Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management - IBM

Performance Tuning MethodologyFor effective performance tuning, you must first identify the performance issuesand determine the corrective actions. Following is a methodology that helps youfocus your efforts and reduce redundant tasks.Use the following methodology to identify and resolve performance issues inSterling B2B Integrator:1. Fill out the Requirements Planning Worksheet to determine the hardwarerequirements for a given processing volume and speed.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.4Note: If you purchased IBM Consulting Services, you would have received areport containing information about your hardware requirements based onyour business needs.Verify that your hardware and memory specifications match the hardware andmemory recommendations provided during the performance planning phase.Verify that you have installed the requisite patches on your system, which willhelp you fix your performance issues from the IBM Customer Center Web siteat https://cn.sterlingcommerce.com/login.jsp.Verify that you have the supported Java Virtual Machine (JVM ) on thecomputer running Sterling B2B Integrator, and on the DMZ computer if youare running perimeter servers. Both the JVM versions must match each otherand your Sterling B2B Integrator version requirements. The build date andlower release numbers must also match.Verify that you are running the supported version of your operating system.Verify that you are running the supported versions of the JDBC drivers.Verify that you have created your business processes using the most currentadapters and services, well-structured XPath statements, and the lowestpersistence by step and business process.Tune Sterling B2B Integrator using the Performance Tuning Utility and theinformation that you provided in the Requirements Planning Worksheet (referto the topic Performance and Tuning Worksheet). The Performance TuningUtility enables you to tune the cache, memory, and other system components,but not the business processes.For more information about this utility, refer to “Performance Tuning Utility”on page 120.Navigate to Operations System Performance Statistics. In the Statisticspage, select the Enable Performance Statistics option. The PerformanceStatistics reports provide information about the time taken to performbusiness processes and execute activities, database connections andpersistence, and business process queue performance. You can use thisinformation to tune your system according to your volume and speedrequirements.For more information about performance statistics, refer to the topic ManagePerformance Statistics.Review your history of incoming and outgoing documents and enter thisinformation in charts, showing daily, weekly, and monthly processing trends.Use these charts to determine your peak volume processing levels based onyour processing pattern history.Conduct initial performance testing by running your business processes withsample data that is the same size as the data that will be processed inproduction. In addition, run your business processes with data thatSterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

12.13.14.15.16.17.18.approximates your anticipated peak processing volume. This helps you tuneyour system as close to your production environment as possible.Review the Performance Statistics Report for processing speeds, volumes, anddatabase connections.Review the other reports, such as the Database Usage Report and the CacheUsage Report, for information about the areas that can be tuned.Retune Sterling B2B Integrator using the Performance Tuning Utility, based onthe information you gathered from your initial performance testing.Continue this process until your processing time and volume requirements aremet.Create a new Performance Statistics Report called Benchmarksdd/mm/yy.Conduct the same test that you conducted in step 11.Review the Benchmarksdd/mm/yy Performance Statistics Report. If the statisticsin this report are not similar to your previous statistics, repeat steps 11 - 14.Compare your monthly or weekly Performance Statistics Reports with thisBenchmark report to verify that your system is processing business processesefficiently and that your resources are being used efficiently. Using thismethodology as a proactive measure may reduce downtime and processingissues.Performance Recommendations ChecklistsPerformance Recommendations Checklists provide guidelines to plan for therequired elements, and enhance the performance of Sterling B2B Integrator andrelated components.Sterling B2B Integrator: General Recommendations ChecklistThe general recommendations checklist provides a list of guidelines to plan for therequired elements, and to enhance the performance of Sterling B2B Integrator.In the following table, the Test and Production columns indicate whether therecommendations are Recommended (R), Critical (C), or Not Applicable (NA) inthe test and production environments.Note: It is recommended to setup a Sterling B2B Integrator test environment witha sample set of data to verify the recommendations provided in this checklist.RecommendationTestProductionCommentsOS version and OSkernel parametersCCYou should ensure that you installSterling B2B Integrator on certifiedOS versions and levels.Refer to the System Requirementsdocumentation of the correspondingOS versions.Network speedCCYou should ensure that yournetwork cards are operating at thehighest speeds. The networkinterface and the network switch cannegotiate to lower speed. When thathappens, performance degrades evenunder normal processing periods.Performance Management5

