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- From: davek@informix.com (David Kosenko)
- Newsgroups: comp.databases.informix
- Subject: Re: OnLine.USERS.parameter
- Message-ID: <1993Jan7.172905.15214@informix.com>
- Date: 7 Jan 93 17:29:05 GMT
- References: <1ifb01INNadf@emory.mathcs.emory.edu>
- Sender: news@informix.com (Usenet News)
- Organization: Informix Software, Inc.
- Lines: 119
-
- Bharat Shah writes:
- >Hi,
- >
- >We have been using SCO-OnLine since last three years and I have yet to figure
- >out the **TRUE** meaning of the USERS shared memory parameter.
- >
- >USERS imply maximum number of users
-
- USERS == # sqlturbos + daemons (tbinit, tbundo, tbpgcl's) + admin processes
- (tbmonitor, tbtape).
-
- >
- >Page 2-28 of Informix OnLine Administrator's Guide,
- >Database Server Version 4.00 states:
- >
- > " ..... Daemon and tape utilities count as users.
- > Minimum number of users is given by the equation 4 + p + m
- >
- > where p is the number-of-page-cleaners
- > m is 1 if you use disk mirroring and
- > m is 0 if you are not using mirroring"
- >
- >My question goes if:
- >
- >p = 1 and m = 1 and
- >I want five "people-users" (one each for isql, esql/c, forms, Wingz, Ace)
- >to use the engine what should be my setting for USERS ?
- >
- >If your answer is 5 + daemon + (p=1) + (m=1) = 8 ... You are wrong !!
-
- Correct, but for the wrong reason: two deamons are allocated, so the answer
- should be 9, not 8. That assumes, based on what you have described, that
- you will have 1 user running isql with one open database, one user running
- an esql/c program with only one open database (and a single process appli-
- cation at that)... Read on...
-
- >On calling Informix Tech Support I was told that for five people user the
- >setting should be (5 * 4) + p + m = 22 !!
-
- Whoever told you this did not know what they were talking about, I'm
- sorry to say. By no means are 4 sqlturbos required per "user".
-
- Now this can get a bit complicated, because a license "user" != OnLine
- "user". Consider the case of I4gl. When you start up I4GL, the database
- syspgm4gl is opened. This requires one sqlturbo (sqlturbo is the primary
- OnLine "user"). If you run a 4gl program from I4GL, that 4GL program
- will open its own database, requiring another sqlturbo. SO you have
- 2 sqlturbos, or 2 OnLine "users" running, yet this only constitutes ONE
- license "user". I just checked, and the official "stance" is that a
- license "user" is a single userid on the same physical device (i.e.
- terminal) with up to 5 database "sessions" (read "sqlturbos"). So, I
- could, sitting at my X-terminal, have several window open, with a different
- Informix-based app running in each, having up to 5 sqlturbos running
- (i.e. 5 OnLine "users") and still be considered one license "user".
-
- >
- >My license being for 16-users I was not sure if this was OK, so I called
- >again to confirm USERS setting of 22 and queried some other Support
- >engineer. He not only refused to confirm the setting but seemed upset at
- >the previous engineer for giving me the **REAL** formula !!
-
- No, he was upset that another engineer had given you bogus info. Look
- (and this is to the whole forum, not just Bharat), we at Informix are
- not the CIA, or All the President's Men. We are not trying to hide
- info from our users. I try my utmost on this forum to "tell all" as
- it were, even sometimes getting into details that the typical user
- doesn't "need" to know. ANd I am not alone in this effort, as I can say
- from off the top of my head that Alan Denny, Dave Cortesi, and others
- all mak ethe same effort here. This paranoia that we at Informix are trying
- to keep info out of the hands of our users is really quite misguided.
- Now people make mistakes. It is sad, but true, that support engineers
- sometime give out the wrong info (typically either because they are
- new or were told, by some bonehead, wrong info and are simply
- passing it along). The **REAL** formula is the one in the Admin Guide.
-
- >Some simple experiments showed that a value of 10 would suffice for my needs.
- >
- >MY GRIPE HERE IS WITH DOCUMENTATION and WITH INFORMIX TECH SUPPORT !!
- >
- >IF ONLINE REQUIRES MAX USERS SETTING WHY NOT DOCUMENT A FORMULA TO
- >COMPUTE MAX ? WHY BOTHER TO GIVE A FORMULA FOR MINIMUM SETTING ?
-
- I was prepared to take you to task for your comments about the doc, when
- I reread that you were using version 4.00. I must, therefore, agree
- with you that the documentation is abysmal. Let me assure you that we
- have improved this dramatically in 5.00, and in fact most of what you
- request has come to pass. For example, regarding:
-
- >WHY NOT BE FORTHCOMING AND SAY THAT **USERS** SETTING IS THE NUMBER OF
- >PROCESSES (This though could be found out by reading the tbconfig file which
- >states that users = max number of concurrent processes). I guess I had better
- >read all Informix provided scripts & files to to understand the product!
-
- I quote from the 5.00 manual (pg 1-31):
-
- "To arrive at a value for USERS, specify the highest likely
- value for the number of user processes active at any one time
- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
- plus the value of CLEANERS plus 4."
-
- BTW, Chapter 1 of the 5.00 manual was SPECIFICALLY designed to guide an
- admin through the setup procedure, with each step explicitly described, all
- the parameters explained, etc.
-
- So take what comfort you can in knowing that things are getting better.
- Tech Pubs now looks to the field for input on new documentation (after all,
- we are in pretty much the same boat as our users), and I believe that is
- reflected in much of the 5.00 docs (though I still haven't manage to
- convince them that Unix man pages would be a great addition..). I am
- truly sorry that you have had so much difficulty with what should be
- a simple matter. I am also sorry that tech support gave you erroneous
- info.
-
- Dave
- --
- Disclaimer: These opinions are not those of Informix Software, Inc.
- **************************************************************************
- "I look back with some satisfaction on what an idiot I was when I was 25,
- but when I do that, I'm assuming I'm no longer an idiot." - Andy Rooney
-