CM Synergy 6.1 Configuration and Tuning

Answer

Overview

Telelogic CM Synergy 6.1 Release is a major new release of the Telelogic Change Management Suite that provides the following capabilities.

• A new user interface based on Java Swing called "Telelogic CM Synergy for Developers" was introduced in the limited 6.0 release. The 6.1 release is the general availability release. Refer to the CM Synergy 6.1 Release Notes for specific changes from 6.0 to 6.1.
• Provide isolation between the presentation layer (GUI) and the business logic by implementing a server-based API as a major first step toward a new product architecture
• A tour of the tool, CBT-based introduction to "CM Synergy for developers" client
• Key DCM enhancements and fixes
• Support for running CM Synergy clients on machines which have been allocated dynamic IP addresses via DHCP
• Additional bug fixes With major product enhancement, come higher client and server requirements for CM Synergy. This field advisory details the client and server machine requirements and Informix database tuning/maintenance information. This information is especially critical for customers upgrading from Continuus/CM 4.5.

For optimal performance, CM servers must be configured with the recommended hardware and software configuration detailed below.

The term "simultaneous user" is defined as engine processes running on a single CM server. Depending on the customer's usage, they could have 250 CM users added to their user list but have, at most, 50 users running at the same time. This equals 50 simultaneous users.

UNIX Server Requirements

Windows Server Requirements

For Windows and Unix CM server installations that need to support an additional 250 simultaneous users, it is recommended that another CM server host machine is setup to support the engine processes.

CM Server Operating System Support

CM Server Machine Guidelines

Although the minimum and recommended CM server configuration is detailed above, this section contains additional information that may be useful for configuring your CM database server.

Processors

In order for your server to enable multi-threading performance improvements, it is recommended that your CM database server contain 4 CPUs instead of 2. If your server is configured with 2 CPUs, Informix cannot take full advantage of it's multi-threading capabilities. This is because Informix will reserve a single CPU solely for the operating system and will only utilize a single CPU on a dual processor server. For quad processor servers, Informix will utilize 3 CPUs and reserve one for the operating system.

Memory

It is recommended that your CM engine server contain at least 2 Gigabyte of RAM. Each CM session can take up approximately 10 Megabytes for the engine process and an additional 5 Megabytes for Informix. This equals 15 MB for each CM session. Informix is a dynamic server and it will grow in memory depending on usage. The initial memory usage of Informix can be 40 Megabytes but it can grow to more than 1 Gigabyte. The following table is a guideline on how much memory you may need to support Informix.

CM Synergy Client Requirements

UNIX Client Requirements

Windows Client Requirements

CM Synergy Developer Client Operating System Support

Informix Tuning Guidelines

In order for the CM Synergy database server to run with optimal performance, proper configuration and maintenance of the Informix database must be performed. This section details the Informix machine server configuration, database tuning, and maintenance guidelines.

For specific instructions on how to set Informix parameters, refer to the CM Synergy Partitions

• You should always use raw partitions versus cooked partitions.
• For optimal performance for a UNIX server, you should create 4 raw partitions on separate, physical disk drives.
• Each chunk file (ccm, log, rootdbs, tempdbs) should be placed on separate partitions.

For optimal performance, your CM database server machine should be a dedicated to running CM Synergy. If you have a machine that is a dedicated CM database server, the you need to make the following setting in Informix:

RESIDENT = 1

The default setting is set to 0. If this setting is set to zero, the CM server will swap out Informix from physical memory to disk, slowing down performance for the CM server.

How to set BUFFERS

The Informix BUFFERS parameter is set during the CM database server creation. This is calculated according to the number of users specified during the database creation process. 1 buffer is equal to 2000 or 4000 bytes depending on the OS. Informix recommends that the BUFFERS parameter be set to 20% of physical memory, depending on the operating system. The following is an example:

Solaris and HP Server with 1Gigabyte of RAM = 200 Megabytes / 2000 bytes
NT and AIX Server with 1 Gigabyte of RAM = 200 Megabytes / 4000 bytes

Database Maintenance

Similar to the frequent disk defrag required to keep disk drive performance optimal, similar maintenance must be done on the CM database server.

• Once a month, indices on the database should be repaired.
• Once a month, the CM server should be restarted to free up memory used by Informix.
• Once a year, the database should be packed, indices repaired, and unpacked.