Performance improving Tomcat params
I've recently installed an instance of PRPC 7.3.1 on a intranet VM, using SQL Server and Tomcat 8.5.
This is my first Tomcat install from scratch, and as the system can be very slow at time with only me logged on, I feel like there are things I'm doing wrong/ways to improve this in the Tomcat conf files (setenv.bat, setDomainEnv.bat, server.xml, web.xml).
In setenv.bat, I edited the catalina and java options based on online advice to be:
set CATALINA_OPTS=%CATALINA_OPTS% -Xms4096m -Xmx8192m
set JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -server
In server.xml, I edited the Connector based on online advice to be:
<Connector port="80" protocol="org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Nio2Protocol"
connectionTimeout="20000"
redirectPort="443"
maxThreads="400"
minSpareThreads="40"
maxKeepAliveRequests="1000"
compression="on"
compressableMimeType="text/html,text/xml,text/plain"/>
In web.xml, I edited a few servlet params based on online advice to be:
development = false
trimSpaces = true
For reference, the VM running Tomcat is separate from the VM running the database server. The Tomcat VM is a 64bit Windows system with a single 2.6GHz processor and 12GB of RAM.
I've recently installed an instance of PRPC 7.3.1 on a intranet VM, using SQL Server and Tomcat 8.5.
This is my first Tomcat install from scratch, and as the system can be very slow at time with only me logged on, I feel like there are things I'm doing wrong/ways to improve this in the Tomcat conf files (setenv.bat, setDomainEnv.bat, server.xml, web.xml).
In setenv.bat, I edited the catalina and java options based on online advice to be:
set CATALINA_OPTS=%CATALINA_OPTS% -Xms4096m -Xmx8192m
set JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -server
In server.xml, I edited the Connector based on online advice to be:
<Connector port="80" protocol="org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Nio2Protocol"
connectionTimeout="20000"
redirectPort="443"
maxThreads="400"
minSpareThreads="40"
maxKeepAliveRequests="1000"
compression="on"
compressableMimeType="text/html,text/xml,text/plain"/>
In web.xml, I edited a few servlet params based on online advice to be:
development = false
trimSpaces = true
For reference, the VM running Tomcat is separate from the VM running the database server. The Tomcat VM is a 64bit Windows system with a single 2.6GHz processor and 12GB of RAM.
Any better ways to do this? I've of course referenced the installation guide on the PDN, which doesn't go into much detail on this infrastructure side of things.
***Edited by Moderator Marissa to update SR Details***
Accepted Solution
CRICO
US
The first part of my issue was fixed by running "EXEC sp_updatetstats" on the database.
There is also apparently an issue specific to SQL Server 2014 that was addressed by Hfix-39255.
After both of these, my environment is running smoothly. Thanks to all for the helpful advice as well.
JPMorgan Chase & Company
US
Hi,
These settings are fine, seems to be there is issue with network/connection. Could you please attach rules and alert log files.
Pegasystems Inc.
US
Hi @NickP984,
Please reference this PSC post in your SR and then let us know your SR ID so that we can track for you.
Thanks!
CRICO
US
I actually raised SR-C9273 prior to creating this post, and was told to ask the Product Support Community as it was deemed outside the scope of GCS services..
My main concern is that I really don't know much about the varying performances of each connector, nor am I wholly familiar with the available tomcat startup parameters/consequences of using them, like -server which I read can improve performance, or what thread counts people have found work best. So I was hoping I could receive some direction on these fronts from those who have set up environments in the past.
Thanks!
Pegasystems Inc.
US
Hi @NickP984,
What do you have for the DB connection config in Context.XML? What does it look like? Can you share that? Also what is the version of MS/SQL that you are using. There are some issues with later versions of the SQL Server optimizer that we needed to work around.
Regards,
Jim
Pegasystems Inc.
US
Before you tune Tomcat you need to build a solid "foundation" for your application. This may sound obvious but it is often overlooked and determined to be the cause of
many performance issues. Here are some general System Administration items to consider. They are based on my experience with our PegaCloud environments (AWS and Linux) as
well as my personal experience with Windows and VM's.
1) Try to keep the DB and Tomcat VM's off of the same underlying hardware. PRPC is very DB intensive so your Tomcat VM may be affected by high utilization on the DB VM. I
am assuming this is NOT the case but if it is you will definitely have problems.
2) As with any VM, the tuning of the underlying OS and network is the first thing to look at. If these are not optimal then app performance will suffer. Make sure all OS
patches have been applied and the network routing is efficient.
3) Tomcat performance is heavily dependent on the number of users. If this is an environment for a few developers (5 -10) then you should be OK. If you are trying to
accommodate hundreds (or more) of concurrent users you may want to utilize a load balancer (e.g. Apache) and multiple Tomcat nodes.
4) Assuming your hardware and network are OK and that your environment is sized properly you then need to take a look at the JVM performance. There are many tools that
Before you tune Tomcat you need to build a solid "foundation" for your application. This may sound obvious but it is often overlooked and determined to be the cause of
many performance issues. Here are some general System Administration items to consider. They are based on my experience with our PegaCloud environments (AWS and Linux) as
well as my personal experience with Windows and VM's.
1) Try to keep the DB and Tomcat VM's off of the same underlying hardware. PRPC is very DB intensive so your Tomcat VM may be affected by high utilization on the DB VM. I
am assuming this is NOT the case but if it is you will definitely have problems.
2) As with any VM, the tuning of the underlying OS and network is the first thing to look at. If these are not optimal then app performance will suffer. Make sure all OS
patches have been applied and the network routing is efficient.
3) Tomcat performance is heavily dependent on the number of users. If this is an environment for a few developers (5 -10) then you should be OK. If you are trying to
accommodate hundreds (or more) of concurrent users you may want to utilize a load balancer (e.g. Apache) and multiple Tomcat nodes.
4) Assuming your hardware and network are OK and that your environment is sized properly you then need to take a look at the JVM performance. There are many tools that
will allow you to get metrics on the JVM itself - memory heap usage, garbage collection, CPU utilization, etc.. If you find you are running out of RAM or having extended
CPU spikes you should consider resizing your JVM and/or the underlying hardware to accommodate those changes. (e.g. You can't put an 8GB JVM on an instance with 4GB total
RAM)
5) Assuming the environment is sized properly and the VM's are tuned for maximum performance then you need to look at the Guardrails report for PRPC issues. This is a
basic step that many developers should take but - based on many Service Requests - don't.
6) As the saying goes "it takes a village". PRPC's versatility depends on its ability to connect to many disparate systems and services - databases, single-sign-on, e-
mail and others. Often these linkages are what affects PRPC performance. Engage your local system administrators and network personnel to make sure you have the proper
access to these other systems.
Once you have conquered these THEN it makes sense to tweak the Tomcat settings.
Accepted Solution
CRICO
US
The first part of my issue was fixed by running "EXEC sp_updatetstats" on the database.
There is also apparently an issue specific to SQL Server 2014 that was addressed by Hfix-39255.
After both of these, my environment is running smoothly. Thanks to all for the helpful advice as well.