Test 107: OS/2 LAN Server Performance

Objectives

 * SECTION 1 - PERFORMANCE TUNING APPROACHES
 * Describe the methodical approach to performance tuning.
 * Describe some basic computer performance bottlenecks.
 * Describe the trade-offs of performance decisions.
 * Describe performance benchmarking.


 * SECTION 2 - PERFORMANCE MONITORING TOOLS
 * List the tools available for performance analysis in the OS/2 LAN Server environment.
 * Describe the tools provided with OS/2 LAN Server that can be used to monitor the system's performance.
 * Use the CACHE386.EXE utility of OS/2 LAN Server Advanced.
 * Describe how network trace tools can provide valuable performance information.
 * Describe the primary differences between the FAT and HPFS file systems.
 * Describe how the FAT and HPFS file systems utilize disk cache.
 * Describe the features of the FAT and HPFS file systems provided by OS/2 Version 2.x and above utilize cache.
 * Describe the features of the 386HPFS file system.
 * Describe how the 386HPFS file system utilizes cache.
 * Describe and set the parameters for all three file systems.
 * Use the CACHE386 statistics to assess caching.


 * SECTION 3 - CONFIG.SYS PARAMETERS
 * Describe the use of the timing parameters which could adversely affect performance on a server.
 * Configure the parameters which control swapping.
 * Describe how to and why you would configure a server without virtual DOS support.
 * Describe how installing Fault Tolerance can improve performance.
 * Determine the correct order for the PATH, DPATH, and LIBPATH statements in CONFIG.SYS.


 * SECTION 4 - NETWORK BUFFERS, SMB AND FILE ACCESS
 * Describe the use of the LAN buffers utilized by OS/2 Servers, and OS/2 and DOS Requesters.
 * Determine the appropriate value for NUMREQBUF on a server.
 * List the three types of Server Message Block (SMB) protocols used for file transfer.
 * Describe the different types of file accesses utilized by OS/2 LAN Server and the data flow through the network.

SECTION 5 - IBMLAN.INI PARAMETERS
 * Describe the IBMLAN.INI file and its main functions.
 * Describe the IBMLAN.INI parameters that most significantly affect server performance.
 * Understand the effects of modifying each of the IBMLAN.INI perform- ance tuning parameters.
 * Describe how to tune a Remote IPL Server.

SECTION 6 - PROTOCOL.INI PARAMETERS
 * Describe the structure of the PROTOCOL.INI file.
 * Describe how to effectively set transmit and receive buffers.
 * Describe the PROTOCOL.INI performance parameters.
 * Improve logon performance for DOS and OS/2 LAN Requester by modifying the PROTOCOL.INI file.
 * Describe SIDEBAND and how it impacts performance.
 * Describe the effect of having multiple network adapters in a server.

SECTION 7 - APPLICATIONS
 * Design a LAN Server domain to optimize performance.
 * Create a plan for tuning a domain of LAN Servers.

Sample Test

 * SECTION 1 - PERFORMANCE TUNING APPROACHES
 * 1. In defining a performance problem, it is important to
 * a. set a realistic goal for improvement
 * b. combine as many problems as possible into one problem statement
 * c. know detailed programming information about the applications in question
 * d. completely understand the cause of the problem before beginning to test


 * 2. You notice that using a copy command to transfer a file across the LAN is much faster than when a shared application accesses the same file. Based on this observation, your next step is to investigate whether there is
 * a. a disk problem
 * b. a CPU constraint
 * c. a memory constraint
 * d. a network buffering constraint


 * 3. Which statements about tradeoffs made in performance tuning are true?
 * a. There is always a way to improve performance by using tuning techniques without spending money on upgrades or additional machines.
 * b. You can reach a point in the tuning process at which upgrading the CPU to a faster processor is the only way to improve performance.
 * c. You may have to decide between a CPU upgrade or the addition of a new machine to alleviate a performance problem.
 * d. You may have to decide on a CPU upgrade to improve performance for Application X, or a disk upgrade to improve performance for Application Y.


 * 4. Which statement about performance benchmarking in a production environment is true?
 * a. It requires planned reboots of the server.
 * b. It should be done in large steps to reach the best values quickly.
 * c. It should not be done, because the environment may become unstable.
 * d. It requires that users in the domain know that changes are being made.


 * SECTION 2 - PERFORMANCE MONITORING TOOLS
 * 5. Which command could you use to write the 386HPFS cache hit ratio to a file with the name TEST.LOG?
 * a. CACHE386 > TEST.LOG
 * b. CACHE386 /STATS > TEST.LOG
 * c. CACHEHIT > TEST.LOG
 * d. CACHE386 /OPTIONS > TEST.LOG


 * 6. Which value, found in a network trace, can help you determine how to set the size of OS/2 LAN Server network buffers?
 * a. frame length
 * b. SMB interpretation
 * c. destination address
 * d. access control field


 * SECTION 3 - CACHING
 * 7. Which statements about cache for HPFS partitions are true?
 * a. The range of cache size is 64K to 2MB.
 * b. The threshold size range is 2K to 64K.
 * c. The threshold size range is 2 sectors to 64 sectors.
 * d. The default cache size is 64K, with a threshold size of 4K.


