System Performance Tuning

By Mike Loukides
November 1990
Pages: 330
ISBN 10: 0-937175-60-9 | ISBN 13: 9780937175606
(3) (Average of 4 Customer Reviews)

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Description

System Performance Tuning answers the fundamental question: How can I get my UNIX-based computer to do more work without buying more hardware? Some performance problems do require you to buy a bigger or faster computer, but many can be solved simply by making better use of the resources you already have.
Full Description

System Performance Tuning answers one of the most fundamental questions you can ask about your UNIX-based computer: How can I get it to do more work without buying more hardware? Anyone who has ever used a computer has wished that the system was faster, particularly at times when it was under heavy load. If your system gets sluggish when you start a big job, if it feels as if you spend hours waiting for remote file access to complete, if your system stops dead when several users are active at the same time, you need to read this book. Some performance problems do require you to buy a bigger or faster computer, but many can be solved simply by making better use of the resources you already have. Contents include:

Real and perceived performance problems.
Simple tricks to improve keyboard response.
Locating your problem; finding out what your system is doing.
Using tools such as at and batch to manage system load.
Surviving without a lot of memory.
Configuring your I/O system for the best throughput.
Detecting an overworked or malfunctioning network.
Building a kernel that uses your system more efficiently.

Featured customer reviews

System Performance Tuning Review, January 14 2002

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Submitted by Mario [Respond | View]

This is a great book to start learning about Unix System Performance tuning and should be required reading for anyone wanting to gain insight into the concepts of kernel tuning. However, having been last published in 1990, it neglects many aspects of a modern Unix OS. Tuning a Unix system for Web services is much different than tuning a system for an RDBMS or Application Server. RAID is only briefly mentioned and only as striping. Many performance issues arise when using RAID, especially when dealing with I/O blocksize for requests descending a vendor's filesystem, software RAID, hardware RAID and finally to physical disk. What about dealing with sychronous vs. asynchronous I/O? Small files vs. large files? A discussion of storage strategies is absent. This is all compounded in complexity by the proprietary filesystems the vendors have developed to achieve essentially the same goals. No discussion of filesystem journaling is contained in this book; however the discussion and explanation of filesystem buffers (nbuf) is good. A great deal of understanding Unix is understanding it's roots. "System Performance Tuning" is one step in that understanding.

System Performance Tuning Review, November 21 2000

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Submitted by M. Chon [Respond | View]

This book is 10 years old. Here's a quote from page 136: "If you are going to invest in a really large disk drive (1-GB drives are now available from several vendors), you may as well spend the extra money and get one with good performance characteristics."

Can we have a revised edition, please? This is an excellent book but just a tad out-of-date.

System Performance Tuning Review, September 05 2000

Rating:

Submitted by Thomas Francis [Respond | View]

I bought this book earlier this month without realising that it was published in 1990. Some of the basics are detailed extremely well and I found the book very useful. However, a 10 year old reference book on computer systems just wont do.

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System Performance Tuning Review, July 17 2000

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Submitted by Gregg Owens   [Respond | View]

If you are reading this, you already respect the O'Reilly book collection. The first edition of the system performance tuning book is excellent. But, 10 years is an eternity in the computer world, I'm sure I can speak for many by saying we all look forward to an update to this invaluable reference.

System Performance Tuning Review, August 18 1999
Submitted by Dave Wheeler   [Respond | View]

As with the other comments here, I am disappointed not to find an updated version. I have owned this book since shortly after it was first published, and it has proven invaluable on many occasions. However, I came here looking for an update, as it is no longer so relevant to modern revisions of the UNIX system.

I have a reasonable library of books here and a large majority are O'Reilly titles, for which I have the utmost respect. I have to say that I feel slightly let down on this occasion :-(

System Performance Tuning Review, September 28 1998
Submitted by Francis J. Ferry, Jr.   [Respond | View]

I'm a long-time fan and dedicated user of the O'Reilly Nutshell series, but I must request an updated version of the System Performance Tuning book by Mike Loukides. While it is expertly written and easy to understand, it is terribly out of date. Perhaps you could schedule a re-release when the next version of Essential System Administration is written? Regards, Francis J. Ferry, Jr. Unix Administration FPICIG

Media reviews "Recently I found myself browsing a varied assortment of titles at my local bookstore and stumbled upon O'Reilly and Associates' "System Performance Tuning," by Mike Loukides. The title immediately caught my eye and so I decided to look a little closer. Preliminary scanning revealed the book was a small guide, totaling 300 pages, in the Nutshell series format. And, to my amazement, the book had gone into print in 1990--to still be on the bookshelf of a major book seller after ten years was either an oversight of the local store or I had apparently found a well-known gem in the computer community. I then decided to purchase the book, which retailed at $29.95, and took it home for some weekend reading. After what turned out to actually be several days of reading I found the book to be full of useful informationi This is a good book. The information is solid and, although the book is dated, very good reading. The author writes to the reader, rather than in third person, which makes for an engaging book. In addition, he doesn't dilute the book with attempts at humor, which is often the sad downfall of current computer titles. This book deserves to sit on the shelf with other excellent old O'Reilly classics such as 'Essential System Administration' and 'Building Internet Firewalls.' " -- Dustin Puryear, linux.com, July 2001

System Performance Tuning "takes a pragmatic approach to performance analysis and improvement.... This book is a 'must' for anyone who has an interest in making their UNIX system run faster and more efficiently. It deals effectively with a complex subject that could require a multiple-volume series." --Stephan M. Chan, CommUNIXations, April 1991

"Once again, System Performance Tuning by Mike Loukides was a valuable reference. (Everyone has a copy by now, right?)" --Dinah McNutt, SunExpert, December 1991

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