PSM and PSF/AIX: Load balancing capabilities
ITEM: RTA000090225
Q:
ABSTRACT: PSM and PSF/6000: Load balancing capabilities
driving multiple 3900-DW1/DW2 printers.
SEARCH ARG: palladium psm
TOPIC THREAD: PRINT
AFP
PSF6000
..
With the introduction of Printing Systems Manager (PSM), we are
interested in whether this technology has a hand in load balancing a la JES.
We would like to have a single RS/6000 control multiple large production
class machines, 3900-DW1/DW2. We know that we must size a fairly large
RS/6000 machine in order to be able to drive the printers but are
concerned with the load balancing question. Can PSM balance the
printers workload in a fashion similar to JES?
What we would like to see is something whereby the printers remain
active without operator intervention to (for instance) change class
priorities, spools, queues, etc.
A:
First let's talk about what PSF/6000 V1 or PSF for AIX V2 can do in the
way of print pooling, and then discuss what PSM might add.
PSF/AIX:
--------
Please see libraried ASKQ item RTA000087395. It discusses how to
implement a simple workload balancing scheme for two PSF/AIX-owned
printers (in that example, two 3935s) without manual intervention. That
might be one way to address your customer's requirements without PSM.
Note that if you have two printers, 3900A and 3900B, in this scenario,
3900A would be the default printer when not busy. You would still have
the ability to request a specific device if desired.
You say in your last sentence that your customer wants no manual
intervention for "class priorities, spools, queues," etc., similar to
JES.
- Class: There is no concept of output classes in AIX, so there is no
direct comparison with setting up one printer on JES to service
multiple output classes. If you'd like to provide more detail on
what your customer is specifically looking for in this area, I'll
be glad to address this further.
- Priorities: As far as changing priorities for what would print next,
that would require manual intervention on AIX just as in JES/SDSF.
You can use the standard AIX functions to change the priority of a
print job for PSF/6000 printers as well as for AIX printers.
- Moving a job from queue to queue can be done. It either requires the
functions available in AIX 4.1.x, or use of the Input Manager in
PSF for AIX V2 (under either AIX 3.2.5 or 4.1.x); only
locally-submitted jobs, either from file or tape, or jobs that come
to PSF for AIX via MVS Download from an MVS host can currently
access the Input Manager.
PSM (Palladium technology):
---------------------------
PSM can also do printer pooling. Its pooling is improved over the
technique described in RTA000087395 in that if neither printer is busy,
it can round-robin the usage; that is, if printer A was the last to
print, even if A is not busy when the next job comes in, the job will
be sent to printer B. This is better for balancing wear-and-tear
between the printers. You can still request a specific printer by
name.
Also, if you have printers pooled under PSM, PSM will compare the
attributes of your job and of the printers in its pool, and route the
job to the appropriate printer. This is more attractive for cut-sheet
printers than continuous forms because of the greater variety of
attributes. But it can still be used for 3900s if, for example, you
want to load a different form in each 3900 and update the Media
Attribute.
Other information from the PSM Overview (G544-3962):
"PSM provides a robust set of tools for checking print queues, promoting
jobs, and for moving one or several print jobs between queues. If the
waiting time for a job in a particular queue is going to be longer than
predicted, the administrator can be alerted."
"System administrators can define backlog thresholds for each queue so
that they are notified when the anticipated wait in the queue is too
long. They may then decide to resubmit some of the jobs to a less
heavily loaded queue. If a user is concerned about the progress of a
specific job, the administrator can promote the user's job to the front
of the queue."
I hope that helps. Please reopen if you need additional information.
| Note that Infoprint Manager offers the same functionality as does
| PSM.
| Reviewed 03 May 1999
S e a r c h - k e y w o r d s:
AIX PSM PALLADIUM SPOOL MANAGEMENT BALANCE LEVELING LOAD PSF/6000
PSF/AIX infoprint balancing jes
WWQA: ITEM: RTA000090225 ITEM: RTA000090225
Dated: 05/1999 Category: PSMAIX
This HTML file was generated 2000/11/30~13:34:04
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