Guide to OpenVMS AXP Performance Management

This document provides a conceptual and tutorial guide for experienced system managers responsible for optimizing the performance of OpenVMS AXP Version 6.1 systems. It outlines strategies for evaluating system workloads, managing system resources (CPU, memory, and disk I/O), and diagnosing and correcting performance bottlenecks.

Key topics covered include:

• Workload Management: Guidelines for developing a performance strategy, including managing and distributing workloads and sharing application code.
• Performance Analysis Tools: Detailed use of the MONITOR utility, ACCOUNTING, and other DCL commands to collect and interpret system statistics.
• Resource Tuning: Concepts and procedures for managing memory (working set adjustment, swapper trimming, and proactive reclamation), CPU resources (scheduling, priorities, and offloading), and Disk I/O (caching, fragmentations, and load balancing).
• Diagnostic Strategies: Step-by-step procedures, including decision trees (contained in Appendix A), to isolate limitations in memory, I/O, or CPU resources and apply appropriate corrective measures.
• Compensating for Limitations: Specific recommendations for tuning system parameters (such as AUTOGEN and SYSGEN) to address memory-limited, I/O-limited, and CPU-limited behavior.