Archives By Subject

NOTE TO OUR READERS:

Sun BluePrints OnLine articles are maintained in this archive for the benefit and historical reference of our readers. Details of the recommendations set forth in these articles may not reflect Sun's latest hardware and software releases. Caution, careful analysis and common sense should be exercised when applying these Sun BluePrints articles to newer products and software releases.

Resource Management

• Solaris Containers Technology Architecture Guide (May 2006)
  -by Jeff Victor
  This Sun BluePrints article is a must-read for those looking to find new ways to reduce IT infrastructure costs and better manage end user service levels. While costs from managing vast networks of servers and software components continue to escalate, existing server consolidation and virtualization techniques do not adequately provision applications and ensure shared resources are not compromised. The Solaris Containers technology addresses this void by making it possible to create a number of private execution environments within a single instance of the Solaris OS. This paper provides suggestions for designing system configurations using powerful tools associated with Solaris Containers, guidelines for selecting features most appropriate for the user's needs, advice on troubleshooting, and a comprehensive consolidation planning example.
  
  
• Working with Solaris Containers and the Solaris Service Manager (May 2006)
  -by Joost Pronk van Hoogeveen
  Solaris Containers and Predictive Self-Healing technologies work together by creating separate execution environments, each with its own namespace and assigned resources. Each environment can have its own self-healing personalities that can be changed, copied, and reloaded as needed. These technologies enable administrators to determine the current state of the environment, making it easier to use the Solaris OS for consolidation efforts. This article provides an inside look on what the Solaris 10 OS has to offer, as well as ideas on how to get started and put these new features to work, with technologies such as Solaris Containers, Solaris Predictive Self Healing and Solaris Service Management Facility. Emphasis is placed on illustrating how these functionalities can be used to create isolated environments customized for specific applications.
  
  
• Web Consolidation on the Sun Fire T1000 using Solaris Containers (December 2005)
  -by Kevin Kelly
  Reducing the costs of IT infrastructure and improving the manageability and efficiency of web services pose significant challenges for many organizations in today's economic climate. Recent studies describe the challenges IT managers face administering the proliferation of x86-based servers used to run web services applications. Those reports reveal that using large number of x86-based systems can increase space and power consumption, as well as cost and asset management overhead. In addition, many of these x86-based systems run a mixture of operating system and application software leading to increased management complexity and potential security concerns.
  
  Faced with these challenges, many organizations are attracted by the idea of consolidating web and application services from multiple x86-based servers to a smaller number of high-performance servers. This approach strives to help simplify management, improve performance, and increase the efficiency of delivering web services. The combined capabilities of the Sun Fire T1000 server and Solaris Containers technology in particular offer significant promise as a web-tier consolidation platform. The Sun Fire T1000 server offers high aggregate throughput performance in a small, power-efficient footprint. Solaris containers provide a complete, isolated, and secure runtime environment for applications, enabling multiple web servers to run safely and efficiently on the same platform.
  
  This paper explores the configuration and testing of the Sun Fire T1000 server as a web-tier consolidation platform. It discusses methodologies used to consolidate multiple web servers onto a single Sun Fire T1000 server, and explains the steps used to configure the Solaris Containers. In addition, to determine the effectiveness of this approach, testing was performed to evaluate the consolidated Sun Fire T1000 system against a baseline configuration of current Xeon servers, a popular choice as web server platform.
  
  
• Developing and Tuning Applications on UltraSPARC T1 Chip Multithreading Systems (December 2005)
  -by Denis Sheahan
  Traditional processor design has long emphasized the performance of a single hardware thread of execution, and focused on providing high levels of instruction-level parallelism. These increasingly complex processor designs have been driven to very high clock rates (frequencies), often at the cost of increased power consumption and heat production. Unfortunately, the impact of memory latency has meant that even the fastest single-threaded processors spend most of their time idle, waiting for memory. Complicating this tendency, many of today’s complex commercial workloads are simply unable to take advantage of instruction-level parallelism, instead benefiting from thread-level parallelism.
  
  This Sun BluePrints article describes techniques that system architects, application developers, and performance analysts can use to assess the scaling characteristics of an application. It also explains how to optimize an application for chip multithreading, in particular for systems that use UltraSPARC T1 processors. This article discusses the following topics:
  • Processor physical characteristics
  • Performance characteristics
  • Classes of commercial applications
  • Assessing performance on UltraSPARC T1 processor-based systems
  • Scaling applications with chip multithreading
  • Tuning for general performance
  • Accessing the modular arithmetic unit and encryption framework
  • Minimizing floating-point operations and VIS instruction
  
  
  
• Slicing and Dicing Servers: A Guide to Virtualization and Containment Technologies (October 2005)
  -by Harry J. Foxwell, Issac Rozenfeld
  Part of an emerging family of containment technologies, server virtualization is designed to help reduce server sprawl — the proliferation of individual hardware servers and accompanying management and resource allocation problems. Today, IT managers and executives are starting to consider a variety of virtualization and containment technologies available on Microsoft Windows, Linux, the Solaris Operating System and other environments. There is also renewed interest among industry and academic researchers in this area, as virtualization is a key technology in the deployment of both computational and business service grid architectures. However, significant confusion remains regarding the terminology and techniques involved, as well as the trade-offs among the range of current solutions.
  
  This article focuses on the motivation behind server-oriented containment and virtualization — secure, efficient, and cost-effective workload management — and discusses the concepts, vocabulary, and techniques currently available to help achieve it. Other forms of virtualization, such as those used for storage and networks, are not discussed. Directed at IT managers, CIOs, and CTOs responsible for computer resource allocation decisions, this article assumes general familiarity with IT infrastructure and management issues, and provides an overview of various solutions. Detailed technical knowledge of the techniques presented is not required. The first section reviews the requirements and challenges of workload management. Subsequent sections discuss the origins of virtualization and containment, currently available solutions and trade-offs, and a brief discussion of future technologies.
  
  
• Scheduler Policies for Job Prioritization in the N1 Grid Engine 6 System (October 2005)
  -by Charu Chaubal
  Grid engine technology powers collections of network-connected servers, called grids, providing efficient use of computing resources. The N1 Grid Engine 6 software, the newest version of Sun's resource management solution, includes the core services for establishing and managing a grid environment, and provides policy-based workload management and dynamic provisioning of application workloads for increased productivity. This article describes the tools and techniques for resource management that are available in the N1 Grid Engine 6 software, and explains how to use them effectively. It discusses the prioritization policies in the N1 Grid Engine 6 software, describes how they fit with the new resource aggregation methods, and makes recommendations for how to map real-life resource allocation schemes to N1 Grid configurations.
  
  The article addresses the following topics:
  • How the N1 Grid Engine 6 system implements job scheduling
  • The various scheduling policies that can be employed in an N1 Grid
  • An example scenario providing fair share use of resources with prioritization of jobs
  • Illustrates how to automatically determining priorities based on job requirements
  • Explains how to provide prioritization of jobs in combination with preemption of lower priority
  
  
• Protecting Investments Through Technology Advancements (October 2005)
  -by Brian Down
  With businesses becoming increasingly dependent on IT infrastructure, IT organizations are constantly seeking new ways to implement these vital assets in a cost-effective manner that supports business goals. At the same time, budget pressures are pushing organizations to find ways to protect technology investments and ensure they provide good value over time. Indeed, because IT assets depreciate, it is important they provide value—business flexibility, agility, and efficiency—for as long as possible, and be easy to replace when the time comes. This Sun BluePrints article explains what it means to protect IT investments, and what you need to consider when protecting them. It also illustrates how Sun's platform of UltraSPARC processor-based servers running the Solaris Operating System can be used to build an infrastructure with investment protection built-in.
  
  
• Using Host Groups and Cluster Queues in the Sun N1 Grid Engine 6 System (August 2005)
  -by Charu Chaubal
  Grid engine technology is currently used to power thousands of grids, collections of network-connected servers, providing more efficient use of computing resources. The N1 Grid Engine 6 software, the newest version of Sun's resource management solution, includes the core services for establishing and managing a grid environment, and provides policy-based workload management and dynamic provisioning of application workloads for increased productivity. This article discusses abstracting collections of resources within the N1 Grid environment using cluster queues and host groups, and explains how these features can be used to simplify administration and implement scheduling policies.
  
  
• Auto Diagnosis and Recovery Enhancements for Sun Fire Midrange Servers Updated for Firmware Release 5.19.0 (August 2005)
  -by Tricia Wittsack
  Beginning with firmware release 5.15.0 for the System Controller (SC), several enhancements were made to improve the availability serviceability, diagnosability, and repair characteristics of Sun Fire midrange servers. These enhancements provided in the system controller firmware, combined with enhancements to the Solaris Operating System (Solaris OS), implement auto diagnosis and recovery capabilities that can increase system uptime, decrease system outages, improve system resiliency when a hardware fault occurs and minimize service interruptions. These enhancements automate many processes and procedures which required human intervention prior to firmware version 5.15.0. Firmware version 5.19.0 and the appropriate Solaris OS with all relevant kernel updates and patches are required to fully benefit from these enhancements.
  
  This document is useful for support personnel and assumes a basic technical knowledge of the Sun Fire midrange servers.
  
  
• Creating Self-Balancing Solutions with Solaris Containers (June 2005)
  -by David Collier-Brown
  Transactions of some kind are an integral part of every organization, and must be completed on time if the business is to operate effectively and efficiently. Chaos, and damage, can be caused if critical transactions are not handled correctly. Today, IT managers often try to break workloads into chunks and process them with separate program instances in the hope that they can distribute the workload across the instances and keep pace with demand. This technique has its drawbacks. What happens when one instance fails to finish in time? Worse, what if the business is growing, and every month the number of lagging instances increases? How are system administrators supposed to figure out which instance is going to be late the next time?
  
  System administrators need to find ways to balance workloads across computing resources. With Solaris 10, Solaris Containers were further enhanced to include a new facility, Solaris Zones, which can be used to create a virtual environment that enables the management of unbalanced load problems. This Sun BluePrints article presents several techniques for dealing with unexpected load changes, and provides best practices for employing Solaris Containers in this effort.
  