RecommendationTestProductionCommentsAIX page spaceallocationCCThe AIX default page spaceallocation policy does not reserveswap space when processes allocatememory. This can lead to excessiveswap space, which forces AIX to killprocesses when it runs out of swapspace.You should ensure that you eitherhave sufficient swap space, or set thefollowing environment policyvariables:PSALLOC EARLYNODISCLAIM TRUEMonitor CPU Utilization NACYou should monitor CPU utilizationto ensure that there is no CPUcontention.Monitor Swap UsageCCIf not enough space is left on theswap device (or paging file), theoperating system may preventanother process from starting, or insome cases, be forced to kill therunning processes.Monitor PagingCCThe JVMs and database managementsystems rely on large memorybuffers or heaps, and are sensitive topaging. Performance can noticeablydegrade if enough memory is notavailable to keep the JVM heap inmemory.You can monitor paging levels usingstandard operating system orthird-party measurement tools, suchas:v UNIX/Linux – SARv Windows – System MonitorMonitor HeapGarbage CollectionPerformance6Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance ManagementCCMonitoring heap GC performance iscritical for performance andavailability. For example, if theamount of heap that is free after aGC is continually increasing, andapproaching the maximum heapsize, the JVM can experienceOutOfMemory exceptions.

RecommendationTestProductionCommentsEDI Encoder ServiceRRAs of Sterling B2B Integrator 5.2, theEDI Encoder Service and EDIEnvelope Service notify the user ofan incorrect value or mismatch inthe Mode parameter by writinginformation on how to correct theproblem in the status report of thebusiness process step. This can causea performance degradation in somevery heavy usage scenarios byadding additional load on thedatabase. It is recommended that allbusiness processes that use the EDIEncoder Service and/or EDIEnvelope Service be reviewed tomake certain they are using thecorrect Mode parameter, and that thevalues match in the business process.EDI Envelope Servicev EDI Encoder Service should be setas Mode. For example: assignto "Mode" IMMEDIATE /assign v EDI Envelope Service should beset as MODE. For example: assignto "MODE" IMMEDIATE /assign PlanningServer node sizingNACYou should ensure that you havesufficient computing capacity toprocess peak transaction volumes.Refer to System Requirementsdocumentation to get an estimate ofthe processor, memory, and otherrequirements.You can also engage IBMProfessional Services to conduct acapacity plan study of your system.This study involves measuring yoursystem, and using the measurementsto forecast resource requirements atanticipated peak processing periods.Database disk sizingNACYou should ensure that you havesufficient disk space for the databaseserver.The size of the database disksubsystem may vary from a fewgigabytes to several terabytes. Thesize depends on the processingvolume, its complexity, and thelength of time you want to keep thedata active in the database.JVMPerformance Management7

RecommendationTestProductionCommentsJVM versionCCYou must ensure that you installSterling B2B Integrator on certifiedJVM versions and levels.Run the –version command in thecommand prompt to ensure that youhave installed the correct version.Verbose GC statisticsNACYou can enable verbose GC statisticscollection. Understanding the healthof GCs for each JVM is critical forperformance.PagingCCThe JVM heap must be resident inthe memory. The performance cannoticeably degrade if the operatingsystem has to page portions of theheap out to disk.OutOfMemoryExceptionsCCOutOfMemory exceptions can causeunpredictable behavior. You shouldensure that you have allocatedsufficient physical memory toSterling B2B Integrator based onyour processing requirements.JVM VM modeCCFor HotSpot JVM, the server mode isapplicable for long-runningworkloads.Heap sizeCCCorrect heap size configuration iscritical for both performance andavailability. If the heap size is toobig, the GC pauses can be long.Similarly, if the heap size is toosmall, it can lead to OutOfMemoryexceptions. You should ensure thatheap size is not set larger thanphysical memory to avoid thrashing.Sterling B2B Integrator supports both32-bit and 64-bit JVMs. You shouldallocate more heap space when youare running a 64-bit JVM.DatabaseMonitor and regulateindexesCCSterling B2B Integrator comes with adefault set of indexes. In some cases,the indexes may not apply to youroperational environment.You should regularly monitor theresource cost of frequently usedqueries to check if additional indexesare required. Similarly, you can alsomonitor the database to deleteindexes if they are not required.8Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