 * 8. Which statement about the /USEALLMEM parameter of the 386 HPFS file system is true?
 * a. It causes CACHE386 to execute above 16MB.
 * b. It allows the 386 HPFS file system to put cache blocks above 16MB.
 * c. It can only be used with a LAN Streamer Adapter card.
 * d. It allows OS/2 to use memory above 16MB for system files.


 * 9. The threshold for the 386 HPFS cache
 * a. is set internally
 * b. can be changed dynamically
 * c. can be changed only at startup
 * d. is set at default to 25% of the cache
 * e. is set at default to 25% of available memory


 * 10. According to the LAN Server 4.0 on-line references, what is the best way to set 386HPFS HEAP?
 * a. The workstation should select the size.
 * b. The workstation should set the size at 25% of workstation memory.
 * c. Heap should be set below 1 MB.
 * d. The administrator should set the size lower than the default, if there is more than one file system.


 * SECTION 4 - CONFIG.SYS PARAMETERS
 * 11. Which statements accurately reflect information about OS/2 timing parameters?
 * a. PRIORITY=ABSOLUTE provides OS/2 with more flexibility than PRIORITY=DYNAMIC.
 * b. In OS/2 2.1 and later, the TIMESLICE= parameter should not be used.
 * c. PRIORITY_DISK_IO=YES provides the foreground task with priority access to the disk.
 * d. MAXWAIT can make a dramatic difference in performance when set correctly for the situation.


 * 12. Swapping should be kept to a minimum on a server, but some swapping is inevitable. Which performance guideline is important for requesters and servers?
 * a. Place SWAPPER.DAT at the root level of a partition to minimize the path.
 * b. Place SWAPPER.DAT in its own partition for efficient disk arm movement.
 * c. Set the MINFREE parameter small to maximize the room for SWAPPER.DAT to grow.
 * d. Set the Initial Size parameter to the average size of SWAPPER.DAT to minimize fragmentation and processor overhead.


 * 13. Which statement about configuring a server without virtual DOS support is true?
 * a. It saves less than 1MB of memory.
 * b. It saves over 2MB of memory.
 * c. It should be done only to reduce CPU cycles.
 * d. It should be done because the function is unnecessary.


 * 14. Which statements about a VDISK on an OS/2 requester is true?
 * a. It is never a good use of memory.
 * b. It can improve performance for local applications.
 * c. It is a good tradeoff for a bigger cache if both local and remote applications are used.
 * d. It is a good use of memory for large, heavily used, shared word processing program files like a dictionary.


 * 15. Which LAN Server feature can enhance server performance, as well as provide an important function?
 * a. UPS
 * b. RIPL
 * c. Local Security
 * d. Fault Tolerance
 * e. DCDB Replicator


 * 16. What is the best way to allow a single print server to process more print jobs?
 * a. Use 4033 print-sharing devices.
 * b. Increase the cache size.
 * c. Increase PRINTMONBUFSIZE.
 * d. Use multiple queues per printer.


 * 17. Where should the ".;" be located in the libpath statement on an OS/2 requester workstation, when the user uses more shared applications than local applications?
 * a. anywhere in the statement
 * b. at the end of the statement
 * c. in the middle of the statement
 * d. at the beginning of the statement


 * 18. The tool, new with LAN Server 4.0, which assists in configuring the server is _______.
 * a. LS40TUNE
 * b. CNFGLS30
 * c. Set Parameters
 * d. Turbo Server


 * 19. How can you get LS40TUNE?
 * a. From your IBM Marketing Representative
 * b. With Advanced LAN Server 4.0
 * c. As a separately purchased product
 * d. With both Entry and Advanced LAN Server 4.0

Requester sizwrkbuf = 4096 maxwrkcache = 4096 Server sizreqbuf = 4096
 * SECTION 5 - NETWORK BUFFERS, SMB, AND FILE ACCESS
 * 20. Which buffers will get used during a 60K record read request if the requester and server are configured as follows:
 * a. work buffers on the requester
 * b. work cache on the requester
 * c. request buffers on the server
 * d. big buffers on the server, if available


 * 21. What will happen if the value for sizwrkbuf on a requester workstation is smaller than the value for sizreqbuf on the server workstation it is in session with?
 * a. Memory will be wasted on the server workstation, because it will never send more than the work buffers on the requester can handle.
 * b. The requester may run out of work buffers, because it will require two or more to handle data being received from a single request buffer on the server.
 * c. Any requests to send data will fail, because the work buffers on the requester are too small to send the data.
 * d. Any requests to receive data will fail, because the work buffers on the server are too small to receive the incoming data.


