Tomcat server tuning : was [[ RE: [nflug] AMD64 Debian 'Etch' Stability ]]

[Brad Bartram]

Chris,

Generally, tomcat relies on a few things.  First, the underlying
operating system configuration.  Use best practices for setting this
up like you would any normal application server.

Second, Tomcat configuration.  Tomcat itself is a very complex and
interesting bit of software.  I wish there was a quick and dirty guide
to setting up tomcat and optimizing.  Your best bet is to read through
the documentation for the specific version you have.  Also, talk with
your java developers to find out what they need and how they will be
using the server.  Based on your developers, that will help you figure
out system tuning.  Also, invest in a good book or two on the subject.

Third is Java.  Just installing java, setting some classpaths, and
firing things up will work - but it isn't a great situation.  Know how
to set memory limits for java and how to tune the jvm itself.  This is
rather well doc'd at sun and other places.

Some constructive google searches will take you far, but Tomcat tuning
is something of a black art.  Don't doubt the effectiveness of some
well placed common sense.

brad

On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 9:46 AM, Christopher Hawkins
<chawkins at bplinux.com> wrote:
> Brad mentioned that when you add java / Tomcat, things change real quick as
> far memory usage. I'm involved in some cluster design issues that have thus
> far focused on filesystems, load balancing, and other general linux
> configuration stuff. But one goal is to be a good platform for running
> Tomcat, and when it comes down to it, I know an awful lot more about
> clusters than I do about Tomcat!
>
> Any opinions on what kinds of general tuning I could do to make Tomcat
> happy? Problem is, the actual app cannot be predicted. It's whatever the
> customer decides to put on there later. So aside from anything app specific,
> any general Tomcat tuning tips are appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Chris
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nflug-bounces at nflug.org
>> [mailto:nflug-bounces at nflug.org] On Behalf Of Brad Bartram
>> Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 9:27 AM
>> To: nflug at nflug.org
>> Subject: Re: [nflug] AMD64 Debian 'Etch' Stability
>>
>> Just to chime in on the swap issue, I'd like to give kudos to
>> Ken for identifying the biggest factor in both configuring
>> swap as well as configuring the general system - know that
>> the system will be doing.
>>
>> At the basic level, Linux is very easy to set up a basic
>> workable server using system defaults and the aforementioned
>> rule of thumb about doubling the size of the ram.  With a
>> decent sized system - or even not so decent sized system
>> today - one can push a lot of bits for quite a while.  The
>> challenge always comes when doing performance tuning. (This
>> really isn't so much for Pete, but more for some of the
>> really young current or aspiring sysadmins)
>>
>> Basic web servers tend to be pretty easy if they are only
>> running apache and serving some static - or not so static
>> content.  They scale to a great number of connections and
>> perform well.  Add java and tomcat on top and things change
>> real quick.  Add serious php functions for a business app or
>> similar and things change quick.  But even then, the
>> conventional wisdom is a pretty close benchmark for 90% of
>> the situations.  For the other 10%, when you need to get away
>> from it, you'll know.
>>
>> brad
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nflug mailing list
> nflug at nflug.org
> http://www.nflug.org/mailman/listinfo/nflug
>