Identifying Execute Threads as Socket Readers

Question

Hi All,
Preface: I am trying to identify at any given instance the percentage of
socket reader threads that are in use - this will help me to identify when
all threads are in use and unable to service user requests. Thus my goal is
to identify threads that are socket readers and whether they are active or
idle.
Through JMX I can obtain an instance of each
weblogic.management.runtime.ExecuteThread, which lists the same information
that you see in the console if you drill down to the thread level, for
example:
mydomain> Servers> myserver> Active Execute Queues> default> Execute Threads
That information includes:
- thread number
- total requests
- last request
- current request
- transaction
- user
- is the thread idle?
Now my question is from this information can you identify which of these
threads are being used as socket readers?
Here are some excerpts from my JMX calls:
Name: ExecuteThread: '0' for queue: 'default'
Execute Queue Runtime Name: default
Current Request: null
Last Request: Http Request: /bookstore/en/authors/showauthors.jsp
User: null
Is Idle?: true
Name: ExecuteThread: '15' for queue: 'default'
Execute Queue Runtime Name:default
Current Request: null
Last Request: Scheduled Trigger
User: null
Is Idle?: true
Name: ExecuteThread: '26' for queue: 'default'
Execute Queue Runtime Name:default
Current Request: null
Last Request: ListenRequest for a new connection on: 'Socket
addr=127.0.0.1,port=2061,localport=7001]'
User: null
Is Idle?: true
Name: ExecuteThread: '59' for queue: 'default'
Execute Queue Runtime Name:default
Current Request: Socket Reader Request
Last Request:
we[email protected]
User: null
Is Idle?: false
It would appear that the "ListenRequest" last request would identify a
socket reader, only I have 60 threads in my default execute queue with 70%
dedicated to socket readers and the number of threads that say their last
request was "ListenRequest ..." is only 5.. Furthermore there is only one
"Socket Reader Request" identified thread.
Are threads identified as socket readers permanently or constantly reused
for whatever purpose is required (with a cap of use based off of the socket
reader perspective)?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Steve

Answer 1

Hi Achhi,
Socket Reader Threads are the Threads which are responsible for reading the incoming request data. We can divide the Socket reader threads in two categories:
Pure Java Socket Reqders: The pure-Java socket reader implementation, where the socket reader threads continually poll all opened sockets to determine whether they contain data to be read, even if the sockets have no data to read. (From Performance Point This is Not Good that the Sockets will be in Opened Mode even if there is no Data to read)
Native Socket Readers: (These are the Dafault Socket Readers) The native IP socket reader provided by the host machine's operating system, where the socket reader threads target only active sockets that contain data to be read. Native socket readers never poll sockets because they are immediately notified when a socket needs to be serviced. For Better Performance You should always prefer using Native Socket Readers.
To Enable Native Socket Readers You can Login to AdminConsole--->Servers ---><SERVER_NAME>--->configuration (Tab)--->Tuning (SubTab)---> "Enable Native IO" (This checkbox must be checked)
Still If you want to use the Java Socket Readers .... still you can improve the performance of socket communication by configuring the proper number of socket reader threads for each server instance. For best performance, the number of socket reader threads in WebLogic Server should equal the potential maximum number of opened sockets.
Thanks
Jay SenSharma
http://weblogic-wonders.com/weblogic (WebLogic Wonders Are here)