Implementation Guide › Performance Tuning › Data Tier Performance

Data Tier Performance

Poor performance associated with SiteMinder data stores, especially user directories, is one of the most common reasons for poor SiteMinder performance. Data tier performance typically correlates with two general areas:

• The data tier itself. A user directory that is not properly tuned or lacks sufficient system resources can degrade SiteMinder performance.
• The capacity under which your user directories have to operate. SiteMinder authentication and authorization services result in a number of reads and writes, collectively known as requests, to a user directory. Conduct a capacity planning effort on the user directory itself to be sure it can handle the SiteMinder workload.

A performance strategy includes:

• Determining that the data tier itself is not the primary reason for poor performance.
• Identifying the number of authentications and authorizations SiteMinder must service in a given period.

  Note: The sustained and peak rates at which user authentication and authorization occur can be calculated.

• Estimating how many user directory requests each user authentication, and the subsequent authorizations, create.