Even though RealSystem RealServer is available for a wide range of platforms, the tuning tips presented in this section focus on the three that are most widely used:
Be sure to download and apply the latest patches, which are available at http://www.redhat.com/support/docs/rhl62.html. For other UNIX kernels (such as Debian, for example), refer to your system documentation.
We recommend that you upgrade to the latest stable Linux 2.2.x kernel, which is available at http://www.kernel.org. By using the latest version of this kernel with the glibc2 library, you will experience improved performance in the following areas:
We do not recommend using any Linux 2.3 or 2.4 kernels, as RealServer has not been thoroughly tested with these newer kernels.
After you have upgraded the Linux 2.2.x kernel, use the following instructions to make specific file descriptor changes for RealServer 8.
Append the following lines of code to /etc/rc.d/rc.local:
echo "32768" > /proc/sys/fs/inode-max
echo "19000" > /proc/sys/fs/file-max
echo "1" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_syncookies
echo "2" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_retries1
echo "8192" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_max_syn_backlog
Note that there is no need to set the streamersessioncapacity variable.
Log on as root, and then set 'ulimit -n 32768' in the shell that starts RealServer.
By default, RealServer reserves 256 MB of memory (RAM) on your computer.
Be sure to download and apply the latest patches, which are available at http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/.
Be sure to download and apply the latest patches, which are available at http://sunsolve.sun.com/.
On the Solaris 2.7 system, RealServer is designed to "prereserve" a large amount of memory and then use memory from that block. If you are running only RealServer on your computer, you can increase the amount of available memory by using the -m command, which you can set on RealServer's startup screen. Do not reserve more than 75 percent of your computer's total memory for RealServer, or its performance will suffer.
On Solaris 2.7, log on as root, and then set 'ulimit -n 32768' in the shell that starts RealServer.
Regardless of the platform being used, RealServer performs best when it runs on a dedicated computer—that is, one that has nothing else installed on it. Therefore, avoid installing Web servers or other applications on the same computer as RealServer.
The following table lists the network interface cards (NICs) that have been identified as working well with RealNetworks RealSystem®.
| Platform | Card Product Name |
|---|---|
| Linux | Intel EtherExpress Pro |
| Windows NT or 2000 | Intel EtherExpress Pro |
| Solaris | Sun built-in |