 * 22. Which type of file access is characterized by successive calls to the file system requesting data that is physically contiguous within a file?
 * a. core
 * b. random
 * c. sequential
 * d. multiplexed


 * 23. When AUTOCACHE = YES with DOS LAN Services, which of the following parameters are overwritten?
 * a. SIZWRKCACHE
 * b. SIZBIGBUF
 * c. NUMBIGBUF
 * d. PRINTMONBUFSIZE


 * SECTION 6 - IBMLAN.INI PARAMETERS
 * 24. Increasing the ________ parameter on an OS/2 LAN Server can sometimes improve performance, because it requires the server to do less checking for alert conditions.
 * a. numalert
 * b. alerttime
 * c. timesched
 * d. alertsched


 * 25. Which parameters can be used to tune replication on an OS/2 LAN Server that is acting as a replication exporter?
 * a. pulse
 * b. tryuser
 * c. interval
 * d. keepconn
 * e. guardtime


 * 26. If an OS/2 LAN Server is acting as a Remote IPL server, the most significant performance improvement can be gained by
 * a. increasing the memory allocated to the 386 HPFS cache
 * b. increasing the value for numbigbuf in the IBMLAN.INI file
 * c. moving the RPL.MAP file to a VDISK at boot time
 * d. increasing maxthreads in the remoteboot section of the IBMLAN.INI file


 * SECTION 7 - PROTOCOL.INI PARAMETERS
 * 27. Which sections will be added to the PROTOCOL.INI file if an OS/2 LAN Server is configured for a second network adapter of the same type as the original?
 * a. One new section will be added for the new adapter.
 * b. No new sections will be added unless an additional protocol is used for the second adapter.
 * c. One new section will be added for the new adapter, plus a section for each protocol that the new adapter uses.
 * d. One new section will be added for the new adapter, and a section for the protocol will be added if it is not used by the other adapter.


 * 28. Which steps can you perform at an OS/2 Requester to improve logon performance and decrease the network traffic generated from that requester?
 * a. decrease the value of NAMECACHE in the PROTOCOL.INI file
 * b. increase the value of XMITBUFSIZE in the PROTOCOL.INI file
 * c. decrease the value of NETBIOSRETRIES in the PROTOCOL.INI file
 * d. increase the value of NETBIOSTIMEOUT in the PROTOCOL.INI file


 * 29. Given the following values in the PROTOCOL.INI file of an OS/2 Requester, which value will take the longest amount of time to start the requester service and log on?
 * a. NETBIOSRETRIES = 8, NETBIOSTIMEOUT = 500
 * b. NETBIOSRETRIES = 8, NETBIOSTIMEOUT = 1000
 * c. NETBIOSRETRIES = 4, NETBIOSTIMEOUT = 1000
 * d. NETBIOSRETRIES = 4, NETBIOSTIMEOUT = 500


 * 30. When the sideband feature of OS/2 LAN Server Advanced is enabled, acknowledgments are eliminated at the
 * a. SMB level for small frames
 * b. SMB level for large frames
 * c. NETBIOS level for small frames
 * d. NETBIOS level for large frames


 * 31. Increasing the number of network adapters in an OS/2 LAN Server will increase the capacity of the server and
 * a. hurt performance due to the NetBIOS overhead involved
 * b. help performance by balancing the network load between adapters
 * c. hurt performance due to the additional datagram traffic generated
 * d. help performance by reducing NetBIOS datagrams.


 * 32. TCPBEUI runs in ring ___ of an Intel processor. a. 0
 * b. 1
 * c. 3
 * d. 4


 * SECTION 8 - APPLICATION
 * 33. Before tuning network buffers on an OS/2 LAN Server you must evaluate the function of the server and determine
 * a. when users will be logging on
 * b. how applications and data are loaded from that server
 * c. the number of users who will be using applications on that server
 * d. the network adapters used in the server and requesters, and the speed of the network

ANSWER KEY

 * 1. a
 * 2. d
 * 3. bcd
 * 4. a
 * 5. b
 * 6. a
 * 7. abd
 * 8. b
 * 9. a
 * 10. a
 * 11. bc
 * 12. ad
 * 13. a
 * 14. bd
 * 15. d
 * 16. a
 * 17. d
 * 18. a
 * 19. d
 * 20. abcd
 * 21. a
 * 22. c
 * 23. bc
 * 24. d
 * 25. ace
 * 26. a
 * 27. d
 * 28. c
 * 29. b
 * 30. c
 * 31. b
 * 32. a
 * 33. bc