WebLogic Server performance and memory issues are not uncommon from time to time. This is quite natural for many applications, especially when in the growth period of the application or during processes that involve adding new features and functionality or new users to the system. In some cases, developers who write code are not necessarily able to predict how applications handle the load or will be used. The net effect of this can be a performance problem, with some of the commonly seen problems being application crashes resulting in out of memory errors and slow response times.  The good news is that there are technical reasons why systems function in the manner they do, and that these performance problems can be solved.

The main challenge when trying to fix WebLogic Server performance and memory issues is getting processes in place one at a time to handle the problem until the system becomes more stable. The next step involves you changing your process so as toincorporate best practices in your development life cycle, which may help you avoid similar problems in the future. Technical commitment to the project is required when trying to identify and solve the issues at hand. Solving your WebLogic Server performance and memory issues requires you to begin your efforts with the fundamentals. It is generally recommended that you think about creating small independent work groups to kick start WebLogic Server performance and memory use improvements in the following areas:

Java:   This is the foundation of the WebLogic server application. The best place to get information on a poorly performing application is from that application itself. Start by getting thread dumps from your applications, then move on to profiling the memory.

Networking: Most modern applications use a network. As such, when searching for the cause of the problem, it is important to remember to look at the network. Placing a NIC card in promiscuous mode or using TCP dumps can assist you in establishing network related problems. Looking at all the layers in the network including NICs (Network Interface Cards) on boxes, Load Balancers, firewalls and any other traffic routing applications is also a good idea.

N- Tier: N-Tier applications typically depend on other systems. As such, having a good understanding or familiarizing yourself on how all applications work assist you in trouble shooting issues by looking at the big picture.

Operating systems: Since applications run on operating systems, performance issues can be the result of improperly configured systems. Looking for systems logs, CPU context switches, full disks and memory use helps identify operating system related signs of WebLogic Server performance and memory utilization issues.

Databases: If your application uses a database it is important to keep an eye on the database and its processes for potential issues related to long running queries and log files.

In more cases than not, WebLogic server and memory performances issues can be found in one of the above fundamental areas. Understanding these key fundamental areas plays a huge role in helping to successfully identify and solve application problems.

I’m sure there is a reason why we don’t point out that making use of reusable code is one of the best safeguards against WebLogic Server performance problems, because reusable code has already been tested. Tools like ResQSoft® Engineer make extensive use of reusable code to reduce bugs and improve software performance, by testing and refining the code from one project to the next.