Off-Topic OAS, IAS, and Apache

I have little experience using web servers for high volume sites.  We have one project that expects to have 1,000 concurrent users.  They're using OAS and load testing with Load Runner.  They're having problems getting anywhere close to that.  I don't know the details.  They're debating whether or not they should move to IAS or just use Apache by itself. 

I'm pretty sure that the OAS documentation states that it allows 750 concurrent connections per web listener.  I'm not sure what the limitation is on IAS.  Does any one know if there is there a limitation with Apache?  I've been reading through the Apache documentation and I've found a directive called MaxClients, which has a default value of 256.  The documentation states the following:

        The MaxClients directive sets the limit on the number of simultaneous requests that can be supported; not more than this        number of child server processes will be created. To configure more than 256 clients, you must edit the HARD_SERVER_LIMIT       entry in httpd.h and recompile.

        Any connection attempts over the MaxClients limit will normally be queued, up to a number based on the ListenBacklog    directive. Once a child process is freed at the end of a different request, the connection will then be serviced.

I've been searching for the parameter HARD_SERVER_LIMIT at apache.org, but so far I can't find it.  I'm wondering if this value has a limit.  I've been told that the limit is 1024, but I've not been able to verify this.

Any insight into this, experiences, comparisons between IAS (which contains the Apache web server) and Apache by itself would be most appreciated.  The project is using java servlets.  I believe they preload a few of them.

Ed Received on Wed Mar 07 2001 - 16:25:56 CST