Tuning The Self Tuning Thread Pool

WebLogic 9.X onwards, it is documented that WebLogic auto tunes thread pool with target to achieve maximum throughput. In most cases it is not required tune the self tuning thread pool, however under certain situations , it is desirable to initialize thread pool with minimum number threads.

Following undocumented xml elements in config.xml allows to configure minimum and maximum threads for self tuned thread pool.
--------------------------------------------------
<server>
<name>examplesServer</name>
<self-tuning-thread-pool-size-min>50</self-tuning-thread-pool-size-min>
<self-tuning-thread-pool-size-max>100</self-tuning-thread-pool-size-max>
<ssl>
<name>examplesServer</name>
<enabled>true</enabled>
<listen-port>7002</listen-port>
</ssl>
<listen-address/>
</server>
--------------------------------------------

This knobs should be used very carefully to make sure it doesn't invalidate benefits of the self tuning thread pool. While thread-pool-size-min configuration is justified in certain situation, it is very difficult to imagine scenario where thread-pool-size-max is required.

Oracle replaces OC4J with WebLogic in Fusion Middleware

Oracle has announced its' middleware strategy this week.

As expected Oracle has designated BEA WebLogic server as their key and strategic application server. WebLogic application server will be the center of Oracle middleware strategy. Oracle also suggested that it will continue to support their OC4J app server to protect their customer's investment in Oracle applications. In addition of WebLogic server JRockit JVM also ended up in Oracle strategic category mainly due to lack of JVM technology in existing Oracle's product portfolio.
BEA's other main stream products like WebLogic integration, WebLogic Portal, AqualLogic Service Bus will be converged with Oracle peer products like Oracle BPEL engine, Oracle Web Center and Oracle Service Bus.

What it means to WebLogic deployments?

Applications deployed on core WebLogic servers are not only least impacted, It will also benefit from it's integration with key oracle technologies, i.e. Oracle Coherence (In-memory cache), Oracle Toplink(O-R mapping) and other database access components.

WebLogic being Oracle's core J2EE engine, it will evolve as platform of the choice for Oracle's other middleware offerings (BPM, SOA service bus, Portal etc.) and Oracle applications. As WebLogic's integration improves with rest of the Oracle products it is expected that OC4J deployments will be migrated to WebLogic server. With this developments it will result greater growth in WebLogic deployments. It is also obvious that WebLogic Portal and Integration applications are expected to see a major upgrades in near future as these product will converge to peer oracle products, however it will continue to benefit from the solid WebLogic server underneath.