  
• Solaris Containers--What They Are and How to Use Them (May 2005)
  -by Menno Lageman
  Over the years businesses have been building large-scale information systems to solve business problems, with a focus on building scalable and highly available IT infrastructures that can adapt change. Providing sufficient availability and performance for business applications was the primary driver for these efforts. Today, the need to protect technology investments and provide the same service levels at a lower price point is shifting the focus to reducing IT infrastructure cost and improving end user service level management. To help this effort, the Solaris Operating System includes Solaris Containers, a mechanism that provides isolation to safely and securely share resources between software applications or services using flexible, software-defined boundaries.
  
  This Sun BluePrint article discusses the challenges organizations face in dealing with resource and workload management. Solaris Containers, and their constituent technologies (projects, resource pools, Zones) are introduced and explained. Practical examples that show these technologies solving resource and workload management problems are demonstrated.
  
  
• Service Provisioning with Resource Management (November 2004)
  -by Sam Antwi
  The Solaris 9 Resource Management (Solaris 9 RM) offers a more granular, elegant, and flexible solution to Solaris Operating System (Solaris OS) platform resource sharing and control. It provides support for a predictable approach to guaranteed service level commitment, even in environments where resources are contested by multiple stacked application service workloads or where maximizing system resource utilization is paramount. This Sun BluePrint shows how to apply Solaris 9 RM for service provisioning, with a particular focus on three application service workloads: Sun ONE Web Server, BEA WebLogic, and Oracle9i.
  
  
• Using Solaris Resource Manager With Sun Ray (June 2004)
  -by Marcel Guerin
  This article describes best practices for managing system resources for Sun Ray users. Based on an actual customer scenario, this article provides recommendations for integrating and using the Solaris Resource Manager software to fairly distribute system resources when users insert and remove their smart cards from Sun Ray desktop units. Sample scripts associated with this article are available from the Sun BluePrints Scripts & Tools web site via the SDLC download service. This article and the scripts are intended for an audience with intermediate to advanced knowledge on this topic.
  
  
• Global Grid Connectivity Using Globus Toolkit With Solaris Operating System (May 2004)
  -by Chong-Wee Simon See and Gabriel Ghinita
  This article describes how to integrate grid computing with Globus Toolkit software for a site using Sun N1 Grid Engine software (formerly Sun Grid Engine) as a local resource manager. This article provides background information and step-by-step instructions for installing, configuring, integrating, and testing Globus Toolkit software with Sun N1 Grid Engine software on x86 architecture using the Solaris 9 Operating System.
  
  
• Sun Ray Deployment On Shared Networks (February 2004)
  -by Mike Oliver, Raja Doraisamy, Bob Doolittle, Kent Peacock, Gerard Wall, and Gary Sloane
  With the growing popularity of the Sun Ray thin client computing model and its increasing acceptance in business and research settings, there has been considerable demand for a more detailed description of best practices for deployment on varied existing network topologies. This article describes several common topologies and provides deployment hints and instructions not yet covered in the product documentation. This article is ideal for advanced network administrators.
  
  
• Dynamic Reconfiguration and Oracle 9i Dynamically Resizeable SGA (January 2004)
  -by Erik Vanden Meersch and Kristien Hens
  This article explains how Oracle 9i can operate in combination with Sun's dynamic reconfiguration (DR). It provides a brief overview of DR, intimate shared memory (ISM), dynamic intimate shared memory (DISM), and dynamically resizable system global area (SGA), and explains how these technologies fit together. In addition, this article provides step-by-step details for configuring Oracle relational databases on Sun Fire servers so that the DR capabilities of the Sun platform can be maximized. This article requires an intermediate reader. The features described in this article should be used with the Solaris 9 OS Update 2 and newer.
  
  
• Sun Grid Engine, Enterprise Edition-Configuration Use Cases and Guidelines (July 2003)
  -by Charu Chaubal
  This article describes a set of use cases for configuration of Sun Grid Engine, Enterprise Edition 5.3 (Sun ONE GEEE) software. It is meant to be a starting point from which intermediate to advanced Sun One GEEE software administrators can create a customized configuration for their particular environment. It is important to realize that each environment has unique requirements, and that the greatest benefits of the Sun ONE GEEE software policy module are obtained by fine-tuning a configuration once the results of the initial configuration have been assessed. Moreover, as the environment evolves and the needs of the enterprise change, additional tuning on an ongoing basis will probably be appropriate. This article assumes the reader has some familiarity with the features and parameters of Sun ONE GEEE.
  
  
• Building a Global Compute Grid - Two Examples Using the Sun ONE Grid Engine and the Globus Toolkit (April 2003)
  -by Charu Chaubal & Radoslaw Rafinski
  Currently, much research activity is based around the implementation of advanced resource sharing networks, which are geographically distributed. Much of this research has taken advantage of the Globus Toolkit, an open source toolkit provided by the Globus organization. In this Sun BluePrints article, the problem of building a compute grid using the Globus Toolkit and how it can best be integrated with Sun ONE Grid Engine are discussed. Two case studies in the academic arena are presented.
  
  
• A New Open Resource Management Architecture in the Sun HPC ClusterTools Environment (November 2002)
  -by Steve Sistare
  This article presents a new architecture for the integration of the Sun HPC ClusterTools parallel computing environment with distributed resource management systems such as the Sun Grid Engine system. The architecture enables a tight integration to be achieved with multiple distributed resource management systems in a uniform and extensible framework, which means that any of the popular management systems may be used to launch and monitor Sun MPI parallel jobs. Unlike previously available loose integrations, tight integrations allow a resource manager to accurately measure resources used by the parallel processes, to terminate jobs that exceed resource limits, and to generate accurate accounting information for multi-process jobs Tight integrations are implemented with Sun Grid Engine software, PBS, and LSF. Correct resource accounting with this tight integration is demonstrated and launching and debugging Sun MPI jobs using each system is detailed.
  
  
• Resource Management in the Solaris 9 Operating Environment (September 2002)
  -Stuart J. Lawson
  The Solaris Resource Manager (Solaris RM) enables the resources of a single instance of the operating environment to be shared in an arbitrarily fine-grained manner, among consolidated or partitioned applications or system users. The Solaris RM can be used such that a guaranteed level of service can be given, where appropriate. In this article, Stuart Lawson describes the three core resource management approaches in the Solaris 9 Operating Environment and offers best practices for setting up a resource management framework.
  
  
• Introduction to the Cluster Grid - Part 2 (September 2002)
  -James Coomer and Charu Chaubal
  Grid computing is a rapidly emerging technology that can be implemented through the use of the Sun Cluster Grid software stack. In the second part of a two-part series, this article takes the next step in describing the Sun Cluster Grid design phase which includes information gathering, design decisions, installation and management considerations, and example implementations.
  
  
• Introduction to the Cluster Grid - Part 1 (August 2002)
  -by James Coomer and Charu Chaubal
  Grid computing is a rapidly emerging technology which can be implemented today through the use of the Sun Cluster Grid software stack. Part one of this two part series provides an introduction to grid architecture, and discusses how the architecture can be applied to existing compute environments using the Sun Cluster Grid software stack. Full treatment of the cluster grid design and implementation will be provided in the September BluePrints Online article, "Introduction to the Cluster Grid - Part 2".
  
  
• Enterprise Management Systems Part II: Enterprise Quality of Service (QoS) Provisioning and Integration (May 2002)
  -by Deepak Kakadia with Dr. Tony G. Thomas, Dr. Sridhar Vembu, and Jay Ramasamy of AdventNet, Inc.
  Building on the concepts of how to best manage services in Service Driven Networks, this second article of the two-part series describes how to integrate Sun Management Center 3.0 software and AdventNet WebNMS 2.3 software to provision end-to-end services and provide a complete solution that can effectively manage a multivendor environment.
  
  
• Enterprise Management Systems Part I: Architectures and Standards (April 2002)
  -by Deepak Kakadia, Dr. Tony Thomas, Dr. Sridhar Vembu and Jay Ramasamy
  The first in a two-part series focused on managing services in Service Driven Networks (SDNs), this article presents a summary of typical architectures and a clarification of the standards to help the reader better understand the implementations of various third-party vendor EMSystems solutions.
  
  
• Enterprise Quality of Service (QoS) Part II: Enterprise Solution using Solaris Bandwidth Manager 1.6 Software (March 2002)
  -by Deepak Kakadia
  Deepak's article is the second in a two-part series that focuses on Quality of Service (QoS) issues. This article explores possible approaches to deploying an Enterprise Quality of Service solution using Solaris Bandwidth Manager 1.6 software. It also presents an integrated close-loop solution using Sun Management Center 3.0 software, which exploits API's offered by both products and creates a policy-based QoS solution for the enterprise.
  
  
• Enterprise Quality of Service (QoS): Part I - Internals (February 2002)
  -by Deepak Kakadia
  In a two-article series, distinguished Sun BluePrints author works to clear the confusion surrounding QoS by explaining what it is, how it is implemented, and how to use it in an enterprise. This month's part one article details the basics surrounding the "what" and "how" of implementation, as well as the internals of QoS. Be sure to return to Sun BluePrints OnLine next month for his second article which will focus on how to deploy QoS in an enterprise.
  
  
• Managing Systems and Resources in HPC Environments (February 2002)
  -by Omar Hassaine
  Written for the compute-intensive site administrator and user, this article highlights the benefits, presents preferred practices, and provides useful recommendations for using enterprise server tools and features available in commercial environments.
  
  
• Issues in Selecting a Job Management System (January 2002)
  -by Omar Hassaine
  This article addresses the problems usually faced when selecting the most appropriate job management system (JMS) to deploy at HPC sites. The article describes the three most popular offerings available on the Sun platform and provides a classification of the most important features to use as a basis in selecting a JMS. A JMS comparison and useful set of recommendations are included.
  
  
• Building Sun based Beowulf Cluster (December 2001)
  -by Börje Lindh
  This article explains how you can build compute clusters from Sun Microsystems components that competes with Beowulf clusters and above.
  
  
• System Performance Management: Moving from Chaos to Value (July 2001)
  -by Jon Hill and Kemer Thomson
  This article presents the rationale for formal system performance management from a management, systems administrative and vendor perspective. It describes four classes of systems monitoring tools and their uses. The article discusses the issues of tool integration, "best-of-breed versus integrated suite" and the decision to "buy versus build."
  
