Chapter 9. Performing Directory Server Benchmarks

This chapter describes the methods and tools used by the Sun Performance Group to characterize the performance of the Sun ONE Directory Server software running on different classes of Sun servers by placing various loads on them, then measuring response time.

We do not publish any benchmark numbers in this chapter. There are too many variables , so we provide the techniques and leave the benchmark results for you to perform, tailored to your environment.

It is also important to note that we do not cover all aspects of a performance benchmark because doing so would consume a book all of its own. Instead, this chapter provides a framework from which you can develop a benchmark testing strategy that best suits your unique environment. The good news is that a recently completed document called Benchmarking the Sun ONE Directory Server 5.2 with SLAMD and MakeLDIF is part of the SLAMD documentation set (available for download). Refer to this document for additional Benchmarking information.

This chapter is organized into the following sections:

• "Why Benchmark?" on page 466

• "Creating a Benchmark Configuration" on page 469

• "Creating LDIF for Benchmarks" on page 479

• "Using SLAMD, the Distributed Load Generation Engine" on page 507

• "Directory Server Performance Tuning" on page 541