Cross-Component Trace and system performance

The runtime processing activities associated with Cross-Component Trace can affect system performance.

Even a slight affect on performance might not acceptable, especially in a production environment. If you do not want to incur any affect on performance, you can turn off Cross-Component Trace.

Because of the multiple configuration options associated with implementing Cross-Component Trace (Cross-Component Trace on the server or Cross-Component Trace on specific modules, Cross-Component Trace with or without data capture), it is important that you understand the effect that Cross-Component Trace configuration decisions have on system behavior. This understanding is relevant regarding turning off the Cross-Component Trace feature. The following table lists and describes the effect of turning Cross-Component Trace on or off.

Table 1. Effect on system performance of turning Cross-Component Trace on or off
Setting on administrative console	wsadmin Parameter	Description of Effect
Enable Cross-Component Trace=cleared	setLevel=disable	Effect on setting parameters If you do not select Enable Cross-Component Trace, or if you use wsadmin to set Cross-Component Trace to setLevel=disable, the system behaves as if Cross-Component Trace does not exist at all. There is no system checking associated with trace activities and no affect on performance. If you disable Cross-Component Trace from the administrative console, the system prevents you from setting any other Cross-Component Trace configuration parameters. If you use the command-line equivalent (wsadmin) to set Cross-Component Trace configuration parameters and Enable Cross-Component Trace is not selected on the administrative console, you can still set parameters using wsadmin (the system does not throw an exception). The configuration parameters that you set using the command line are preserved for when you turn on Cross-Component Trace. Effect on runtime processing In a multi-server environment, the manner in which you configure Cross-Component Trace effects the processing associated with trace activities. For example, if you have turned off Cross-Component Trace on server A, and you have enabled application-specific Cross-Component Trace on server B, and the application running on server B calls server A, call chain information does not result.
Enable Cross-Component Trace=checked	When Enable Cross-Component Trace is selected, the wsadmin setting is in one of three different states as follows: Enable Enable with data snapshot Ready It depends on the other selections in the console as to what the WSADMIN state is.	Effect on setting parameters When you turn Cross-Component Trace on by selecting the Enable Cross-Component Trace check box, the system allows you to set all other configuration parameters associated with Cross-Component Trace, either by setting the parameters on the administrative console, or by setting the parameters using the command-line equivalent (wsadmin). Effect on runtime processing When Cross-Component Trace is turned on, expect a slight affect on performance. Turning on Cross-Component Trace results in the server support for application-specific trace coming from other servers, as well as those originating on the current server. When Cross-Component Trace is enabled, there is an adverse affect on the performance for long running BPEL processes, even if you have not selected Trace all and there are no modules listed in the table for Enable tracing for the selected Service Component Architecture (SCA) modules.
Enable with data snapshot = checked	setLeve l= enable with data snapshot	Implementing the data snapshot feature of Cross-Component Trace affects performance and disk space usage. You should keep this in mind when using Cross-Component Trace on production systems. In situations where you want to run Cross-Component Trace on most or on all modules, but require the data snapshot feature for only a few, consider setting the Trace all parameter and then using the Enable tracing for the selected Service Component Architecture (SCA) modules table to enable data snapshot on only those modules that require it.
Save cross-component trace output to = trace or system	Cross-Component Trace uses the WebSphere Application Server logging service to capture information and to provide context for the other entries in the logs. For more information, see Tracing and logging configuration in the WebSphere Application Server information Center.	The logging option that you choose for Cross-Component Trace can have an affect on system performance. You can save Cross Component Trace output to the `trace.log` file or to the `systemout.log` file. Choosing to save Cross Component Trace output to `systemout.log` file takes the system more time to write out the log. For more information on the processing associated with logging and Cross-Component Trace, see Configuring logging for Cross-Component Trace.