  
• Using Solaris Resource Manager with Solaris PC NetLink Software - Part 2 (June 2000)
  -by Don DeVitt
  Don presents part 2 of this article in which he includes an experiment that is performed to determine a useful range of shares that can be allocated to the Solaris PC NetLink software by the Solaris Resource Manager software.
  
  
• Using Solaris Resource Manager with Solaris PC NetLink Software - Part 1 (May 2000)
  -by Don DeVitt
  Don discusses the use of Solaris PC NetLink with Solaris Resource Manager.
  
  
• Sun Enterprise 10000 Server Floating Tape Library Solution (January 2000)
  -by Enrique Vargas
  Enrique presents the fourth article in the Dynamic Reconfiguration (DR) series.
  
  
• Tracing Resource Consumption of Solaris PC NetLink Software Users (December 1999)
  -by Don DeVitt
  Shows the Solaris Operating Environment commands and the Solaris PC NetLink software commands for determining which PC clients are consuming resources via Solaris PC NetLink software.
  
  
• Policy-Based Networks (October 1999)
  -by Jean-Christophe Martin
  Talks about the network policy concept in greater depth, and see how it is implemented in the Solaris Bandwidth Manager software.
  
  
• Modelling the Behavior of Solaris Resource Manager Software (August 1999)
  -by Enterprise Engineering
  How Solaris Resource Manager software achieves dynamic resource consumption by using a fair share CPU scheduling algorithm.
  
  
• Solaris Resource Manager: Resource Assignment (August 1999)
  -by Richard McDougall
  This article explains how users are assigned resource lnodes and under what circum-stances they change to ensure that resource limits are allocated correctly.
  
  
• Solaris Bandwidth Manager (June 1999)
  -by Evert Hoogendoorn
  Evert explains the benefits of Solaris Bandwidth Manager.
  
  
• Load Sharing Facility (June 1999)
  -by Tom Bialaski
  How LSF can be used as a resource management tool for running technical batch applications such as simulations.
  
  
• Solaris Resource Manager - Decay Factors and Parameters (April 1999)
  -by Richard McDougall
  More on Solaris Resource Manager with the Decay Factors and Parameters.
  
  
• Solaris Resource Manager - Decay and Scheduler Parameters (April 1999)
  -by Richard McDougall
  Continues with the topic of Solaris Resource Manager Decay.
  
  
• An Overview of Methodology (April 1999)
  -by Adrian Cockcroft
  An in-depth overview on Service Level Definitions and Interactions and Resource Management Control Loop.
  
  
• Dynamic Reconfiguration (April 1999)
  -by Enrique Vargas
  The fundamentals of Dynamic Reconfiguration.
  
  
• Managing NFS Workloads (April 1999)
  -by Richard McDougall, Adrian Cockcroft and Evert Hoogendoorn
  Demonstration of the usage and management of NFS.
  
  
• Solaris Resource Manager (April 1999)
  -by Richard McDougall
  Overview and examples of Solaris Resource Manager functions.
  
  

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Data Management

• Architecting Availability and Disaster Recovery Solutions (April 2006)
  -by Tim Read
  IT departments typically run four broad classes of service in the data centre: mission critical, business critical, business operational and administrative services. Which service falls into which category is normally agreed between the business units and the IT department by determining the importance of various business processes and how these map on to IT systems. Each class, and possibly individual services, will have service level agreement (SLAs). In turn, these demand different levels of protection against failure, whether caused by hardware or software problems, administrative error, data loss or corruption or disasters of various sorts. Problems that make the data unavailable, through hardware or software failure, require a different solution to those that make the underlying data itself unavailable, either through corruption or deletion.
  
  Services considered mission critical require technical solutions that include both a service availability and a disaster recovery component as part of a full business continuity plan (BCP). The 'best practice' data centre infrastructure design patterns for many of the pieces needed for such solutions: local area networks, storage area networks, systems management, security, provisioning and clustering are described in detail in the 'Data Centre Reference Implementation' white paper.
  
  This document discusses the options for meeting the SLAs for mission and business critical services with particular reference to the Sun Cluster software. Where multiple solutions exist, the underlying complementary technologies: disk mirroring, data replication, transaction monitors and database replication techniques, are examined to highlight the trade-offs that must be made when using certain hardware and software combinations.
  
  The broader topic business continuity involves the consideration of more than just system availability and disaster recovery. This white paper does not cover any aspects of the disaster planning required for telecommunications, staffing or physical infrastructure, such as buildings, desks, etc.
  
  
• Understanding the Benefits of Implementing Oracle RAC on Sun Cluster Software (January 2005)
  -by Kristien Hens and Michael Loebmann
  In solutions that implement Oracle RAC and Sun Cluster software, the flexibility and power of Sun's cluster solution can add structure and maintainability to various underlying hardware components. This article describes the benefits of an Oracle RAC and Sun Cluster solution.
  
  This article is the complete second chapter of the Sun BluePrints book, "Creating Highly Available Database Solutions: Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) and Sun Cluster 3.x Software," by Kristien Hens and Michael Loebmann, is now available at our Sun BluePrints publication page, amazon.com, and Barnes & Noble bookstores. This article targets an intermediate audience.
  
  
• Best Practices for Deploying the Sun StorADE Utility (January 2004)
  -by Christian Cadieux and Mike Monahan
  This article discusses the Sun Automated Diagnostic Environment (StorADE) utility. The StorADE utility provides centralized monitoring and diagnostics for most Sun storage product offerings. The first part of this article provides an overview and describes how to plan a StorADE deployment. The second part provides step-by-step installation information with best practice recommendations for StorADE configuration; whether the environment contains complex storage area networks (SANs), or straightforward direct-connect devices. This article is intended for IT architects, administrators, and anyone looking for an introductory article on a storage monitoring utility.
  
  
• Migrating to the Solaris Operating System: Migrating From Tru64 UNIX (November 2003)
  -by Ken Pepple, Brian Down, and David Levy
  This article presents a fictional case study that illustrates the methodology, tools, and best practices used to migrate a Tru64 environment to a Solaris environment.
  BR> This article is the complete tenth chapter of the Sun BluePrints book, "Migrating to the Solaris Operating System", by Ken Pepple, Brian Down, and David Levy, which is available at our Sun BluePrints publication page, amazon.com, and Barnes & Noble bookstores. This article targets an intermediate audience.
  
  
• Hardware Replication Challenges (November 2003)
  -by Selim Daoud
  This article describes the challenges of keeping valuable hardware-replicated data safe. Being able to access and manipulate the cloned data is crucial and often neglected. This article describes the different types of data replication and the procedure to access a hardware-replicated set of data. This article targets an intermediate audience.
  
  
• Solaris Volume Manager Performance Best Practices (November 2003)
  -by Glenn Fawcett
  Compelling new features such as soft partitioning and automatic device relocation make the Solaris Volume Manager software a viable candidate for storage management needs. Solaris Volume Manager software features enhance storage management capabilities beyond what is handled by intelligent storage arrays with hardware RAID. Now Solaris Volume Manager software is integrated with the Solaris Operating Environment (Solaris OE) and does not require additional license fees. This article provides specific Solaris Volume Manager tips for system, storage, and database administrators who want get the most of Solaris Volume Manager software in their data centers. This article targets an intermediate audience.
  
  
• Solaris Operating System and ORACLE Relational Database Management System Performance Tuning (October 2003)
  -by Ramesh Radhakrishna
  This article focuses on the performance problems at the Resource Tier (database server). The assumption is that the database server is a Sun server running an ORACLE Relational Management System (RDBMS). The article requires a general knowledge of Solaris Operating System (Solaris OS) and Oracle RDBMS system administration. It is written for beginner- and intermediate-level system administrators responsible for Sun systems, and for Sun's customer engineers, and database administrators responsible for tuning Oracle databases.
  
  
• Migrating to the Solaris Operating System: Migration Strategies (September 2003)
  -by Ken Pepple, Brian Down, and David Levy
  This article defines the most important terms in migration, and differentiates between these terms. In addition, it presents migration strategies, the benefits and risks of each strategy, and the appropriateness of each strategy for various situations. This article is ideal for a beginning to intermediate audience.
  
  This article is the complete third chapter of the Sun BluePrints book, "Migrating to the Solaris Operating System", which will be available at Sun BluePrints Publication page, the amazon.com website, and Borders and Barnes & Noble bookstores at the end of October, 2003.
  
  
• Using filesync for Disaster Recovery, Business Continuance, and Mobility (July 2003)
  -by John Rosander
  The Solaris Operating Environment filesync(1) command can be used for disaster recovery, business continuance, and mobility. This article details how to use the filesync(1) command to synchronize directories between Sun servers, and between Sun servers and Linux laptops. This article is ideal for a reader with an intermediate level of expertise.
  
  
• Avoiding Common Performance Issues When Scaling RDBMS Applications With Oracle9i Release 2 And Sun Fire Servers (March 2003)
  -byGlenn Fawcett
  There are a handful of common performance issues that arise when trying to scale Oracle database applications on Solaris Operating Enironment. These issues are sometimes difficult to identify and address. This paper incorporates the experiences of Sun's Strategic Application Engineering group in tuning Oracle RDBMS systems on a variety of workloads. There are accompanying document, Avoiding Common Performance Issues When Scaling RDBMS Applications With Oracle9i Release 2 And Sun Fire Servers Appendices, that supplements the information in this article.
  
  
• APPENDICES - Avoiding Common Performance Issues When Scaling RDBMS Applications With Oracle9i Release 2 And Sun Fire Servers Appendices (March 2003)
  -by Glenn Fawcett
  These are the appendices for the article Avoiding Common Performance Issues When Scaling RDBMS Applications With Oracle 9i Release 2 And Sun Fire Servers (March 2003)
  
  
• Configuring Databases Using Soft Links (January 2003)
  -by Carlos Godinez
  This article explains the advantages of using symbolic (soft) links when configuring databases and provides techniques and examples for using them. This article presents information that will enable you to manage database configuration efficiently and accurately.
  
