System and method for configuring a server computer for optimal performance for a particular server type

• US 5,819,030 A
• Filed: 07/03/1996
• Issued: 10/06/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Weisman, Daniel R., Lockard, Eric N., Shakib, Darren A., Chen, John Yun-Kuang
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Kenneth S.
• Application Number:
  US08/674,891
• Time in Patent Office: 825 Days
• Field of Search: 707/205, 711/170, 711/173, 395/876, 395/200.5, 395/200.56
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3409 for performance assessment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3419 by assessing time
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3485 for I/O devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/50 Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 Recoverability
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99956 File allocation

Abstract

A technique for configuring a server computer using an optimizer program to achieve optimal performance of the server based on the server types supported by the server. Configuration may involve both calculating server configuration parameters and deciding where to place various files used by the server. In order to decide where to place files, the hardware and software characteristics of the server disk drives are analyzed, and a performance table is generated. The disk drive performance data is then input into a series of algorithms of varying complexity to determine the drives where database files should be stored. Information regarding server utilization, the number of host users and the number of users in the organization is received from an administrator. The administrator input is used to calculate configuration parameters. The optimizer program may automatically adjust a plurality of registry parameters, and may automatically move one or more database and log files to the appropriate disk drives. Alternately, the administrator may be prompted to authorize the changes. The optimizer program may also save the changed parameters and locations to a registry log file.

Claims

1. In a client server environment where a server computer may be configured to act as any of a plurality of server types, and where the performance of the server computer when acting as any of the server types is determined by various server configuration parameters that can be adjusted to optimize operation for a given server type, a method for configuring the server computer including (1) automatically calculating configuration parameters that are optimized to the specific server types supported by the server computer to improve performance over using a default set of configuration parameters for all server types and (2) placing files used by the server computer on disks that will further increase overall server performance, the method comprising the steps of:

querying an administrator for server data, comprising any of the number of users that are expected to be connected to the server, the number of users in the entire organization, the amount of memory specifically allocated for server use, and the particular server types that are to be supported by the server;

determining from said server data provided by the administrator and from hardware information obtained directly from the server various server configuration parameters that can be adjusted to optimize operation for the particular server types that are to be supported by the server by performing at least the steps of;

calculating a total number of database buffers to be used by at least one software component on the server; and

calculating a number of execution threads that can be simultaneously executed by at least one software component on the server;

testing the read and write performance of a plurality of disk drives in order to determine the disk drives that are best suited to store various files used by the server in supporting the server types designated by said administrator;

determining the capacities of the disk drives; and

assigning the server files to specific disk drives based on the results of the read and write performance testing, the storage capacities of the disk drives, and the amount of memory in the server.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of saving the server configuration parameters and file locations in a server registry database.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

creating an optimizer log file; and

recording changes made to the server configuration parameters and to the server database and log file locations in the optimizer log file.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining server configuration parameters comprises the step of choosing certain preset parameters based on whether the computer is configured as a single server or a multi-server.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining server parameters comprises the steps of:

calculating the total number of buffers required by at least two server database engines; and

allocating the buffers between the database engines.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of calculating the total number of buffers comprises the steps of:

determining a RAM value in kilobytes corresponding to the amount of available random-access memory in the server;

determining the number of users hosted by the server; and

using the RAM value and the number of users to determine the total number of buffers required by the server.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the amount of RAM is adjusted depending on the role of the server.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the allocating step comprises the steps of:

determining the role of the server; and

dividing the buffers between the database engines according to an algorithm.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein a directory service database engine is limited to a maximum amount of buffers depending on the number of users in the organization.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the assigning step further comprises the step of prompting the administrator to authorize the file assignments and the calculated parameters.

11. In a client server environment where a server computer may be configured to act as any of a plurality of server types, and where the performance of the server computer when acting as any of the server types is determined by various server configuration parameters that can he adjusted to optimize operation for a given server type, a computer program product for configuring the server computer including (1) automatically calculating configuration parameters that are optimized to the specific server types supported by the server computer and (2) placing files used by the server computer on disks that will further increase overall server performance comprising:

a computer readable medium having computer executable instructions embodied thereon comprising;

means for querying an administrator for server data comprising any of the number of users that are expected to be connected to the server the number of users in the organization, the amount of memory allocated for server use and the particular server types that are to be supported by the server;

means for determining from at least said server data provided by the administrator various server configuration parameters that can be adjusted to optimize operation for the particular server types that are to he supported by the server comprising;

means for calculating a total number of database buffers to be used by at least one software component on the server; and

means for calculating a number of execution threads that can be simultaneously executed by at least one software component on the server;

means for testing the read and write performance of a plurality of disk drives in order to determine the disk drives that are best suited to store various files used by the server in supporting the server types designated by the administrator;

means for determining the capacities the disk drives; and

means for assigning the server files to specific disk drives based on the results of the read and write performance testing and storage capacities of the disk drives.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, further comprising means for saving the server configuration parameters and file locations in a server registry database.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, further comprising:

means for creating an optimizer log file; and

means for recording changes made to the server configuration parameters and to the server database and log file locations in the optimizer log file.

14. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the means for determining server configuration parameters comprises means for choosing certain preset parameters based on whether the computer is configured as a single server or a multi-server.

15. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the means for determining server configuration parameters comprises:

means for calculating the total number of buffers required by at least two server database engines; and

means for allocating the buffers between the database engines.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the means for calculating the numbers of buffers comprises:

means for determining a RAM value in kilobytes corresponding to the amount of available random-access memory in the server;

means for determining the number of users hosted by the server; and

means for using the RAM value and the number of users to determine the total number of buffers required by the server.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the amount of RAM is adjusted depending on the role of the server.

18. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the means for allocating buffers comprises:

means for determining the role of the server; and

means for dividing the buffers between the database engines according to an algorithm.

19. The computer program product or claim 15, wherein a directory service database engine is limited to a maximum amount of buffers depending on the number of users in the organization.

20. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the means for assigning further comprises means for prompting the administrator to authorize the file assignments and the calculated parameters.