System performance is directly proportional to the efficiency
of work load management. Each installation must develop its own
strategy for work load management. Before adjusting any system values,
make sure you resolve the following issues:
Does the work load "peak" at
a particular time of day, that is, is it noticeably heavier than
at other times?
Can the work load be better balanced? Perhaps some
voluntary measures can be adopted by users, after appropriate discussion.
Could some jobs be run better as batch jobs, preferably
during nonpeak hours?
Have primary and secondary hours of operation been
employed with users? If not, could system performance benefit by
adopting this practice? If the primary and secondary hours are in
use, are the choices of hours the most appropriate for all users?
(Plan to review this issue every time you either add or remove users
or applications, to ensure that the desired balance is maintained.)
Can future applications be designed to work around
any known or expected system bottlenecks? Can present applications
be redesigned somewhat, for the same purpose? (Refer to the Guide to OpenVMS File Applications.)
Are you making the best use of the code-sharing
ability that the operating system offers? Code sharing provides
an excellent means to conserve memory and improve performance over
the life of the system.