  
• Managing Shared Storage in a Sun Cluster 3.0 Environment With Solaris Volume Manager Software (November 2002)
  -by Kristien Hens and Peter Dennis
  Traditionally, VERITAS Volume Manager (VxVM) has been the volume manager of choice for shared storage in enterprise-level configurations. In this article, a free and easy-to-use alternative, Solaris Volume Manager software, which is part of the Solaris 9 Operating Environment (Solaris 9 OE) is explored. This mature product offers similar functionality to VxVM. Moreover, it is tightly integrated into the Sun Cluster 3.0 software framework and, therefore, should be considered to be the volume manager of choice for shared storage in this environment.
  
  
• Memory Hierarchy in Cache-Based Systems (November 2002)
  -by Ruud Van Der Pas
  This article will help the reader understand the architecture of modern microprocessors by introducing and explaining the most common terminology and addressing some of the performance related aspects. Written for programmers and people who have a general interest in microprocessors, this article presents introductory information on caches and is designed to provide understanding on how modern microprocessors work and how a cache design impacts performance.
  
  Despite improvements in technology, microprocessors are still much faster than main memory. Memory access time is increasingly the bottleneck in overall application performance. As a result, an application might spend a considerable amount of time waiting for data. This not only negatively impacts the overall performance, but the application cannot benefit much from a processor clock-speed upgrade either. One method for overcoming this problem is to insert a small high-speed buffer memory between the processor and main memory. Such a buffer is generally referred to as cache memory, or cache for short.
  
  
• Configuring Boot Disks With Solaris Volume Manager Software (October 2002)
  -by Erik Vanden Meersch and Kristien Hens
  This article is an update to the April 2002 Sun BluePrints OnLine article, Configuring Boot Disks With Solstice DiskSuite Software. This article focuses on the Solaris 9 Operating Environment, Solaris Volume Manager software, and VERITAS Volume Manager 3.2 software. It describe how to partition and mirror the system disk, and how to create and maintain a backup system disk. In addition, this article presents technical arguments for the choices made, and includes detailed runbooks.
  
  
• Monitoring and Tuning Oracle - Chapter 22, Part II (August 2002)
  -by Allan N. Packer
  Building on his July 2002 Sun BluePrints OnLine article, Allan continues to provide more best practices for Oracle monitoring using utlbstat/utlestat scripts and to recommend parameter settings for OLTP and DSS environments. Issues ranging from load performance to dynamic reconfiguration and Oracle recovery are also examined. Additional Oracle monitoring and tuning recommendations are available in his recently released book "Configuring and Tuning Databases on the Solaris Platform."
  
  
• Sun StorEdge[tm[ Instant Image 3.0 and Oracle8i Database Best Practices (August 2002)
  -by Art Licht
  A methodology for implementing the Sun StorEdge Instant Image 3.0 Point-In-Time (PIT) copy technology to perform non-intrusive and efficient backup operations on Oracle8i databases, without impacting business operations is presented. A method customers can use to repurpose the PIT Oracle8i data for parallel business processes is also included.
  
  
• Reducing the Backup Window With Sun StorEdge Instant Image Software (July 2002)
  -by Selim Daoud
  This article discusses the advantages and methods of using a point-in-time (PIT) type of backup system versus a more traditional backup approach that requires extended downtime. This article is for anyone interested in reducing the backup window (improving the uptime of important applications) while backing up a system that is nearly online.
  
  
• Monitoring and Tuning Oracle - Chapter 22 Part 1 (July 2002)
  -by Allan N. Packer
  Allan N. Packer shares Oracle monitoring and tuning recommendations from his recently-released book, "Configuring and Tuning Databases on the Solaris Platform", ISBN# 0-13-083417-2. In this article, Allan examines ways of managing Oracle behavior, changing tunable parameters, calculating the buffer cache hit rate, and other topics. The article goes on to discuss Oracle monitoring using the utlbstat/utlestat scripts.
  
  
• Drill-Down Monitoring of Database Servers - Chapter 21 (June 2002)
  -by Allan N. Packer
  Database expert, Allan N. Packer, shares database best practices from his recently-released book, "Configuring and Tuning Databases on the Solaris Platform", ISBN# 0-13-083417-2. In this article, Allen presents a process for identifying and resolving problems with the performance of database servers.
  
  
• LAN-Free Backups Using the Sun StorEdge Instant Image 3.0 Software (June 2002)
  -by Art Licht
  As data grows in size and backup windows shrink, performing backups across the LAN is no longer the ideal method. This article gives an overview of LAN and SAN backup practices and includes procedures for performing LAN-free backups.
  
  
• Network Storage Evaluations Using Reliability Calculations (June 2002)
  -by Selim Daoud
  This article uses a case study to introduce concepts and calculations for systematically comparing redundancy and reliability factors as they apply to network storage configurations.
  
  
• Storage Resource Management: A Practitioner's Approach (April 2002)
  -by Stevan Arbona and Joe Catalanotti
  Storage resource management (SRM) best practices are presented, with a particular focus on the positive impact that SRM can have on controlling costs by increasing operational efficiency.
  
  
• Configuring Boot Disks With Solstice DiskSuite Software (April 2002)
  -by Erik Vanden Meersch and Kristien Hens
  How to partition the system disk, mirror it, and create and maintain a contingency boot disk are presented. Topics include two-, three-, and four-disk configurations, their associated runbooks, and the SUNBEsdm package with scripts.
  
  
• Configuring Boot Disks (December 2001)
  -by John S. Howard and David Deeths
  This article is the fourth chapter of the Sun BluePrints book titled Boot Disk Management: A Guide For The Solaris Operating Environment (ISBN 0-13-062153-6), which is available through www.sun.com/books, amazon.com, and Barnes & Noble bookstores.
  
  This chapter presents a reference configuration of the root disk and associated disks that emphasizes the value of configuring a system for high availability and high serviceability. This chapter explains the value of creating a system with both of these characteristics, and outlines the methods used to do so.
  
  
• Sun StorEdge T3 Array: Installation, Configuration and Monitoring Best Practices (October 2001)
  -by Ted Gregg
  In order to fully realize the benefits of the capabilities built into the Sun StorEdge T3 array, it must be installed, configured, and monitored with best practices for RAS. This article details these best practices. It includes both Sun StorEdge T3 array configuration and host system configuration recommendations, along with brief descriptions of some of the available software installation and monitoring tools.
  
  Sun StorEdge T3 Dual Storage Array Part 3 - Basic Management (April 2001)
  -by Mark Garner
  The final article in the series looks at the configuration of basic management and monitoring functions on the T3 array. It concludes with example Expect scripts that could be used as a starting point for automating your own T3 installations.
  
  
• Sun StorEdge T3 Dual Storage Array Part 2 - Configuration (March 2001)
  -by Mark Garner
  This second article in the series addresses the installation and configuration of a T3 array partner group. It covers how two single arrays would be reconfigured to form a partner group, how the new devices are created on the host and how VERITAS Volume Manager integrates into the solution.
  
  
• Sun StorEdge T3 Dual Storage Array Part 1 - Installation, Planning and Design (February 2001)
  -by Mark Garner
  This article looks at the planning and design requirements for the installation of a Sun StorEdge T3 Array partner group. It is the first of three articles which address planning and design, configuration and basic management of a Sun StorEdge T3 Array.
  
  
• Sun/Oracle Best Practices (January 2001)
  -by Bob Sneed
  In this paper, Best Practice concepts are first defined, then specific high-impact technical issues common with Oracle in the Solaris Operating Environment are discussed.
  
  
• Storage Area Networks: A blueprint for Early Deployment (January 2001)
  -by Brian Wong
  This paper surveys the applications to which Storage Area Networks (SANs) aspire, the available SAN technology-and its limitations-and attempts to prepare users for forthcoming technology, so that they can deploy real operational storage in data centers without further delay.
  
  
• Wide Thin Disk Striping (October 2000)
  -by Bob Larson
  In this article, the technique of using stripes to distribute data and indexes over several disks is described. The article also contains the recommendations to use wide-thin stripes to maximize operational flexibility while minimizing complexity.
  
  
• Online Backups Using the VxVM Snapshot Facility (September 2000)
  -by John S. Howard
  Complete and accurate backups performed in a timely fashion are crucial to every datacenter. This article presents a procedure utilizing the snapshot facility of the Veritas Volume Manager software which enables the System Administrator to perform timely, complete and accurate online backups with minimal impact to the user or application.
  
  
• Sun StorEdge T3 Single Storage Array Design and Installation (September 2000)
  -by Mark Garner
  This article provides a roadmap for the cinfiguration of a single Sun StorEdge T3 Storage Array. It addresses: Prerequisites, Storage Layout Design, Implementation, Configuration and Basic Management.
  
  
• Toward a Reference Configuration for VxVM Managed Boot Disks (August 2000)
  -by Gene Trantham and John S. Howard
  Gene and John outline the fundamental procedures typically followed in a boot disk encapsulation and the problems this default encapsulation introduces. A best practice for VxVM installation, root disk encapsulation and a reference configuration is presented.
  
  (See the Sun BluePrints book Boot Disk Management: A Guide for the Solaris Operating Environment by John S. Howard and David Deeths ISBN # 0-13-062153-6 for updated information about the topics detailed in this article.)
  
  
• SCSI-Initiator ID (August 2000)
  -by David Deeths
  Changing the SCSI-initiator ID is necessary for cluster configurations that share SCSI devices between multiple hosts. This article walks you through the process, and also provides an excellent background on SCSI issues in clustered systems.
  
  
• VxVM Private Regions: Mechanics and Internals of the VxVM Configuration Database (July 2000)
  -by Gene Trantham
  Gene discuss the functions of the VxVM public and private regions, the configuration database, and the special considerations for root disk encapsulation.
  
  
• Scrubbing Disk Using the Solaris Operating Environment Format Program (June 2000)
  -by Rob Snevely
  Rob explains how to effectively scrub disks on a Solaris Operating Environment system, using the format utility.
  
  
• Veritas VxVM Storage Management Software (May 2000)
  -by Gene Trantham
  Gene explains the underlying actions VxVM during boot disk encapsulation, and details the mechanism by which it seizes and manages a boot device.
  
  
• Sun Enterprise 10000 Server Floating Tape Library Solution (January 2000)
  -by Enrique Vargas
  Presents the fourth article in the Dynamic Reconfiguration (DR) series.
  
