Tune parameter hot list

The following hot list contains recommendations that have improved performance or scalability, or both, for many applications. WebSphere Application Server provides several tunable parameters and options to match the application server environment to the requirements of your application.

• Review the hardware and software requirements

  Review the hardware and software requirements on the IBM WebSphere Application Server supported hardware, software, and APIs Web site to get started.

• Install the latest WebSphere Application Server PTFs

  The list of recommended updates is maintained on the Business solutions

• Check hardware configuration and settings

  Check network connections to make sure that they are running at their highest speed. For more information, see Tuning the application serving environment.

• Review your application design

  You can track many performance problems back to the application design. Review the design to determine if it causes performance problems.

• Operating system configuration plays a key role in performance. In many cases, adjustments to some TCP/IP parameters might be necessary for your application.

• Tuning i5/OS systems

  Operating system configuration plays a key role in performance. In many cases, adjustments to some TCP/IP parameters might be necessary for your application.

• Set the minimum and maximum JVM heap sizes

  Many applications need a larger heap size for best performance.

• Use a type 2 JDBC driver for local data access and a type 4 (or pure Java) JDBC driver for remote data access

  In general, the type 2 JDBC driver is recommended. Use the link above to view a list of database vendor-specific requirements, which can tell you if a type 4 JDBC driver is supported for your database.

• Enable the pass by reference option

  Use applications that can take advantage of the pass by reference option to avoid the cost of copying parameters to the stack.

• Ensure that the transaction log is assigned to a fast disk

  Some applications generate a high rate of writes to the WebSphere Application Server transaction log. Locating the transaction log on a fast disk or disk array can improve response time.

• Tune related components, for example, database

  In many cases, some other component, for example, a database, needs adjustments to achieve higher throughput for your entire configuration.

• Disable functions that are not required

  For example, if your application does not use the Web services addressing (WS-Addressing) support, disabling this function can improve performance.

  Attention: Use this property with care because applications might require WS-Addressing MAPs to function correctly. Setting this property also disables WebSphere Application Server support for the following specifications, which depend on the WS-Addressing support: Web Services Atomic Transactions, Web Services Business Agreement and Web Services Notification.

  To disable the support for WS-Addressing, refer to Enabling and disabling Web Services Addressing support