Falcon User's Page

This is the Falcon User's page. I support an application written by CCI-TRIAD out of Denver, CO. that uses Progress database language, and is a full scale business program for the lumber market. Those of you who use this package know what it is. This page is designed to make your life a little easier. Enjoy, and feel free to send in your triumphs.

When we first got up on Falcon, let me tell you; it was rough. Falcon is a fault tolerant application that uses a BI file for database recovery in the event of a failure. Before each modification to the disk is made, a 'before image' snapshot of the database is created. In the event of a failure, the db knows it can at least recover back to this check point. Imagine thousands of instructions per second - massive I/O overhead. This is the personality of Falcon. I had intentionally over-planned my new server for future growth, but at this point I was seriously wondering if it was enough power to run Falcon. After several failed attempts at making the bird fly, I came to realize that conventional thinking would fail when it came to supporting Falcon.
After extensive performance testing, I determined I had a terrible I/O bottleneck. I had ample CPU and RAM resources, but even with ultra2 LVD disks in RAID 5 configuration, my disk structure was still too limiting. I decided to pull the BI file out of the RAID and put it on a virtual disk by itself. All the other data, app and os, were still together. This proved to be much better, but I was still fielding complaints from the user community about system response. At the next modification date, I decided to rebuild the disk structure one more time. I pulled the data portion out of the bundle. This made a virtual disk for BI, one for data, and one for app and os. This move proved to be successful. Today, even with several users doing quote recalculations, I only have a latency of 2/100ths of a millisecond on any VD. I rarely have any response deficiencies anymore ( the ones I do have will be addressed in this section later. They are related to another Falcon issue that I will also discuss).
When I reconfigure my server again, I will isolate the pieces of Falcon even further. I intend to make a VD for app, one for os, and keep the BI and data vds for a total of four virtual disks. This is the only way I know to balance the load over a RAID 10 structure. I will let you know how it goes.

Disclaimer

InterFlex Technologies makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the validity of these Tips. InterFlex technologies also accepts no liability for problems that may arise from the use of these Tips. These Tips are simply a compilation of real world solutions that we have used in our own experiences and are provided for edification and discussion purposes only. If you do decide to implement any of these Tips, do so in a controlled environment and at your own risk.