  

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Performance

• Developing and Tuning Applications on UltraSPARC T1 Chip Multithreading Systems (December 2005)
  -by Denis Sheahan
  Traditional processor design has long emphasized the performance of a single hardware thread of execution, and focused on providing high levels of instruction-level parallelism. These increasingly complex processor designs have been driven to very high clock rates (frequencies), often at the cost of increased power consumption and heat production. Unfortunately, the impact of memory latency has meant that even the fastest single-threaded processors spend most of their time idle, waiting for memory. Complicating this tendency, many of today’s complex commercial workloads are simply unable to take advantage of instruction-level parallelism, instead benefiting from thread-level parallelism.
  
  This Sun BluePrints article describes techniques that system architects, application developers, and performance analysts can use to assess the scaling characteristics of an application. It also explains how to optimize an application for chip multithreading, in particular for systems that use UltraSPARC T1 processors. This article discusses the following topics:
  • Processor physical characteristics
  • Performance characteristics
  • Classes of commercial applications
  • Assessing performance on UltraSPARC T1 processor-based systems
  • Scaling applications with chip multithreading
  • Tuning for general performance
  • Accessing the modular arithmetic unit and encryption framework
  • Minimizing floating-point operations and VIS instruction
  
  
  
• Maximizing the Performance a Gigabit Ethernet NIC Interface (April 2004)
  -by Francesco DiMambro
  This article describes how to get the greatest benefits from your Ethernet NIC interface. It includes information on the tools that can help you achieve the best results from that interface, as well as a section on troubleshooting. This article targets an advanced reader.
  
  
• Understanding Tuning TCP (March 2004)
  -by Deepak Kakadia
  This article describes some of key Transport Control Protocol (TCP) tunable parameters related to performance tuning. More importantly, it describes how these tunables work, how they interact with each other, and how they impact network traffic when they are modified. This article requires an advanced level reader.
  
  
• Supporting Multiple Page Sizes in the Solaris Operating System (March 2004)
  -by Richard McDougal
  The Solaris 9 Operating System contains a feature to enable the use of larger memory page sizes for the heap and stack segments of a program. The use of larger page sizes is often able to deliver significant performance gain for a large range of applications. This article explains how to engage the MPSS feature and how to analyze the performance effect. This article requires an intermediate to advanced level reader.
  
  
• APPENDICES - Supporting Multiple Page Sizes in the Solaris Operating System Appendix (March 2004)
  -by Richard McDougall
  This appendix supports the article "Supporting Multiple Page Sizes in the Solaris Operating System"
  
  
• Taming Your Emu to Improve Application Performance (February 2004)
  -by Richard McDougall
  The Solaris 9 Operating System contains a feature to enable the use of larger memory page sizes for the heap and stack segments of a program. This article explains how to use this feature to deliver significant performance gain for a large range of applications. This article addresses a reader with an intermediate to advanced knowledge level.
  
  Sun BluePrints OnLine March and April editions will feature additional, very comprehensive articles on this subject.
  
  
• Performance Forensics (December 2003)
  -by Bob Sneed
  The health care industry has well-established protocols for the triage, diagnosis, and treatment of patient complaints, while the resolution of system-performance complaints often seems to take a path that lacks any recognizable process or discipline. This article draws from lessons and concepts of health care delivery to provide ideas for addressing system-performance complaints with predictable and accurate results. Specific tools from the Solaris Operating System are discussed. This article is applicable to all audience levels.
  
  
• Capacity Planning as a Performance Tuning Tool--Case Study for a Very Large Database Environment (July 2003)
  -by Gamini Bullumille and Marcos Bordin
  This article discusses the performance and scaleability impact due to severe CPU and I/O bottlenecks in a very large database (over 20 terabytes). It describes the methodologies used to collect performance data in a production environment, and explains how to evaluate and analyze the memory, CPU, network, I/O, and Oracle database in a production server by using the following tools:

   - Solaris Operating Environment (Solaris OE) Standard UNIX tools
   - Oracle STATSPACK performance evaluation software from ORACLE Corporation
   - Trace Normal Form (TNF)
   - TeamQuest Model software from Team Quest Corporation
   - VERITAS Tool VxBench from VERITAS Corporation
  

  The article is intended for use by intermediate to advanced performance tuning experts, database administrators, and TeamQuest specialists. It assumes that the reader has a basic understanding of performance analysis tools and capacity planning. The expertise level of this article is intermediate to advanced.
  
  

• Avoiding Common Performance Issues When Scaling RDBMS Applications With Oracle9i Release 2 And Sun Fire Servers (March 2003)
  -byGlenn Fawcett
  There are a handful of common performance issues that arise when trying to scale Oracle database applications on Solaris Operating Enironment. These issues are sometimes difficult to identify and address. This paper incorporates the experiences of Sun's Strategic Application Engineering group in tuning Oracle RDBMS systems on a variety of workloads. There are accompanying document, Avoiding Common Performance Issues When Scaling RDBMS Applications With Oracle9i Release 2 And Sun Fire Servers Appendices, that supplements the information in this article.
  
  
• APPENDICES - Avoiding Common Performance Issues When Scaling RDBMS Applications With Oracle9i Release 2 And Sun Fire Servers Appendices (March 2003)
  -by Glenn Fawcett
  These are the appendices for the article Avoiding Common Performance Issues When Scaling RDBMS Applications With Oracle 9i Release 2 And Sun Fire Servers (March 2003)
  
  
• Understanding Gigabit Ethernet Performance on Sun Fire Servers (February 2003)
  -by Jian Huang
  The recent network-centric computing has been exercising tremendous pressure on servers' network performance. With the increasing popularity of gigabit Ethernet, especially the availability of lower-cost copper-based gigabit Ethernet adapters, the question of how Sun's servers perform in this arena has become one of the most important issues that Sun engineering teams are trying to address. This paper presents an overview of the performance of the new Sun GigaSwift Ethernet MMF Adapter card on a Sun Fire server in terms of TCP/IP networking.
  
  Most of the previous effort on TCP/IP network performance has been focused on bulk-transfer traffic, which imposes on servers a continuous flow of packets with sizes equal to the Maximal Transfer Unit (MTU) of the underlying carrier.
  
  In the client-server computing environment, however, not all requests from clients, nor all replies from the servers are constantly large. The traffic of small packets, whose size is below that of the MTU of the carrier, is also very commonly seen. Hence, this paper investigates the performance of both the bulk-transfer and small-packet traffic on a Sun Fire 6800 server.
  
  In addition to presenting a performance picture, this paper also takes the initiative to study the root cause of the behavior of Sun servers by revealing some of the implementation details of the Solaris Operating Environment (Solaris OE). A set of tuning parameters that affect TCP/IP network performance is discussed and some tuning recommendations is given.
  
  
• BluePrint for Benchmarking Success (January 2003)
  -by Hans Joraandstad and Barbara Perz
  This article provides best practices for benchmarking and it's ideal for those using benchmarking to gather information that will help make a decision on which computer to buy.
  
  
• A Strategy for Managing Performance (December 2002)
  -by John Brady
  This article addresses the importance of adopting and executing a thorough performance management strategy in your compute environment. Managing performance puts you in the position of being proactive and in control of your compute resources, not vice versa, while saving revenue at the same time. This article offers suggestions for developing a performance management strategy that enables you to predict and correct potential performance problems, to control resources, to track changes for capacity planning and to consolidate resources.
  
  
• Memory Hierarchy in Cache-Based Systems (November 2002)
  -by Ruud Van Der Pas
  This article will help the reader understand the architecture of modern microprocessors by introducing and explaining the most common terminology and addressing some of the performance related aspects. Written for programmers and people who have a general interest in microprocessors, this article presents introductory information on caches and is designed to provide understanding on how modern microprocessors work and how a cache design impacts performance.

  Despite improvements in technology, microprocessors are still much faster than main memory. Memory access time is increasingly the bottleneck in overall application performance. As a result, an application might spend a considerable amount of time waiting for data. This not only negatively impacts the overall performance, but the application cannot benefit much from a processor clock-speed upgrade either. One method for overcoming this problem is to insert a small high-speed buffer memory between the processor and main memory. Such a buffer is generally referred to as cache memory, or cache for short.

  
  
  
• ORACLE Middleware Layer Net8 Performance Tuning Utilizing Underlying Network Protocol (October 2002)
  -by Gamini Bulumulle
  This article discusses performance optimization and tuning of SQL*Net based on an arbitrary UNP which could be TCP/IP, SPX/IP or DECnet. SQL*Net performance can be maximized by synchronization with tunable parameters of the UNP, for example, buffer size. This article explain how total SQL*Net transaction performance can be divided into components of connect time and query time, where Total SQL*Net (Net8) Transaction Time = Connect Time + Query Time. Connect time can be maximized by calibration of tunable parameters of SQL*Net and the UNP when designing and implementing networks. Query time is typically affected by database tuning parameters which are outside the scope of this article. However, database tuning parameters, which impact network performance, are discussed.
  
  
• HPC Administration Tips and Techniques (October 2002)
  -by Omar Hassaine
  This article gives an introduction to the features introduced in the latest Sun HPC ClusterTools 4 software, including best practices for configuration and mixed clusters. It describes how to configure a checkpointing and migration environment using both Sun Grid Engine and Condor standalone checkpointing libraries. This article also includes discussion about administrative best practices.
  
  
• Application Performance Optimization (March 2002)
  -by Börje Lindh
  This article provides a brief introduction to optimization on the Solaris Operating Environment. To explore this subject in more detail, refer to Rajat Garg's and Ilya Sharapov's Sun BluePrints book, Techniques for Optimizing Applications, published July 2001(ISBN 0-13-093476-3).
  
  
• Sizing Sun Ray Servers Running Windows Applications with SunPCi IIpro Coprocessor Cards (November 2001)
  -by Don DeVitt
  This paper addresses the task of sizing a server capable of supporting Wintel based applications on a Sun Ray Server utilizing Sun Pci IIpro co-processor cards. The paper integrates the the informationof several previously published documents and sizing tools to determine a baselineconfiguration. The paper also suggests many best practice options for configuring the server.
  
