Test 107: OS/2 LAN Server Performance

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

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:

Requester sizwrkbuf = 4096 maxwrkcache = 4096 Server sizreqbuf = 4096

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