RecommendationTestProductionCommentsCursor sharingCCIf you are using Oracle database,cursor sharing enables dynamic SQLto be reusable, thereby reducing thecontention on the shared pool.You should ensure that you setcursor sharing EXACTParameters governingDB2 locking strategyCCSet DB2 EVALUNCOMMITTED,DB2 SKIPDELETED, andDB2 SKIPINSERTED to reduce lockcontention.Parameters governingDB2 memoryCCSet parameters to manage variousmemory structures such asLOCKLIST, SORTHEAP, and so on,to AUTOMATIC.Volatile tableNACMark tables that change significantly,as volatile.IBM Sterling File Gateway: Specific RecommendationsChecklistIBM Sterling File Gateway is installed on an instance of Sterling B2B Integrator,and shares many of the resources with the latter, including:v Communication Adaptersv Business Processesv Security Servicesv Perimeter Servicesv Encryptionv Decryptionv Account ManagementYou should, therefore, tune your Sterling B2B Integrator installation first, and thenperform the Sterling File Gateway-specific tuning and troubleshooting tasks. Beaware that the changes you make to Sterling File Gateway can also affect theperformance of Sterling B2B Integrator.Note: Do not edit the properties files. Make all the changes in thecustomer overrides.properties file. For example, to change thepgpCmdline2svcname property, enter the following line in thecustomer overrides.properties file:filegateway.pgpCmdline2svcname CUSTOMIn this line, replace CUSTOM with the name of your Command Line 2 adapter. Formore information about the customer overrides.properties file, refer to theproperty files documentation in the online documentation library.The following table describes some of the key parameters that must be configuredto optimize Sterling File Gateway performance.In the following table, the Test and Production columns indicate whether therecommendations are Recommended (R), Critical (C), or Not Applicable (NA) inthe test and production environments.Performance Management9

RecommendationTestIncrease the value of Sterling File RGateway.ProductionCommentsRNumber of Sterling File Gateway services that canbe run concurrently. The services are split intotwo groups, and each group has this value as thelimit. Therefore, the total number of services thatcan run concurrently is equal to the value for thisproperty multiplied by two. Set this to a valuethat is higher than the sum of business processthreads in queues 4 and 6 (where Sterling FileGateway services run).Default value: 8 (Maximum: 64)If you are processing very largeRfiles, increase the probe values toavoid timeout conditions.RTimeouts and sleep intervals that control theperiod for which Sterling File Gateway waits foreach of the sub-business process it invokes. Thetimeouts and sleep intervals control the timeoutswhen a business process is executedsynchronously during routing. The types ofbusiness processes that run during routing areconsumer identification and PGP processing.Setting the values for these properties also enablesone set of relatively quick probes, followed by asecond set of slower probes. The first set will bereactive, but consumes more processor capacity.The second set will be activated forlonger-running processes and will consume lessprocessor capacity.First, probe 120 times, with 100 millisecondsbetween each probe, for a total of 12 seconds.Default value:v bpCompletionProbes.1 120v bpCompletionSleepMsec.1 100Then, probe 600 times with 2000 millisecondsbetween each probe, for a total of 1200 seconds(20 minutes).Default value:v bpCompletionProbes.2 600v bpCompletionSleepMsec.2 2000If you have a high volume ofRPGP traffic, you can improveyour performance by specifying agroup for the file gateway.RThe name of the Command Line 2 adapter to beused for PGP packaging and unpackaging. Youcan override this property in thecustomer overrides.properties file if a customCommand Line 2 adapter is used for PGPoperations. You can also specify an adapter groupname to balance the outbound PGP sessions loadacross multiple adapter instances.Default value: pgpCmdline2svcname PGPCmdlineServiceIf you have very large files thatwill be processed by PGP,increase the value of the filegateway.10RSterling B2B Integrator: Performance ManagementRTimeout value, in milliseconds, for PGP packageand unpackage operations invoked by SterlingFile Gateway.Default value: 240000 milliseconds (4 minutes)

