Sun Microsystems 2005Q1 manual Customize the Baseline Sizing Figures, Workload Conditions

Portal Sizing

When you calculate transaction time, size your Portal Server so that processing time under regular or peak load conditions does not exceed your performance requirement threshold and so that you can sustain processing time over time.

Workload Conditions

Workload conditions are the most predominantly used system and JVM software resources on a system. These conditions largely depend on user behavior and the type of portal you deploy.

The most commonly encountered workload conditions on Portal Server software affect:

•System performance

Portal Server performance is impacted when a large number of concurrent requests are handled (such as a high activity profile). For example, during peak hours in a business-to-enterprise portal, a significant number of company employees connect to the portal at the same time. Such a scenario creates a CPU-intensive workload. In addition, the ratio of concurrent users to connected users is high.

•System capacity

Portal Server capacity begins to be impacted when large numbers of users log in. As more users login, users use more of the available memory, and subsequently, less memory is available to process requests made to the server. For example, in a business-to-consumer web portal, a large number of logged-in users are redirected to external web sites once the initial Portal Desktop display is loaded. However, as more users continue to login, users create the need for more memory, even though the ratio of users submitting requests to Portal Server and the users merely logged-in is low.

Depending on the user’s behavior at certain times of the day, week, or month, Portal Server can switch between CPU-intensive and memory-intensive workloads. The portal site administrator must determine the most important workload conditions to size and tune the site to meet the enterprise’s business goals.

Customize the Baseline Sizing Figures

Establishing an appropriate sizing estimate for your Portal Server deployment is an iterative process. You might wish to change the inputs to generate a range of sizing results. Customizing your Portal Server deployment can greatly affect its performance.

Chapter 4 Pre-Deployment Considerations 69