IBM CPU virtualization and Java server

[Former Member]

Hi everybody,

we are running several systems with double stack ABAP + Java (XI) or java only (EP) on IBM/AIX with pSeries with IBM JDK 1.4.2. Our platform allows to virualize the CPUs. We can, for example, having 4 physical CPUs available, let them appear as 8 CPUs for the applications. Of course the 8 CPUs then are having a speed reduced by 50%.

Now my question:

Which configuration will ensure the best system performance for Java applications like XI? "Many" CPUs with a lower speed or "less" CPUs with a higher speed?

Does anyone have experiences with this issue?

Thank you very much for your feedback!

Kind regards, Joachim

[markus_doehr2]

Java and J2EE-Engines need a LOT of CPU cycles so I would subscribe to that view.

In our tests, CISC CPUs (Intel x86(_64) and Opteron) have proven to be a LOT faster than RISC CPUs (in our tests Itanium-2) so I would also go for few FAST CPUs.

--

Markus

[Former Member]

Some recent test from IBM at Montpellier show that it's better to have a few fast CPU compared to a lot of slow ones.

[Former Member]

Yes, SAP claims that NetWeaver is scalable and optimized for running on multiprocessor systems. Also all major databases like Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server are. So you will have some gain, the question is how much it will be.