Chapter 14. Tuning the JBoss Application Server
This chapter covers
- Defining performance
- Developing a performance tuning methodology
- Tuning the hardware and network
- Tuning the OS
- Tuning the JVM
- Tuning the application server
- Tuning your application
When I (Peter) was in high school and got my first car, it didn’t have the dozens of computers that modern cars have—computers that automatically tune your engine to get the optimum performance. In those days, the engine was mostly mechanical. To keep it running at optimum performance, I used a timing strobe to make sure the spark plugs sparked at the proper instance; made sure the spark gap on the spark plug was set to the recommended distance; cleaned and adjusted the carburetor; and a whole bunch of other tasks. It wasn’t enough to put gas in the car and occasionally change the oil to keep a car running efficiently.
Similarly, deploying applications to an application server and starting the server isn’t sufficient to get the optimal performance from the application server. As with an older model car, you can pay someone to tune it for you, or you can learn how to tune it yourself. You’re concerned that your application runs efficiently, that it doesn’t consume more resources than necessary, and that the performance of the system as a whole is satisfactory to your customers. In this chapter, we tell you many of the things that you need to know to tune your applications and the application server to meet those goals.