RecommendationIf you have high volumes of FTPtraffic, you can improve yourperformance by specifying agroup.TestProductionCommentsRRThe FTP Client Adapter instance or service groupthat the FileGatewayDeliverFTP business processwill use. You can override this property in thecustomer overrides.properties file to use acustom FTP Client Adapter instance to contacttrading partners. You can also specify an adaptergroup name to balance the outbound FTP sessionsload across multiple adapter instances.Default value: ftpClientAdapterName FTPClientAdapterDecrease the value of evaluationfrequency.RRYou can enable eitherMailboxEvaluateAllAutomaticRules aluateAllAutomaticRulesSubMin verifies the presence ofroutable messages once every 10 seconds, and canbe edited for other intervals of less than oneminute by modifying the MailboxEvaluateAllAutomaticRulesSubMin business process.Suppress Duplicate MessagesRRPrevents duplicate messages from using systemresources.Increase the number of steps abusiness process must completeprior to returning to the queue.RRNumber of steps involved in the completion of abusiness process before the business processreturns to the queue. Higher values will accelerateindividual business process execution, whilelower values will provide smoother multitaskingcapabilities. Interactive use favors a lower numberof steps, while batch processing favors a highernumber of steps. The value ofnoapp.AE ExecuteCycle.# can be different foreach queue. .# indicates the queue number.When a business process has one service to begina protocol session and another service to use theprotocol session, a very low AE ExecuteCyclemay lead many business processes to be in thequeue, with only the first service running. Thismay result in many protocol sessionsaccumulating in an open state, and session limitsbeing met sooner than is necessary.Increase the time period that abusiness process can use athread, before releasing it to beused for another businessprocess.RRMaximum time period, in milliseconds, for whicha business process can use a thread beforereleasing it for use by another business process.This value will override the value set forAE ExecuteCycle. Tuning the value for thisproperty ensures that a series of unusually slowsteps will not tie up a thread completely. Thisvalue can be different for each queue. .# indicatesthe queue number. A value that is too low mayresult in the accumulation of more sessions thanare recommended.Performance Management11

RecommendationTestProductionCommentsIncrease the number ofconcurrent threads.RRTotal number of concurrent threads that SterlingFile Gateway is allowed to use. This number maybe verified against the licensed number ofthreads. This value is the total number of threadsavailable to a workflow engine to executebusiness process steps. Other, non-workflowengine threads do not come under the purview ofthis limit. For example, the threads set infgRouteConcurrentSessionLimit do not comeunder the purview of this limit.Set storage type.RRFile System is more efficient.Default value: databaseThe following table shows the properties that control the above parameters:RecommendationPropertyIncrease the value of Sterling File Gateway.fgRouteConcurrentSessionLimitIf you are processing very large files, increase the probevalues to avoid timeout conditions.v filegateway.bpCompletionProbes.2If you have a high volume of PGP traffic, you canimprove your performance by specifying a group for thefile gateway.pgpCmdline2svcnameIf you have very large files that will be processed byPGP, increase the value of the file gateway.fgRoutePGPCmdLineSocketTimeoutIf you have high volumes of FTP traffic, you canimprove your performance by specifying a group.Decrease the value of evaluation frequency.v ClientAdapterNamev MailboxEvaluateAllAutomaticRulesorv MailboxEvaluateAllAutomaticRulesSubMinSuppress Duplicate Messagesmailbox.disallowDuplicateMessages trueIncrease the number of steps a business process mustcomplete prior to returning to the queue.noapp.AE ExecuteCycle.#Increase the time period that a business process can usea thread, before releasing it to be used for anotherbusiness pro

Sterling B2B Integrator Administrator Performance management documentation includes the following information: v Backgr ound information about the dif fer ent performance and tuning issues when r unning Sterling B2B IntegratorSterling B2B Integrator . v Step-by-step information that helps you: - Optimize the performance.