HP Web Jetadmin - Performance and Threadpools in HP Web Jetadmin

The following sections examine several types of features and functionality in HP Web Jetadmin and
their effect on performance. The following definitions are used to describe resource usage:
 Light—General minimal resource usage with occasional spikes in resource usage. The impact on
other applications is minimal, but sometimes noticeable.
 Fluctuating Moderate—Moderate resource usage with frequent spikes in resource usage. The
impact on other applications is noticeable, but not generally excessive.
 Fluctuating High—Resource usage, especially CPU usage, is generally at 100% with regular dips
down to lower levels. The impact on the OS and other applications is severe, although they
remain functional.
 Severe High—Resource usage is high and remains there for extended periods. HP Web Jetadmin
is generally not very responsive. The impact on the OS and other applications is severe as
resources are generally unavailable.
Generally, all activities that engage in significant database activity, especially those that both read
and write, jump to the Fluctuating High resource-usage level for the duration of the action. The system
returns to a Light resource-usage level after the action is completed.
Discovery
Running a discovery generates traffic between the server and the device to identify the device and
add it to HP Web Jetadmin. Some discovery methods are more expensive than others when it comes
to network traffic. For instance, the Active Directory discovery method is one of the cheaper discovery
methods to perform with regards to network traffic generated. It gleans IP addresses using print queue
objects in the customer’s Active Directory, and then only talks to network nodes that have printers on
them. The same can be said of Specified Address discoveries as they are directed to specific IP
addresses already known to be printers. Conversely, an IP Range method is more expensive on the
network because HP Web Jetadmin must communicate with each network address in the range to
determine if it has a printer that we know about.
Resource usage for the most part is somewhat minimal during discoveries, regardless of the method.
Light to Fluctuating Moderate
Adhoc requests
Many parts of the client require device data. Depending on how up-to-date the client wants the device
information, the server might return data it already has about the device or it might need to talk to the
device to get the information. This class of requests is generally driven by the user on an on-demand
basis. With multiple clients, on-demand requests have the potential to overwhelm the system. To
compensate for this, the HP Web Jetadmin server tries to reduce the device traffic through the use of
thresholds. If multiple clients request the same data on the same device within some time threshold,
only one communication is sent to the device. Also, the relevant results of all device requests are
shared with all clients, regardless of the client that originally requested the data. This allows all clients
to potentially benefit with up-to-date information at a low cost.
Fluctuating Moderate
Device polling
The device list is core to the HP Web Jetadmin product. The device list content is automatically kept
reasonably up-to-date through a slow polling mechanism on the server to each device. The entire
device list is registered on a background poller for the columns in the current layout on a per-client
basis when that client is on a device list page. This mechanism is intended to gradually fill in the
entire set of data so that it is ready when the user requests it by scrolling down through the list. Each
device displayed registers with the device list poller. This mechanism is intended to update the visible