  
• Supporting Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Applications from Sun Enterprise Servers (June 2001)
  -by Don DeVitt
  This article explores using multiple SunPCi II Pro cards running on Sun Enterprise servers to support Microsoft Windows 2000 Server applications. New SunPCi II Pro hardware and software now support multiple cards in one Sun Enterprise server. Benchmarks and Sizing information for a Windows 2000 Terminal Server environment are discussed.
  
  
• Administering Sun Cluster 2.2 Environments (October 2000)
  -by David Deeths
  David Deeths discusses the fundamentals and best practices of installing, configuring, and managing a Sun Cluster 2.2 environment. He also offers many tips for effective cluster administration and how to increase and maintain a high level of system availability.
  
  
• Sun HPC ClusterTools Software Best Practices(September 2000)
  -by Omar Hassaine
  This paper discusses the Best Practices for successfully configuring, installing and using the Sun High Performance Computing (HPC) ClusterTools software. It also covers the current status of the Sun HPC ClusterTools in the field and briefly describes the architecture.
  
  
• Static Performance Tuning (May 2000)
  -by Richard Elling
  Richard discusses a class of problems that can affect system performance which is not dynamic by nature, and cannot be detected by conventional dynamic tuning tools.
  
  
• Tales from the Trenches: The Case of the RAM Starved Cluster (April 2000)
  -by Richard Elling
  Richard discusses how Veritas File System (VxFS) affects memory on a Solaris Operating Environment server. He also describes a real world example of the interactions between the Solaris Operating Environment Version 2.5.1, VxFS Version 2.3.1, and user applications.
  
  
• Scenario Planning - Part 2 (March 2000)
  -by Adrian Cockcroft
  Presents part two of the Scenario Planning article and explains how to follow-up a simple planning methodology based on a spreadsheet that is used to break down the problem and experiment with alternative future scenarios.
  
  
• Fast Oracle Parallel Exports on Sun Enterprise Servers (March 2000)
  -by Stan Stringfellow - Special to Sun BluePrints OnLine
  Gives a script that performs very fast Oracle database exports by taking advantage of parallel processing on SMP machines. This script can be invaluable for situations where you need to perform exports of large mission-critical databases that require high availability.
  
  
• Scenario Planning - Part 1 (February 2000)
  -by Adrian Cockcroft
  Discusses scenario planning techniques to help predict latent demand during overload periods. In this part 1 he explains how to simplify your model down to a single bottleneck.
  
  
• Upgrading the Solaris PC NetLink Software (January 2000)
  -by Don DeVitt
  Highlights some of the subtle upgrade options that many system administrators will want to be aware of as they move from one version of Solaris PC NetLink software to the next.
  
  
• Observability (December 1999)
  -by Adrian Cockcroft
  Discusses Capacity Planning and Performance Management techniques.
  
  
• Processing Accounting Data into Workloads (October 1999)
  -by Adrian Cockcroft
  Information about Solaris operating system accounting to include code examples that extract the data in a usable format and pattern match it into workloads.
  
  

Back to Top

JumpStart

• Creating a Customized Boot CD/DVD for the Solaris Operating System for x86 Platforms (December 2005)
  -by John Cecere, Dana Fagerstrom
  This article explains the mechanics of the boot process on the Solaris Operating System for x86 platforms so that you understand what is needed to create a customized CD/DVD. It discusses both the hard disk and CD/DVD boot processes, and points out the differences between the two.
  
  There are a number of practical applications for this topic, including:
  • Jumpstart Software — The feature in Solaris that allows access to Solaris installation media and configuration rules over a network
  • Diagnostics — The ability to create a bootable CD for the purpose of diagnosing system problems without accessing or modifying the copy of the operating system that is installed on the target system
  • Restoration — The ability to create a bootable CD with tools that aid in the repair and restoration of a down system
  • Diskless clients that cannot do PXE booting—PXE is a DHCP-based network-based installation technology similar to Solaris Jumpstart. Some older x86-based system are incapable of using PXE
  • Canned Firewall—The creation of a bootable CD that starts Solaris on a system configured with multiple network interfaces. A preset ipf configuration is then used to establish a network firewall on that system.
  This article begins by examining the layout of a hard disk in the x86 architecture and the components on it that are used for booting. It then describes the pieces that are unique to a CD boot. Finally, this article puts the pieces together and creates an image file that can be burned to CD.
  
  
• Configuring JumpStart Servers to Provision Sun x86-64 Systems (February 2005)
  -by Pierre Reynes
  Organizations are constantly challenged to deploy systems throughout the enterprise with consistent and reliable configurations. Solaris JumpStart technology provides a mechanism for fully automating the Solaris Operating System (Solaris OS) installation process. With the ability to locate installation information over the network or from a local CD-ROM drive, and use customized profiles, JumpStart facilitates the rapid and consistent deployment of Solaris OS-based systems.
  
  Many organizations have relied on UltraSPARC/Solaris platforms for years, and use JumpStart technology for operating system deployment. With the introduction of Sun x86-64 based systems, organizations are now seeking ways to use existing JumpStart servers to deploy the Solaris OS and Linux operating environment on Sun x86-64 based systems. This article describes how to modify existing JumpStart servers to support the deployment of the Solaris OS and Linux operating environment on Sun x86-64 based systems, as well as how to use standard Linux installation tools for configuring Sun x86-64 based systems.
  
  
• Performing Network Installations Without a Local Boot Server (May 2004)
  -by John S. Howard
  In some instances, it might be necessary or advantageous to boot an installation client from local boot media, such as a CD or DVD, but have the Solaris product installed from a JumpStart (or installation) server. This article describes the system startup and installation processes for the Solaris Operating System and explains how to modify them to change the location from which the Solaris product is installed.
  
  
• Building a Bootable DVD to Deploy a Solaris Flash Archive (April 2004)
  -by John S. Howard
  This article provides techniques to augment a DVD-ROM-based installation with the services and behaviors typically provided by a JumpStart server. The techniques presented in this article can be used when you need to perform an automated installation of a Solaris Flash archive, but are unable to use a JumpStart server. This article describes a procedure to create a bootable installation DVD-ROM with a complete software stack on a DVD that you can use to perform a standardized and fully automated installation of the software stack from the DVD.
  
  This article also examines the structure of a bootable Solaris OS DVD and provides information about modifying installation behaviors to perform an automated install of a Solaris Flash archive from a DVD.
  
  
• Deploying the Solaris Operating Environment Using a Solaris Security Toolkit CD (September 2003)
  -by Steven Spadaccini
  The Solaris Security Toolkit is a collection of shell scripts combined to form a flexible and extensible framework for rapidly deploying hardened platforms running the Solaris Operating Environment. The Toolkit is, however, quite versatile and can be used for much more than just hardening a system. This article discusses how the Toolkit can be used to construct a bootable CD, based on Sun's JumpStart framework, for building and configuring new systems. This article is authored for intermediate and advanced system administrators.
  
  
• Managing Data Centers With Sun Management Center Change Manager (October 2002)
  -John S. Howard
  Deploying and updating software are two of the most challenging and time consuming tasks facing datacenter managers. The Sun Management Center (Sun MC) Change Manager software provides a framework and tools for quickly and efficiently deploying, replicating, updating, and managing software over a large number of systems. This article presents techniques and best practices for using Sun Management Center Change Manager software.
  
  
• Customizing JumpStart Framework for Installation and Recovery (August 2002)
  -by John S. Howard and Alex Noordergraaf
  Techniques to augment a CDROM-based installation with the services and behaviors provided by a JumpStart server are detailed in this article. These techniques are suitable to situations when a hands-free Solaris Operating Environment (Solaris OE) installation is necessary but when a JumpStart server cannot be used. This article is a chapter from the Sun BluePrints book, "JumpStart Technology: Effective Use in the Solaris Operating Environment", ISBN# 0-13-062154-4.
  
  
• Using Live Upgrade 2.0 With JumpStart Technology and Web Start Flash (April 2002)
  -by John S. Howard
  In this final installment of his three-part series on Solaris Live Upgrade 2.0 (LU) technology, John S. Howard provides recommendations and techniques for integrating LU with the JumpStart software framework and the Solaris Web Start Flash software.
  
  
• WebStart Flash (November 2001)
  -by John S. Howard and Alex Noordergraaf
  The Solaris Operating Environment Flash installation component extends JumpStart technology by adding a mechanism to create a system archive, a snapshot of an installed system, and installation of the Solaris Operating Environment from that archive. This article introduces the concepts and best practices for a Flash archive, describes the master machine, and suggested storage strategies, and provides a complete example of creating a Flash archive and installing a Web server with Flash.
  
  
• Cluster Platform 220/1000 Architecture-A Product from the SunTone Platforms Portfolio (August 2001)
  -by Enrique Vargas
  This article will provide customers a better understanding of this product capabilities by presenting its hardware and software architecture as well as best practices used in integrating the design.
  
  
• Automating LDAP Client Installations (July 2001)
  -by Tom Bialaski
  The article explains how to configure a native LDAP client at installation time, which is a new feature in Solaris 8 Operating Environment U3. The basics of sysidtools and creating a sysidcfg file for hands-off installation is covered along with how they relate to LDAP. Hard to find (non-documented) tips are provided to avoid common pitfalls.
  
  
• Building a JumpStart Infrastructure (April 2001)
  -by Alex Noordergraaf
  This article discussed how the core JumpStart components interract. Recommendations on how to structure the JumpStart server are provided in addition to step by step instructions on how to get a basic automated JumpStart environment up and running as quickly as possible.
  
  
• Customizing the JumpStart Boot Image Recovery (March 2001)
  -by John S. Howard
  This article includes techniques and recommendations for creating a recovery platform by augmenting the Solaris OE boot image (mini-root). This article will also examine the boot and installation processes by demonstrating how to adapt those processes for system recovery.
  
  
• Building a Bootable JumpStart Installation CD-ROM (March 2001)
  -by John S. Howard
  This article presents an examination of the structure of a bootable Solaris Operating Environment (Solaris OE) CD-ROM and procedures for how to create a bootable JumpStart installation CD-ROM. This CD can be used to complete a standardized, hands-free Solaris OE installation in environments where the disk space or networking constraints do not allow for a JumpStart server.
  
