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Because UNIX systems are multi-user and multitasking systems, users and processes may at times find themselves competing for the limited resources available on your system. To ensure that no user or process can consume too many of the system's resources, resources are allocated and limited by tunable parameters.
Tunable parameters set ceilings for system resources. For example, the tunable parameter SFSZLIM represents the maximum file size allowed on the system. Limiting this value prevents a runaway process from creating a file that consumes all the space on a hard disk. When appropriate, tunable parameter ceilings can be raised. For example, you can change parameters to allow users to open more files or run more processes simultaneously.
System tuning can be of great value in improving system performance. However, because improperly set parameters can make your system unusable, only experienced system administrators should attempt to change tunable parameters. For further information on tunable parameters, see ``Tunable parameters''.