IBM invites you... Tune Your Servers!

IBM's Redbooks are sometimes of considerable to those who don't use IBM software and hardware, one example of which is TCP/IP Tutorial and Technical Overview

They've just come out with an update for Tuning IBM System x Servers for Performance with the following abstract:

This IBM Redbook describes what you can do to improve and maximize the performance of your business server applications running on IBM System x hardware and either Windows, Linux, or ESX Server operating systems. It describes how to improve the performance of the System x hardware, the operating system, and specific server applications.The book is divided into five parts. Part 1 explains the technology implemented in the major subsystems in System x servers and shows what settings can be selected or adjusted to obtain the best performance. Part 2 describes the performance aspects of the operating systems: Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, and VM ware ESX Server.Part 3 introduces the performance monitoring tools that are available to users of System x servers. Part 4 shows you how to analyze your system to find performance bottlenecks and what to do to eliminate them. Part 5 examines specific performance characteristics of specific server applications. his book is targeted at people who configure Intel and AMD processor-based servers running Windows, Linux or ESX Server and seek to maximize performance. Some knowledge of servers is required. Skills in performance tuning are not assumed.

But I'd recommend this Redbook to all and sundry, because of what it indicates in its foreword (emphasis mine):

The genesis for this book began in 1997 when, in response to increasing customer demand for performance information, I decided to write a white paper addressing real-world performance issues. The title of that document was Fundamentals of Server Performance. This document was so well received by customers, business partners and IBM® support personnel that IBM decided to use it as the basis for a new Redbook addressing a multitude of real-world server performance issues. And in 1998 the Redbook Netfinity Performance Tuning with Windows NT 4.0 was published.

Now in its fifth edition, Tuning IBM Systems x Servers for Performance is by far the most comprehensive and easy to understand performance guide specifically developed for Industry Standard servers. Yes Industry Standard servers, so if you deploy non-IBM servers you can also benefit greatly from this book. The explanations, tips and techniques can show you the way to better understanding server operation and solving even the most complex performance problems for any Windows or Linux®, Intel® or Opteron based server. In addition, this book will enlighten you on some of the special and unique performance optimizations IBM Engineers have introduced into IBM System x™ servers products.

Finally, I would like to sincerely thank the team that wrote this latest version. Thank you for keeping this vital work current, informative and enjoyable to read. I’m certain the universe of server administrators and IT workers who benefit from the vast knowledge included in this volume also share my gratitude.