  
• MR System for Rapid Recovery (January 2001)
  -by John S. Howard
  This article is an introduction to the MR system for rapid recovery. As the system uptime requirements have become more exacting, the length of time it takes to boot these larger and more complex systems has grown. By implementing MR on your JumpStart servers it may be possible to reduce the number of reboots required during a system recovery or service event. This minimization of reboots will speed recovery and service time as well as enable the system administrator to use datacenter tools during system recovery procedures.
  
  
• Updated (November 2000)
  -by Alex Noordergraaf and Glenn Brunette
  In parallel with the "JASS" Toolkit version 0.2 release all three articles describing the "JASS Toolkit have been updated and revised to document new updates and functionality.
  

  JumpStart Architecture and Security Scripts for the Solaris Operating Environment - Part 1

  JumpStart Architecture and Security Scripts for the Solaris Operating Environment - Part 2

  JumpStart Architecture and Security Scripts for the Solaris Operating Environment - Part 3

• JumpStart Architecture and Security Scripts for the Solaris Operating Environment - Part 3 (September 2000) -Alex Noordergraaf
  This article is third in a three part series describing an automated toolkit for implementing the security modifications documented in earlier Sun BluePrints onLine articles. In conjuction with this final article the toolkit itself is being made freely available.
  
  
• JumpStart Architecture and Security Scripts for the Solaris Operating Environment - Part 2 (August 2000) -Alex Noordergraaf
  This article is part two of a three part series that presents the JumpStart Architecture and Security Scripts toolkit. We continue with an in-depth review of the configuration files, directories, and scripts used by the toolkit to enhance the security of Solaris Operating Environment systems. This series is a must read for anyone interested in upgrading the security of their site.
  
  
• JumpStart Architecture and Security Scripts for the Solaris Operating Environment - Part 1 (July 2000) -Alex Noordergraaf
  This article is part one of a three part series presenting the JumpStart Architecture and Security Scripts tool (Toolkit) for the Solaris Operating Environment. The Toolkit is a set of scripts which automatically harden and minimize Solaris Operating Environment systems. The modifications made are based on the recommendations made in the previously published Sun BluePrints OnLine security articles.
  
  
• JumpStart Mechanics: Using JumpStart Application for Hands- Free Installation of Unbundled Software - Part 2 Automatic Encapsulation of the Root Disk (June 2000)
  -by John S. Howard
  John provides procedures to fully automate the initial configuration of Sun Enterprise Volume Manager and automate encapsulation of the boot disk using JumpStart.
  
  
• JumpStart Mechanics: Using JumpStart Application for Hands-Free Installation of Unbundled Software - Part 1 (May 2000)
  -by John S. Howard
  John discusses automating and standardizing the installation of the Solaris Operating Environment along with the associated unbundled software products and datacenter management tools.
  
  
• Solaris 8 Additions to sysidcfg (March 2000)
  -by Rob Snevely
  Shows you how to do fully hands-off installations of the Solaris 8 Operating Environment. He also discusses how to use Jumpstart and sysidcfg to provide uniform Solaris Operating Environment installations and save you time.
  
  
• Setting Up a Solaris Operating Environment Install Server and the Solaris JumpStart Feature (December 1999)
  -by Rob Snevely
  A walkthrough on setting up an install server.
  
  
• JumpStart: NIS and sysidcfg (October 1999)
  -by Rob Snevely
  How to use JumpStart technology to allows automation of the install process.
  
  

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Naming and Directory Services

• Understanding the NIS to LDAP Service (N2L) Architecture (March 2006)
  -by Michael Haines and Baban Kenkre
  This article discusses Network Information Service (NIS) to LDAP transition service (N2L service) support for NIS clients based on naming information stored in the Sun Java System Directory Server 5.2 software. This approach enables a complete transition from the NIS naming service to the LDAP naming service. It includes detailed installation, configuration, and operational information needed to create a supportable instance of the NIS/LDAP Transition Gateway product offering. While the NIS to LDAP transition product is designed to work with any RFC2307bis-compliant directory (LDAP) server, Sun only supports the N2L Service in conjunction with the Sun Java System Directory (LDAP) Server 5.1 and 5.2 software.
  
  
• Using pGINA to Authenticate Users in Microsoft Windows Environments (June 2004)
  -by Dave Pickens and Kent Price
  This article addresses a common challenge -- how to authenticate users in a mixed environment running the Solaris and Microsoft Windows operating systems. This article describes how you can use pGINA software with a variety of authentication plug-ins to authenticate users to a unified authentication scheme. The pGINA software also provides a way to avoid deployment of Microsoft Active Directory. The article is intended for technical people who are interested in directory services and the integration of Microsoft Windows into a heterogeneous environment. This article is valuable to technical readers of any level.
  
  
• LDAP Triggers: A Framework for Sun Java System Directory Server (February 2004)
  -by Nicola Venditti
  This article describes how to implement SQL-like triggers in a Sun Java System Directory Server. The example scenario shows how to extend the server using the Plug-in API. This article is primarily directed at expert developers and architects who want to understand issues related to developing and deploying the Sun Java System Directory Server extension, implemented with plug-ins and extended operations.
  
  
• Using the LDAP to NIS+ Gateway (September 2003)
  -by Tom Bialaski and Michael Haines
  There are two approaches that you can take when transitioning from NIS+ to LDAP-based services. One approach is to replace your naming service clients with the Secured LDAP Client. The second approach is to keep your current NIS+ clients, and deploy a transition tool to gain access to LDAP naming service data. The first approach is covered in chapter four of the just released Sun BluePrints book, "LDAP in the Solaris Operating Environment -- Deploying Secure Directory Services", by Michael Haines and Tom Bialaski. The second approach, using the NIS+ to LDAP Gateway, is discussed in this article. This article is intended for IT architects and administrators who have deployed an earlier version of the directory server software, and who are interested in upgrading to the Sun ONE Directory Server 5.2 software version.
  
  This Sun BluePrints book is scheduled for publication in the Fall of 2003 and will be available at the Sun BluePrints Publication page, the amazon.com website, and Borders and Barnes & Noble bookstores.
  
  
• Transition Guide--Upgrading From the iPlanet Directory Server 5.1 Software to the Sun ONE Directory Server 5.2 Software (August 2003)
  -by Tom Bialaski and Michael Haines
  The information in this article is derived from an upcoming Sun BluePrints book, "LDAP in the Solaris Operating Environment -- Deploying Secure Directory Services," by Michael Haines and Tom Bialaski. This book is scheduled for publication in the Fall of 2003.

  That book and this article cover the recently released Sun ONE Directory Server 5.2 software, which introduces several significant features, including support for the Secured LDAP Client. This article discusses important differences in the packaging, installation, and configuration of the Sun ONE Directory Server 5.2 software as compared with the previous version. This article also discusses how to configure the software to support Secured LDAP Clients. This article is intended for IT architects and administrators who have deployed an earlier version of the directory server software, and who are interested in upgrading to the Sun ONE Directory Server 5.2 software version.
  
  

• Writing an Authentication Plug-in for a Sun ONE Directory Server (March 2003)
  -by Nicola Venditti
  The Sun ONE Directory Server has an advanced application program interface (API) for writing plug-ins that extend the directory server's functionality. In this article, information is provided for a better understanding of the tasks involved in writing a plug-in. The impact and benefit plug-ins can provide to the directory server is explained. In addition, a sample preoperation plug-in is provided.
  
  
• Understanding Solaris 9 Operating Environment Directory Services (December 2002)
  -by Tom Bialaski
  This article examines the differences between the Solaris 8 Operating Environment (Solaris OE) Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) Client and the Solaris 9 OE Secured LDAP Client, and explains how to support them on the same directory server. In addition, this article details troubleshooting tips for common implementation problems.
  
  
• Extending Authentication in the Solaris 9 Operating Environment Using Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM): Part II (October 2002)
  -by Michael Haines and Joep Vesseur
  This article is part two of a two-part series and details the PAM application programming interface (API) and the PAM service provider interface (SPI). Also included are procedures on how to effectively write PAM modules when using the Solaris 9 Operating Environment (Solaris 9 OE). By writing these PAM service modules, it is possible to extend the capability of the Solaris 9 OE authentication mechanisms in a number of different ways.
  
  Part one, Extending Authentication in the Solaris 9 Operating Environment Using Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM): Part I, was published in the September 2002 issue of Sun BluePrints Online.
  
  
• Extending Authentication in the Solaris 9 Operating Environment Using Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM): Part I (September 2002)
  -Michael Haines
  This article is the first of a two-part series that offers a technical overview of how the Solaris 9 Operating Environment implementation of Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM) works. This article demonstrates straightforward methods for configuring PAM to accommodate site-specific security policy requirements and examines the PAM architecture and its components.
  
  
• Securing LDAP Through TLS/SSL--A Cookbook (June 2002)
  -by Stefan Weber
  Deploying secure Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) connections is becoming more demanding. This article details the steps on how to set up the Sun Open Net Environment (Sun ONE) Directory Server software so that it can be accessed securely from command line tools.
  
  
• Solaris Operating Environment LDAP Capacity Planning and Performance Tuning (May 2002)
  -by Steve Lopez
  Experienced System Administrators can increase the performance and scalability of Netscape Directory by utilizing the key practice methodologies presented in this article. These include key practices for the capacity planning of the LDAP naming service on the Solaris Operating Environment, as well as performance tuning examples and exercises.
  
  
• Automating LDAP Client Installations (July 2001)
  -by Tom Bialaski
  The article explains how to configure a native LDAP client at installation time, which is a new feature in Solaris 8 Operating Environment U3. The basics of sysidtools and creating a sysidcfg file for hands-off installation is covered along with how they relate to LDAP. Hard to find (non-documented) tips are provided to avoid common pitfalls.
  
  
• This article is no longer available!
  Running Multiple Solaris Operating Environment Naming Services on a Client (May 2001)
  -by Tom Bialaski
  The native LDAP client installation program assumes that you will not be running another naming service on your client. Some customers, who I have worked with, do not want to disable NIS when they configure native LDAP. This can be done, but there is no readily available document which describes how to do it. The article not only describes this procedure, but also highlights best practices for running NIS and LDAP together.
  
