Database Administrator's Guide

Unix Server Platform Hardware Requirements

The requirements for the FairCom Server on each listed operating system are presented in the following topics.

In This Section Minimum Hardware Requirements Hewlett Packard HP-UX IBM AIX Linux Solaris - SPARC and Intel Native Threads

Minimum Hardware Requirements

The minimum hard drive space required by the FairCom Server for Unix is:

The size of the FairCom Server executable
+ the amount specified by the LOG_SPACE keyword (10 MB default)
+ 1MB for the FairCom Server status logs
+ size of pre-compiled FairCom utilities
+ the size of the data (.dat) and index (.idx) files

The minimum memory requirements for operating the FairCom Server for all Unix systems are:

FairCom DB SQL Server: 1 GB RAM

FairCom DB Server: 300 MB RAM

Note: Additional memory will be needed for additional users beyond 16 concurrent users and larger data and index caches. Cache sizes larger than 2GB require a 64-bit version of the OS and a 64-bit version of the FairCom Server.

It is possible to reduce the memory requirements below these recommended settings. For details, please contact FairCom.

Hewlett Packard HP-UX

The HP-UX 11 operating system, and above, supports standard FairCom DB files up to 4 GB in size and allows huge files. Earlier versions support 2GB file sizes and requires segmented files to support larger files.

For proper operations of the FairCom Server under various loads, FairCom recommends adjusting the following kernel parameters of the HP/UX 11 system, using the sam utility:

• Increase maximum per-process stack memory size (maxssiz) from the default of 8 MB to 128 MB.
• Increase maximum per-process data memory size (maxdsiz) from the default of 64 MB to 256 MB.
• Consider increasing the number of threads per process if connecting a large number of clients. The default for older releases of the OS is relatively low (64 maximum threads per process).
• Either increase the default number of file handles from 60 to 256 by using sam or, prior to starting the FairCom DB SQL process, issue limit descriptors 256 to increase the number of file descriptors used by that process only.

IBM AIX

The FairCom Server for IBM AIX requires a minimum of 500 MB RAM. FairCom DB V11* supports AIX 6.1 and newer. Earlier versions of AIX may also be available. Contact FairCom for availability for AIX versions prior to V6.

Linux

The FairCom Server for Linux requires a Pentium 133, Sparc, or PPC CPU.

Solaris - SPARC and Intel

The FairCom Server supports Solaris Version 2.10 and newer and both the SPARC and X86/X64 based CPU. Earlier versions of Solaris may also be available. Contact FairCom for availability for Solaris versions prior to 2.10.

Native Threads

FairCom has enjoyed multi-threaded support from nearly our inception and has extensive engineering experience in supporting various threading architectures that have appeared through the years. POSIX pthread support is considered the industry standard in recent times, and we highly encourage taking advantage of this support when at all possible. By default, all FairCom DB servers include pthread support when available on a chosen platform.

For platforms not supporting a native threading technology, FairCom supports a proprietary threading library. FairCom recommends native thread support when available as performance enhancements are typical.

Note: The Native Thread Server supports only the TCP/IP communications protocol.

FairCom Server Installation on Linux, Unix, and Mac

On Linux, Unix, and Mac platforms, the FairCom Server is distributed in tar format. This file contains the FairCom Server executable (typically faircom.exe or faircom), and utility and companion programs.

FairCom Server on Unix can be installed in any directory location as long as ownership and permissions permit access to resources and data.

1. Make the desired directory where the FairCom Server is to be installed the current directory.
2. Copy the files in the /server/ directory to your desired directory.
3. Ensure you have an appropriate License Authorization File for your platform and FairCom DB configuration.

   Note: Your application vendor may provide applicable FairCom DB license files.