Fail to optimize JVM and MySQL

[hungh3]

Hi all,

I've been following this article to optimize JVM and MySQL.

First of all, my XServe spec is:
2x 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
11 GB 1066 MHz DDR3 (the XServe shipped with 3 GB ram and we inserted 2 x 4 GB of RAM/each)

After reading the article, I've decided to set aside 25% of memory for JVM and 25% for MySQL.
Now, checking the default amount of memory for JVM using zmlocalconfig mailboxd_java_heap_memory_percent | fmt

mailboxd_java_heap_memory_percent = 13

If I set this value to 25, then after stop and start Zimbra, the mailbox is not working.

mailbox Stopped
zmmailboxdctl is not running.

Similarly, if I set the recommended values for MySQL inside /opt/zimbra/conf/my.cnf, then I got: mysql.server is not running.

Lastly, with regard to innodb's cache size of MySQL, the article mentions the following
ZCS installer sets this to 40% of RAM in the system
But the value set for my system is only
innodb_buffer_pool_size = 885837004, which is only less than 1 GB. I then conclude that Zimbra only sees that my system has <= 1 x 10/4 (~ 2.5 GB) while it actually has 11 GB.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[uxbod]

Well it may depend on what version of ZCS you are running so please update your profile with the following output

su - zimbra
zmcontrol -v

[hungh3]

zmcontrol -v

Release 5.0.16_GA_2921.MACOSXx86_10.5, Zimbra, Inc.
MACOSXx86_10.5

Appreciate your kind advice on this matter.

[uxbod]

Well by the looks of things you are running X86 and not X86-64; so the O/S will only see ~2.5GB RAM. You would need to switch to the 64bit version of the O/S. Caveat: I am not a Mac person so could be wrong

[hungh3]

But then the 64 bit version is not available for Mac Os X? or do you know where can I download the version?

Below is a listing taken from the Community download page:

Debian 4 32bit x86 (MD5)
MacOS 10.4 Tiger 32bit x86 (MD5)
MacOS 10.5 Leopard 32bit x86 (MD5)
openSUSE Linux 10.2 32bit x86 (MD5)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 32bit x86 (MD5)

Appreciate your advice.

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by hungh3

But then the 64 bit version is not available for Mac Os X? or do you know where can I download the version?

There is no 64bit version for the MAC.

[hungh3]

To clarify, it's Zimbra or the Mac Leopard O/S that doesn't see my remainng 8GB? I think it's the former.

In that case, it means that I won't be able to make use of the remaining 8 GB should I insist on using Zimbra on XServe (Mac Leopard OS)? That would be really disappointing.

[Rich Graves]

Correct.

I believe that 32-bit processes in Leopard can access up to 3.5GB, so I think you can set innodb_buffer_pool_size to roughly 3GB. With Zimbra stopped, you can run "mysql.server start; mysql zimbra; mysql stop" to play with it.

32-bit Java has its own, lower limit, I guess because of the way it allocates RAM internally. On Linux it's about 1.5GB. You should able to set mailboxd_java_heap_memory_percent a bit higher than 13, but if memory ever balloons for some reason, mailboxd will die. I can understand the installer's being conservative.

How many users do you have? For 1000 or less, a 1.5GB process size should be enough. Else, consider Linux.

[raj]

Originally Posted by hungh3

In that case, it means that I won't be able to make use of the remaining 8 GB should I insist on using Zimbra on XServe (Mac Leopard OS)? That would be really disappointing.

If this is not a live machine you could think of a different direction to make 100% use of your hardware.
- Install vmware or xen virtualization on physical machine
- create 4 or 5 VM's of 2GB each (this machine can take more i know)
- and do multi server zimbra install

this will give more performemnce than a single zimbra on 1 physical machine

works like a charm all the time.

Raj

[hungh3]

Thanks Rich Graves and all for your help. The number of users my server would serve is well less than 1000. It's actually less than 500

Yet, there are some things I haven't quite understood so can I clarify things a bit further?
1. Regarding uxbod's comment: "You would need to switch to the 64bit version of the O/S", I think my Leopard 10.5.8 is already a 64-bit OS. Am I right?

2. Regarding Rich Graves "32-bit processes", are you referring to processes created by a 32-bit application like the 32-bit Zimbra ZCS we are talking about? I tried to set this value to sth equals 25% of my 11 GB (the exact number I entered was 2952790016) but then right after this mysql.server was reported to have stopped working.

3. If I'm correct, both my OS and the XServe are 64-bit. So Rich Graves, can you glarify a little bit about "32-bit Java". Why is it that I'm running 32-bit Java or the Mac ZCS is bundled with the 32-bit Java? In fact, I'm pointing /opt/zimbra/java/bin to the Java installed on my OS. So, the java being used should be 64-bit Java? If I have been right, can you give some further advice how many percent of RAM can I assign to JVM?

4. Even if Zimbra is only seeing 2.5 GB memory available, can anyone explain why it is that when I set mailboxd_java_heap_memory_percent to 25 (,i.e., 25 % of the memory Zimbra can detect on my server), mailboxd stopped working? The article about optimization mentions we can set this percent value up to 30, 40, depending on the server's spec.

Thanks a lot in advance.