Environment
Novell ZENworks Configuration Management
Situation
ZCM database server is not performing optimally.
Resolution
1) ZCM is a product that uses an SQL server for it's core functionality but is not an SQL server or SQL database management product. Regular Database Management must occur or performance will suffer.
Review the Database Best Practice Guide for some general guidelines - https://www.novell.com/documentation/zenworks11/zen11_cm_deployment_bp/data/bi5tm7r.html
2) SQL Database performance is highly dependent upon fast disk I/O
High End SAS Drives can reach 150MB/s or higher throughput.
High End SAS Drives in a RAID array can exceed 200MB/s
SATA Drives will perform slower and my be more prone to performance degradation during peak usage.
If database performance is an issue, it is critical that the Disk Performance is tested during non-peak hours as well as peak hours.
If performance is too low during non-peak hours, then the disk subsystem needs to be examined to determine the cause of the slow performance.
If performance is only low during peak usage, consider moving non-database load to another disk-subsystem, moving the transaction log to another disk subsystem, or upgrading the disk subsystem.
3) The Database Server should be placed on the same subnet as the primary servers to maximize performance and should NEVER be across a WAN link from the primary servers.
4) If the ZCM database server is virtualized, ensure the RAM is fully allocated to prevent memory swapping. The Image below shows the full 3GB reserved for a server assigned 3GB.
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