How can a SysAdmin determine what network programming architecture is being used?
Most program’s documentation remain vague about what network programming architecture is used. Since the architecture is the single strongest determinant of performance under load, you need a way to find out. Below are techniques you can use snoop on an application, even if you do not have access to the source code. First, you have to set up a load-creating situation, with at least 200 simultaneous tasks. Then, examine how the process is running with various tools: Linux – Run ‘top’ – One-process-per-task: many processes running, all with a different amount of memory use. – One-thread-per-task: many processes running, all with the same amount of memory use, and the number of processes changes over time – One-thread-many-tasks (one thread): a single process running. – One-thread-many-tasks (several threads): many processes running, all with the same amount of memory use, and the number of processes is less than 100. Solaris – Run “ps -efL”. The “NLWP” column indicates how many “lightwei
