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Conference azur::mcc

Title:DECmcc user notes file. Does not replace IPMT.
Notice:Use IPMT for problems. Newsletter location in note 6187
Moderator:TAEC::BEROUD
Created:Mon Aug 21 1989
Last Modified:Wed Jun 04 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:6497
Total number of notes:27359

5824.0. "DECmcc performance on 4000/600" by ARRODS::GILLJ (John, DTN 847-5849) Mon Jan 17 1994 06:14

    Hi,
    
    I am currently working on an automated operations project with a major
    customer.  DECmcc will be used to consolidate events using the DECnet
    event sink, and Data Collector.
    
    We will be using DECmcc-BMS v1.3 on a VAX 4000/600.  We will be using
    two VXT 2000 as display devices.
    
    The customer has begun to enquire about performance.  In particular how
    many events per second could their configuration handle.
    
    It would be ideal if anyone could provide the answer to this question. 
    Failing that how would I go about arriving at an answer?
    
    Any help appreciated,
    
    John
    
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5824.1performance ????VFOVAX::GALVINMic, MCI TeamMon Jan 17 1994 16:5053
    Hi John,
    
    Well, I'll take a crack at answering some of your performance
    questions...  Caveat, I'm not in POLYCENTER Engineering; I've done alot
    of work at customer sites with MCC in the past 2 years, so here goes...
    
    First of all, you didn't mention your configuration other than the 4600
    and the 2 X terminals, so I'll *probe* abit...  
    
    	. 4600 - how much memory?  I would recommend that you get as much
    	as the box can hold.  128mg would be nice!  No kidding.  MCC does
    	much better with lots of memory since it's design uses a caching
    	technique.
    	If it is NOT practical to get alot of physical memory, use very
    	large PAGEFILES and lots of them.  I recommend ~ 2-300mbytes (4-6
    	00,000 blocks) of diskspace for paging.  May seem like alot, but
    	you'll need it.
    
    	. X Terminals - how much memory?  We use 2 VXT2000s at a customer
    	site for VCS, which is far less resource demanding, IMHO, and 
    	constantly run out of memory with, I believe we have either 14 or	
    	16mb of memory in each.  Again, as much as you can get, GET IT!
    
    	. Event Logging Sink - you haven't described your LAN?  WAN?  I
    	will give you an example of what I've seen...  I had a LAN of 
    	about 30-40 DNA4 entities (VAX workstations running DECnet IV) and
    	lots (~ 40 DECrouter 2000s), with numerous PCs and a fair amount of
    	LAT traffic going on for a customer.  When I starting sinking any
    	4.* events I would see significant performance degradation on the
    	MCC Server.  In this config I had a VAX 4090 with 64mb of memory.
    
    	. Misc - you haven't described if you have other things "planned",
    	ie:  EXPORTER background processes with EXPORTing active? 
    	HISTORIAN background processes with RECORDing active?  Will you be
    	doing an ALARMS?  They can be very resource intensive...
    
    I don't mean to dissuade you against using MCC.  As a matter of fact,
    I have found DECnet Events an excellent candidate for using MCC and the
    Data Collector has helped me with several product demos because of it's
    ability to do things *other* than network management...
    
    I would just caution you to think about ALL performance issues, plan
    accordingly, and not get wrapped up in how many events/??? you can
    track.  If you set customer expectations to an exact value you may
    regret it...  From one who has done so and regretted it a couple of
    times...smile.  Hope this helps.  
    
    /Mic
    
    
    
    
        			
5824.2Some more config. info...ARRODS::GILLJJohn, DTN 847-5849Tue Jan 18 1994 06:0535
    Mic,
    
    Thanks for your quick response.  Here is some more information that may
    help in getting us towards some more accurate figure.
    
    The customer configuration  is:
    VAX 4000 model 600
    128 Meg memory
    More disk than you can wave a stick at!
    
    Display stations:
    2 VXT 2000 with 10Meg memory.
    
    The management environment is planned as 60 DECnet VAXes (a mixture of
    all types from VAXstation 3100-90 to VAX 6000.  The LAN comprises 6
    DEChub 900s.  There are also 2 DECnis 600s and a DECnis 500 in the
    config.
    
    We will be doing DECnet management of the VAXes and DECnis'.  We will
    be using HUBwatch (on the 4000-600) to manage the DEChub 900s.  
    
    The VAX 4000 will also be controlling POLYCENTER Scheduler which will
    coordinate the backup of the systems to be managed.
    
    The customer will require us to set an expectation of how many event
    per minute the configuration will handle, and what event rate will
    cause the VAX 4000 to fail/hang.
    
    I understand that it will be more-or-less impossible to give an accurate
    figure, but some approximation would be welcomed.
    
    Regards,
    
    John
    
5824.3Try MCC-TOOLS and/or RACER::DAVE VFOVAX::GALVINMic, MCI TeamThu Jan 20 1994 08:5016
    John,
    Sounds like you've done alot of "upfront" planning...smile.  At this
    point I would recommend that you look at MCC-TOOLS (I believe it's
    still on NOTED) and/or blast this question to RACER::DAVE.  He has done
    some performance evaluation in the past and he might be able to give
    you exact figures...
    
    With the emergence of NETVIEW, I believe some (most?) of the
    development staff that did MCC are setting their sites on NETVIEW.  In
    which case, you might want to post a note in NOTED::NETVIEW, (I think
    it's on that system???  But be ready to get spanked with: "...that
    question is better handled in MCC...a bit of a mobius strip, eh?  Good
    luck.
    
    /Mic