About this book

Table of contents

About this book

 This book is for administrators of SCO OpenServer(TM) systems who are interested in investigating and improving system performance. It describes performance tuning for uniprocessor, multiprocessor, and networked systems, including those with TCP/IP, NFS®, and X clients. It discusses how the various subsystems function, possible performance constraints due to hardware limitations, and optimizing system configuration for various uses. Concepts and strategies are illustrated with case studies.

You will find the information you need more quickly if you are familiar with:

Although we try to present information in the most useful way, you are the ultimate judge of how well we succeed. Please let us know how we can improve this book.

How this book is organized

This book tells you:

A set of case studies illustrates the methodology of system tuning, and the tools that you can use to examine performance.

Appendixes provide additional information about:

There is also a glossary which explains technical terms and acronyms used throughout the book.

Related documentation

SCO OpenServer systems include comprehensive documentation. Depending on which SCO OpenServer system you have, the following books are available in online and/or printed form. Access online books by double-clicking on the Desktop Help icon. Additional printed versions of the books are also available. The Desktop and most SCO OpenServer programs and utilities are linked to extensive context-sensitive help, which in turn is linked to relevant sections in the online versions of the following books. See ``Getting help'' in the SCO OpenServer Handbook.

NOTE: When you upgrade or supplement your SCO OpenServer software, you might also install online documentation that is more current than the printed books that came with the original system. For the most up-to-date information, check the online documentation.

Release Notes
contain important late-breaking information about installation, hardware requirements, and known limitations. The Release Notes also highlight the new features added for this release.

SCO OpenServer Handbook
provides the information needed to get your SCO OpenServer system up and running, including installation and configuration instructions, and introductions to the Desktop, online documentation, system administration, and troubleshooting.

Graphical Environment Guide
describes how to customize and administer the Graphical Environment, including the X Window System(TM) server, the SCO® Panner(TM) window manager, the Desktop, and other X clients.

Graphical Environment help
provides online context-sensitive help for Calendar, Edit, the Desktop, Help, Mail, Paint, the SCO Panner window manager, and the UNIX® command-line window.

Graphical Environment Reference
contains the manual pages for the X server (section X), the Desktop, and X clients from SCO and MIT (section XC).

Guide to Gateways for LAN Servers
describes how to set up SCO® Gateway for NetWare® and LAN Manager Client software on an SCO OpenServer system to access printers, filesystems, and other services provided by servers running Novell® NetWare® and by servers running LAN Manager over DOS, OS/2®, or UNIX systems. This book contains the manual pages for LAN Manager Client commands (section LMC).

Mail and Messaging Guide
describes how to configure and administer your mail system. Topics include sendmail, MMDF, SCO Shell Mail, mailx, and the Post Office Protocol (POP) server.

Networking Guide
provides information on configuring and administering TCP/IP, NFS®, and IPX/SPX(TM) software to provide networked and distributed functionality, including system and network management, applications support, and file, name, and time services.

Networking Reference
contains the command, file, protocol, and utility manual pages for the IPX/SPX (section PADM), NFS (sections NADM, NC, and NF), and TCP/IP (sections ADMN, ADMP, SFF, and TC) networking software.

Operating System Administrator's Reference
contains the manual pages for system administration commands and utilities (section ADM), system file formats (section F), hardware-specific information (section HW), miscellaneous commands (section M), and SCO Visual Tcl(TM) commands (section TCL).

Operating System Tutorial
provides a basic introduction to the SCO OpenServer operating system. This book can also be used as a refresher course or a quick-reference guide. Each chapter is a self-contained lesson designed to give hands-on experience using the SCO OpenServer operating system.

Operating System User's Guide
provides an introduction to SCO OpenServer command-line utilities, the SCO Shell utilities, working with files and directories, editing files with the vi editor, transferring files to disks and tape, using DOS disks and files in the SCO OpenServer environment, managing processes, shell programming, regular expressions, awk, and sed.

Operating System User's Reference
contains the manual pages for user-accessible operating system commands and utilities (section C).

PC-Interface Guide
describes how to set up PC-Interface(TM) software on an SCO OpenServer system to provide print, file, and terminal emulation services to computers running PC-Interface client software under DOS or Microsoft® Windows(TM).

SCO Merge User's Guide
describes how to use and configure an SCO® Merge(TM) system. Topics include installing Windows, installing DOS and Windows applications, using DOS with the SCO OpenServer operating system, configuring hardware and software resources, and using SCO Merge in an international environment.

SCO Wabi User's Guide
describes how to use SCO® Wabi(TM) software to run Windows 3.1 applications on the SCO OpenServer operating system. Topics include installing the SCO Wabi software, setting up drives, configuring ports, managing printing operations, and installing and running applications.

System Administration Guide
describes configuration and maintenance of the base operating system, including account, filesystem, printer, backup, security, UUCP, and virtual disk management.
The SCO OpenServer Development System includes extensive documentation of application development issues and tools.

Many other useful publications about SCO systems by independent authors are available from technical bookstores.

Typographical conventions

This publication presents commands, filenames, keystrokes, and other special elements in these typefaces:

Example . . . . . . . . Used for:

lp or lp(C)
commands, device drivers, programs, and utilities (names, icons, or windows); the letter in parentheses indicates the reference manual section in which the command, driver, program, or utility is documented

/new/client.list
files, directories, and desktops (names, icons, or windows)

root
system, network, or user names

filename
placeholders (replace with appropriate name or value)

<Esc>
keyboard keys

Exit program?
system output such as prompts and messages

yes or yes
user input

``Description''
field names or column headings (on screen or in database)

open or open(S)
library routines, system calls, kernel functions, C keywords; the letter in parentheses indicates the reference manual section in which the file is documented

$HOME
environment or shell variables

SIGHUP
named constants or signals

buf
C program structures

b_b.errno
C program structure members and variables

How can we improve this book?

What did you find particularly helpful in this book? Are there mistakes in this book? Could it be organized more usefully? Did we leave out information you need or include unnecessary material? If so, please tell us.

To help us implement your suggestions, include relevant details, such as book title, section name, page number, and system component. We would appreciate information on how to contact you in case we need additional explanation.

To contact us, use the card at the back of the SCO OpenServer Handbook or write to us at:

Technical Publications
Attn: CFT
The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
PO Box 1900
Santa Cruz, California 95061-9969
USA

or e-mail us at:

techpubs@sco.com or ... uunet!sco!techpubs

Thank you.