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SMC-D via ISM pass-through performance evaluation for KVM guests on IBM Z

This study compares two network interconnect solutions for KVM guests within a CPC running on IBM Z and IBM LinuxONE. The conventional HiperSockets technology via MacVTap is compared with a new approach that utilizes pass-through of Internal Shared Memory (ISM) devices exploiting the Shared Memory Communications – Direct Memory Access (SMC-D) protocol.

The evaluation includes latency, throughput, and processor consumption using the uperf network benchmark with request-response and streaming workloads. Additionally, the study explores the impact of tuning buffer sizes on the performance of SMC-D workloads.

Results demonstrate that SMC-D via ISM pass-through for KVM guests exhibits superior performance characteristics, surpassing HiperSockets connectivity via MacVTap in terms of latency, throughput, and processor consumption.

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SMC-D via ISM pass-through performance evaluation for KVM guests on IBM Z

Creation date
December 2023

EDB Postgres Advanced Server on IBM zSystems - Performance Tuning Guide

You can use EDB Postgres on Linux on IBM Z and IBM LinuxONE for database consolidation and application modernization. Learn about the key findings and recommendations of a performance study that was carried out specifically for running EDB Postgres Advanced Server on Linux on IBM Z. The recommendations given in this report can significantly boost the performance of such EDB Postgres environments.

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EDB on IBM zSystems - Tuning Guide

Creation date
May 2023

Improving Transactional Database Workloads in KVM Guests on IBM zSystems using Huge Pages

This study describes how huge pages can improve a setup with KVM where the guest runs a transactional database workload. It also gives advice on how to set up huge pages and what needs to be considered.

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Improving Transactional Database Workloads in KVM Guests on IBM zSystems using Huge Pages

Creation date
December 2022

Upgrade OSA-Express6S to OSA-Express7S: Performance Analysis

IBM Z installations often use 10GbE OSA adapters for LAN connections. IBM z15® server hardware can be fitted with the most recent OSA-Express7S adapter, or with earlier adapters, such as OSA-Express6S. This paper shows that for some workloads patterns on IBM z15, OSA-Express7S can, at the same link speed, offer performance advantages over OSA-Express6S.

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Upgrade OSA-Express6S to OSA-Express7S: Performance Analysis

Creation date
September 2022

Apache Kafka on IBM zSystems - Performance Experiences, Hints and Tips

Apache Kafka is among the most popular open-source distributed event streaming platforms worldwide. It supports more than 1000 use cases, which include traditional applications like messaging and website activity tracking, but also highly sophisticated implementation scenarios around near real-time analytics and fraud detection, for example. Kafka is used by thousands of companies, including over 80% of the Fortune 100.

This presentation summarizes the key findings and recommendations of a performance study that was carried out specifically for running Apache Kafka on Linux on IBM Z. The recommendations given in this report can significantly boost the performance of Kafka environments.

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Apache Kafka on IBM zSystems - Performance Experiences, Hints and Tips

Creation date
June 2022

Exploring the performance of network adapters for Linux on IBM Z

With OSA-Express and RoCE Express, IBM provides two types of physical network adapters for Linux standard networking usage on IBM Z. In this presentation, the performance of the most recent OSA-Express, OSA-Express7S 25 GbE, is compared to its predecessor, OSA-Express6S 10 GbE, and additionally to the 25 GbE RoCE Express2.1 on an IBM z15. It is shown that the OSA-Express7S 25 GbE significantly improves performance compared to its predecessor, while still hitting some limitations. Furthermore, the strengths and weaknesses of the 25 GbE RoCE Express2.1 are highlighted. The presentation concludes describing benefits and downsides of configuring receive packet steering (RPS), a Linux networking feature, with OSA-Express7S and RoCE Express2.1.

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Exploring the performance of network adapters for Linux on IBM Z

Creation date
December 2021

Elasticsearch on IBM Z - Performance Experiences, Hints and Tips

Elasticsearch is the most popular enterprise search engine according to db-engines.com. The number of use cases is huge, the community is extremely active, and new releases are made available frequently. Elasticsearch can be embedded into many software stacks, for example Red Hat® OpenShift®. This presentation summarizes tuning hints and tips that can improve the performance of Elasticsearch significantly when running on Linux on IBM Z.

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Elasticsearch on IBM Z - Performance Experiences, Hints and Tips

Creation date
May 2021