaneously. This option should be used in conjunction with global export of NIM resources, distribution of NIM resources throughout the NIM environment, and a network environment capable of handling a large volume of throughput.
To tune client request processing from the SMIT interface, type the SMIT fast path:
smit nim_tune_nimesis
To tune client request processing from the NIM application:
The max_nimesis_threads attribute can be used to tune client request processing. To enable the multi-threaded nimesis daemon, set a value to the attribute max_nimesis_threads on the NIM master using the following command:
nim -o change -a max_nimesis_threads=value master
NOTE: The range for the value attribute above is 20 to 150.
To disable the multi-threaded nimesis daemon, set a null value to the attribute max_nimesis_threads on the NIM master:
nim -o change -a max_nimesis_threads="" master