  

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PC Interoperability

• Consolidating Legacy Applications onto Sun x64 Servers
  How to move Microsoft Windows NT Applications onto Sun x64 Servers using VMware ESX Server (February 2006)
  -by Marshall Choy
  IT organizations wishing to continue to run applications on the Microsoft Windows NT Server operating system have faced a limited number of choices given the increasing lack of support for their aging hardware, and the lack of drivers for current hardware. The ability of VMware ESX Server to host these operating system environments and their applications on state-of-the-art, high-performance hardware platforms like the Sun Fire V40z server gives IT organizations a new class of options. Not only can they use virtualization to run their applications on current, supported hardware — they can leverage the greater processing power, memory capacity, and disk storage of today's servers to consolidate multiple PC server environments onto a single platform. Now IT organizations can upgrade their hardware platforms, and use the upgrade process also to address their power, space, and cooling issues, while exploiting the economies of scale that consolidation brings.
  
  This Sun BluePrints article describes in step-by-step fashion how one such application — an Apache Web server running on the Windows NT Server operating system — could be consolidated onto ESX Server running on a Sun Fire V40z server with no changes to the application or its configuration. The importance of this exercise is not the application itself. It is the fact that the only changes to the disk image imported by the physical-to-virtual process were to install drivers for the virtual network interface and display devices supported by the virtual machine environment. Once an application is consolidated into the virtual environment in this way, it can securely share a single platform with multiple instances of Windows operating systems and the applications that they host. Because each virtual machine provides an idealized environment to the guest operating system, the disk images created by the consolidation process are portable. So as this consolidation technique becomes proven in any given IT organization, PC workloads can be re-distributed among a growing number of servers by moving virtual disks and virtual machine configuration files.
  
  
• Configuring Multiboot Environments on Sun x64 Systems with AMD Opteron Processors (September 2005)
  -by Barton Fiske
  This Sun BluePrints article gives detailed procedures for configuring Sun x64 workstations with AMD Opteron processors to boot more than one operating system from the same physical hard drive. This capability is referred to throughout this article as “multiboot.” Specifically, the three major operating systems in use today — the Solaris Operating System, Linux, and Windows operating systems — can be deployed on a single system disk, and configured to allow a user to choose between the different operating systems at boot time. Multiboot capability should not be confused with available virtualization technology that allows simultaneous operation of multiple operating systems (such as VMware, Xen, or other approaches).
  
  
• Using pGINA to Authenticate Users in Microsoft Windows Environments (June 2004)
  -by Dave Pickens and Kent Price
  This article addresses a common challenge -- how to authenticate users in a mixed environment running the Solaris and Microsoft Windows operating systems. This article describes how you can use pGINA software with a variety of authentication plug-ins to authenticate users to a unified authentication scheme. The pGINA software also provides a way to avoid deployment of Microsoft Active Directory. The article is intended for technical people who are interested in directory services and the integration of Microsoft Windows into a heterogeneous environment. This article is valuable to technical readers of any level.
  
  
• Migrating to the Solaris Operating System: Migrating From Tru64 UNIX (Novembe 2003)
  -by Ken Pepple, Brian Down, and David Levy
  This article presents a fictional case study that illustrates the methodology, tools, and best practices used to migrate a Tru64 environment to a Solaris environment.
  BR> This article is the complete tenth chapter of the Sun BluePrints book, "Migrating to the Solaris Operating System", by Ken Pepple, Brian Down, and David Levy, which is available at our Sun BluePrints publication page, amazon.com, and Barnes & Noble bookstores. This article targets an intermediate audience.
  
  
• Desktop Architecture Selection Guide (October 2003)
  -by Howard Carlton
  This article examines some of the main business drivers behind the current trend towards adoption of thin client desktop solutions. The article provides useful insights on the benefits and drawbacks of the various candidate components for an alternative desktop environment. It also provides guidelines on non-functional requirements and project life-cycle approaches. This article is targeted to an introductory reader.
  
  
• Migrating to the Solaris Operating System: Migration Strategies (September 2003)
  -by Ken Pepple, Brian Down, and David Levy
  This article defines the most important terms in migration, and differentiates between these terms. In addition, it presents migration strategies, the benefits and risks of each strategy, and the appropriateness of each strategy for various situations. This article is ideal for a beginning to intermediate audience.
  
  This article is the complete third chapter of the Sun BluePrints book, "Migrating to the Solaris Operating System", which will be available at the Sun BluePrints Publication page, the amazon.com website, and Borders and Barnes & Noble bookstores at the end of October, 2003.
  
  
• Windows NT Server Consolidation and Performance Improvements with Solaris PC NetLink 2.0 Software (August 2002)
  -by Don DeVitt
  This article focuses on best practices to help data center managers meet cost reduction goals in supporting multiple users accessing servers through PC clients. New features in Solaris PC NetLink 2.0 software that improve performance and add new options for consolidating Windows NT servers are discussed.
  
  
• Sizing Sun Ray Servers Running Windows Applications with SunPCi IIpro Coprocessor Cards (November 2001)
  -by Don DeVitt
  This paper addresses the task of sizing a server capable of supporting Wintel based applications on a Sun Ray Server utilizing Sun Pci IIpro co-processor cards. The paper integrates the the informationof several previously published documents and sizing tools to determine a baselineconfiguration. The paper also suggests many best practice options for configuring the server.
  
  
• Supporting Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Applications from Sun Enterprise Servers (June 2001)
  -by Don DeVitt
  This article explores using multiple SunPCi II Pro cards running on Sun Enterprise servers to support Microsoft Windows 2000 Server applications. New SunPCi II Pro hardware and software now support multiple cards in one Sun Enterprise server. Benchmarks and Sizing information for a Windows 2000 Terminal Server environment are discussed.
  
  
• Sharing NFS and Remote File Systems via Solaris PC NetLink Software (November 2000)
  -by Don DeVitt
  This article offers best practice solutions for sharing NFS and remote file systems via Solaris PC NetLink software. These solutions help your enterprise avoid potential conflicts in the decision to allow access to files using Solaris PC NetLink software.
  
  
• Using Solaris Resource Manager with Solaris PC NetLink Software - Part 2 (June 2000)
  -by Don DeVitt
  Don presents part 2 of this article in which he includes an experiment that is performed to determine a useful range of shares that can be allocated to the Solaris PC NetLink software by the Solaris Resource Manager software.
  
  
• Using Solaris Resource Manager with Solaris PC NetLink Software - Part 1 (May 2000)
  -by Don DeVitt
  Don discusses the use of Solaris PC NetLink with Solaris Resource Manager.
  
  
• Troubleshooting the Computer Browser Service with Solaris PC NetLink Software (April 2000)
  -by Don DeVitt
  Don discusses trouble-shooting network browsing with Solaris PC NetLink software.
  
  
• Managing the Solaris PC NetLink Registry (February 2000)
  -by Don DeVitt
  highlights the importance of documenting and managing changes to the Solaris PC NetLink registry and establishing procedures for maintaining the state server.
  
  
• Upgrading the Solaris PC NetLink Software (January 2000)
  -by Don DeVitt
  Highlights some of the subtle upgrade options that many system administrators will want to be aware of as they move from one version of Solaris PC NetLink software to the next.
  
  
• Tracing Resource Consumption of Solaris PC NetLink Software Users (December 1999)
  -by Don DeVitt
  Shows the Solaris Operating Environment commands and the Solaris PC NetLink software commands for determining which PC clients are consuming resources via Solaris PC NetLink software.
  
  
• SunPCi Supporting Highly Available PC Applications with Solaris (August 1999)
  -by Don DeVitt
  Creating a highly available environment for supporting PC applications, using the newly introduced SunPCi card.
  
  
• Transitioning to Solaris PC NetLink 1.0 (June 1999)
  -by Don DeVitt
  Don takes you through step-by-step on setting up the Solaris PC NetLink.
  
  

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High Availability

• Architecting Availability and Disaster Recovery Solutions (April 2006)
  -by Tim Read
  IT departments typically run four broad classes of service in the data centre: mission critical, business critical, business operational and administrative services. Which service falls into which category is normally agreed between the business units and the IT department by determining the importance of various business processes and how these map on to IT systems. Each class, and possibly individual services, will have service level agreement (SLAs). In turn, these demand different levels of protection against failure, whether caused by hardware or software problems, administrative error, data loss or corruption or disasters of various sorts. Problems that make the data unavailable, through hardware or software failure, require a different solution to those that make the underlying data itself unavailable, either through corruption or deletion.
  
  Services considered mission critical require technical solutions that include both a service availability and a disaster recovery component as part of a full business continuity plan (BCP). The 'best practice' data centre infrastructure design patterns for many of the pieces needed for such solutions: local area networks, storage area networks, systems management, security, provisioning and clustering are described in detail in the 'Data Centre Reference Implementation' white paper.
  
  This document discusses the options for meeting the SLAs for mission and business critical services with particular reference to the Sun Cluster software. Where multiple solutions exist, the underlying complementary technologies: disk mirroring, data replication, transaction monitors and database replication techniques, are examined to highlight the trade-offs that must be made when using certain hardware and software combinations.
  
  The broader topic business continuity involves the consideration of more than just system availability and disaster recovery. This white paper does not cover any aspects of the disaster planning required for telecommunications, staffing or physical infrastructure, such as buildings, desks, etc.
  
  
• Using iSCSI Multipathing in the Solaris 10 Operating System (December 2005)
  -by Aaron Dailey, Scott Tracy
  This article describes how to use Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI) multipathing in the Solaris 10 Operating System. Implementing iSCSI in a storage solution provides two important benefits: it can increase storage availability via fail-over protection and also increase scalability and throughput via link aggregation.
  
  This article describes different approaches to implementing multipathing between an iSCSI initiator and an iSCSI target device. It reviews the reasons for multipathing, describes the different approaches that Solaris supports, discusses the trade-offs between those approaches, and provides recommendations for specific configurations.
  
  This article contains discussions about: the iSCSI Protocol, iSCSI Support in Solaris 10 Update 1 and Solaris 10 Multipathing Options for iSCSI Devices.
  
  
• Sun Fire Midrange Server Update Best Practices Update for Firmware 5.18.x (May 2005)
  -by Ken Kambic and James Hsieh
  This is an update to the several other versions of the same titled document. It will provide guidance for the reader on the implementation of the features added from 5.14.0 to 5.18.0. The document will also include the information presented in the earlier versions of the document.
  
  
• Predictive Fault Monitoring in Sun Fire Servers (April 2005)