OK, I think I can handle the flaming, so here goes... I decided to do a few very minor performance benchmarks on the machines...specifically Fedora and Gentoo (Turbo should be "like" Fedora). I tested Kernel compile time, and the apache benchmark (ab test, static 2k page)
Apache --
Gentoo: 79.62 req/s
Fedora: 54.59 req/s
RedHat9 on AMD XP 1.93GHz: 47.3 req/s
Apache, after playing with the server settings a little... see notes at end of this section!
Gentoo: 1141.59 req/s
Fedora: 54.65 req/s
RedHat9 on AMD XP 1.93GHz: 54.85 req/s
Kernel -- make bzImage: See notes and comments at end of this section!
First Build times:
Gentoo: 4m27.485s
Fedora: 4m27.501s
RedHat9 on AMD XP 1.93GHz: 5m33.600s
Second Build times:
Gentoo: 0m16.880s
Fedora: 0m17.155s
RedHat9 on AMD XP 1.93GHz: 0m13.323s
Notes on apache: Gentoo, Fedora and the RedHat9 box are running apache 2.0. All of the tests were done with: ab -n 1000 -c 1000 http://IPaddressofserver/index.html All ab testing was done from a separate machine, across a 100Mb/s switched local LAN. Other machines on the LAN were taken offline in order to keep the results fair. Tweaking apache.conf for the second test set was comprised of setting the following values in apache.conf:
servers = 20
min spares = 10
max spares = 20
max clients = 250
I know there are better optimizations, but I was just playing around with it for a moment. Also, I am not sure why the Opteron numbers look really bad for Fedora, and why the RedHat9 numbers failed to increase at all either. Again, I do not know a huge amount about the Apache optimizations.
Notes on kernel compile: Gentoo was using 2.6.0, Fedora was using 2.4.22 , RedHat9 was using 2.4.20. The configuration was mostly stock, with the exception of the options required in Gentoo (devfs and the like). At the moment I have no hard explanation for the outcome of the second test run under RedHat9, other than the 500MHz clock advantage of the AMD XP (not Barton) machine. The freshly installed kernel build times do not support this theory, as can be seen from the above numbers. The kernel compile tests were actually performed several times to make sure this was the case.
AMD XP 32 bit machine hardware:
Abit KR7A motherboard
AMD Athlon XP 2400+ 256k cache
1GB 233MHz DDR ECC registered ram
80GB Maxtor UDMA 7200rpm drive
Nvidia 5200Ultra AGP video, 128Mb ram
3Com boomerang 10/100 NIC
Enermax 365watt power supply
Exit notes:
I find some reviews I see of the Opteron and AMD 64/64FX hardware a little disturbing in the sense that they complain that no 64 bit OS exists or that it does not have software support. I think that these reviewers are thinking in terms of MicroSoft (TM) (C) (R) desktop use (e.g. no Windows (TM) (C) (R) release, no Windows (TM) (C) (R) 64 bit apps, etc)...they do not realize that on UNIX, most software for servers was written for 64 bit hardware (IBM RS/6000, SUN UltraSparc, HP PA-RISC, etc) and it will not be long (IMHO) until they are ported over. As for the desktop side of things, I have been using it as a desktop for some time (although I admit I am probably not the average desktop user) so I find the argument (which has been on the net and in the news for some time) puzzling. The Opteron as a desktop is a good performer, and as a scientific or workstation machine, a great performer, although if one was not going to do any 64 bit computing, a bit pricey and overkill. These distributions for it are getting better by the day, and prices on the hardware have been falling (as they always do). Of course, one can not deny that at some point in the not so distant future, 64 bit computing will be omnipresent, and all sfotware will run on it (optimized for 64 bit, we hope).
[1] Magic, developed and written by John Ousterhout, in the 1980s at Berkeley. Yes the same John Ousterhout of Tcl fame. A great tool for VLSI layout which has stood the test of (computer) time.
Previous aricles in the series:
Linux on the Opteron, Part II
Linux on the Opteron, are we ready?
About the Author:
Robert Minvielle is a Ph.D. student at the Center for Advanced Computer Studies at UL at Lafayette. He has a Masters in Physics and a B.S. in Computer Engineering, and enjoys building hardware, embedded systems, and programming. He can be reached at baddlci@NOSPAMyahoo.com.
- "Linux on Opteron, Page 1/3"
- "Linux on Opteron, Page 2/3"
- "Linux on Opteron, Page 3/3"
