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Hot Cache Lines, False Sharing (Cache Line Ping-Ponging), and Performance

Question & Answer


Question

What are hot cache lines, false sharing, and how do they impact performance?

Answer

From an IBM i performance standpoint, 'hot' cache lines or false sharing can result in higher CPU utilization and consumption with less throughput.

The following documents explain this scaling issue in detail:

oNUMA on Power 7 in IBM i - Jan 2010 : http://public.dhe.ibm.com/services/us/igsc/idoctor/perf/P7_NUMA.pdf
oOptimizing for Cache Geometry, section POWER7 and POWER7+ Optimization and Tuning Guide:
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks/pdfs/sg248079.pdf]
o
Cache Coherency, Considerations in software design for multi-core multiprocessor architectures:


These traces can be used to determine the source of this scaling issue:

oCollection services data: Document 686413 , MustGather: (Collecting/Sending in) Collection Services Performance Data for General System Performance Issues from an active collection
oCache line traces:  Cache Line Documents
oPEX TPROF: Document 645957, MustGather: High CPU

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Document Information

Modified date:
17 March 2026

UID

nas8N1020491