HP OpenVMS System Manager's Manual, Volume 2 Tuning, Monitoring, and Complex Systems

This document is Volume 2 of the HP OpenVMS System Manager's Manual, published in January 2005 for OpenVMS Alpha and I64 Version 8.2. It targets HP OpenVMS system managers, covering advanced topics for tuning, monitoring, and managing complex system environments.

Key areas summarized in the manual include:

• System Configuration and Performance Tuning: Detailed guidance on managing system parameters (e.g., memory, scheduling, security) using utilities like AUTOGEN, SYSMAN, and SYSGEN. It covers general performance considerations, workload management, and optimizing specific performance options like expanding system libraries and installing known images.
• File System Management and Diagnostics: Instructions for managing page, swap, and dump files, including calculating their optimal sizes and saving crash dump information. It also covers the Extended File Cache (XFC) and Virtual I/O Cache (VIOC) for enhancing file system data access.
• System Testing and Monitoring: Information on using the User Environment Test Package (UETP) to verify system installation and troubleshoot errors. It describes methods for gathering system information through various log files (error, operator, security audit) and monitoring operating system performance using the MONITOR utility and tracking resource usage.
• Complex and Networked Environments: Extensive coverage of OpenVMS Cluster considerations, including cluster-wide system management and tools like SHOW CLUSTER. It details network considerations, including HP TCP/IP Services and DECnet-Plus installation, configuration, and interoperability. Specific sections are dedicated to managing Local Area Network (LAN) software (LANACP, LANCP, MOP Downline Load, LAN Failover) and InfoServer/LASTport and LAT software for virtual device and terminal server communication.
• Specialized Processing and Transaction Management: Explanations of symmetric multiprocessing (SMP), VAX-specific vector processing, and managing DECdtm (Distributed Transaction Manager) services, including transaction logs and the XA Gateway.

Appendices provide reference information on Files-11 disk structure, time differential factors, and timezones supported in OpenVMS.