Performance enhancements in WebSphere Commerce Version 8
Learn about the new features and functions that are offered by WebSphere Commerce Version 8 to improve your site performance.
Software stack upgrades
The following table highlights major changes to the software stack between version 7 and version 8:
| Technology | Version 7 | Version 8 |
|---|---|---|
| WebSphere Application Server | 7.0.0.x | 8.5.5.x |
| Java | SE 6 | SE 7 |
| Solr | 4.7.0 | 4.10.3 |
| WebSphere eXtreme Scale | 8.6.0.4 | 8.6.0.8 |
| DB2 | 9.7 | 10.5 |
IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition 10.5 offers increased data protection, scalability, and performance for all its database intensive operations. Based on IBM DB2 technology, DB2 Enterprise Server Edition 10.5, it is designed to manage data more effectively and efficiently. Greater availability is delivered through enhancements such as online, automated database reorganization. In addition, the increased scalability and the ability to leverage the latest in server technology helps deliver increased performance of backup and recovery processes.
Rationalized tunables, and instance performance profiles
WebSphere Commerce Version 8 added more tunable settings that are set by default during installation. You need to check fewer settings before you measure a base-line performance. Get to a point where you can truly fine-tune your site configuration faster, without the headache of double checking and comparing your site with the recommended configuration settings.
To improve the speed and efficiency of deploying WebSphere Commerce instances, WebSphere Commerce Version 8 introduces two tuning profiles: Production and Testing. These profiles focus on tuning parameters across WebSphere Commerce and Solr, with specific focus on JVM and cache tunables. For more information, see Creating an WebSphere Commerce instance
For a full list of tunables, and a comparison of values between Version 7 and Version 8 Production and Testing profiles, see WebSphere Commerce default tunables.
In addition, data cache tuning is further centralized within WebSphere Application Server Administration Console. Compared with previous releases, data cache tuning is easier to manage.
Improved search performance
Along with the Solr software stack upgrade, WebSphere Commerce Version 8 delivers up to 70% improvement in keyword search performance. More tuning and implementation guidelines help you get the most out of your implementation.
Learn more...New maintenance strategy
WebSphere Commerce delivers two types of maintenance packages: fix packs and mod packs. A fix pack contains code fixes and security fixes. A mod pack contains new features and enhancements to existing features. A mod pack also contains most of the fixes that are available at the time of its release. Both types of maintenance packages are cumulative: a fix pack includes all previous fix packs and a mod pack includes all previous mod packs.Tools to assist with troubleshooting
WebSphere Commerce Version 8 introduces new tools to help diagnose and troubleshoot performance-related issues:- The new Performance Measurement Tool, introduced in Version 7.0.0.9, can be enabled on
individual servers to better understand code path execution that can lead to identify bottlenecks
and improve tuning. It can also be used to identify caching gaps and refine your caching
strategy.
For more information, see Performance Measurement tool.
- A new suite of IBM Cloud tools is available to diagnose the overall health and performance of
your site. Run diagnostics and upload various metric containing files to get guided feedback and
analysis to help you understand your site configuration and performance.These tools generate the following reports:
- Java Health Report
- DB2 Report
- IHS Report
You can find all of these tools in the WebSphere Commerce Support Tool Catalog.