From owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Dec 10 20:41:40 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id AA02816A4CE for ; Fri, 10 Dec 2004 20:41:40 +0000 (GMT) Received: from obsecurity.dyndns.org (CPE0050040655c8-CM00111ae02aac.cpe.net.cable.rogers.com [69.194.102.143]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6F5F143D41 for ; Fri, 10 Dec 2004 20:41:40 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from kris@obsecurity.org) Received: by obsecurity.dyndns.org (Postfix, from userid 1000) id EE3EC5141A; Fri, 10 Dec 2004 12:48:24 -0800 (PST) Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 12:48:24 -0800 From: Kris Kennaway To: klr@6s-gaming.com Message-ID: <20041210204824.GA53907@xor.obsecurity.org> References: <36627.194.210.13.66.1102679886.squirrel@194.210.13.66> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/signed; micalg=pgp-sha1; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; boundary="5vNYLRcllDrimb99" Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <36627.194.210.13.66.1102679886.squirrel@194.210.13.66> User-Agent: Mutt/1.4.2.1i cc: freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: HTT/SMP servers instability on 5.3-STABLE X-BeenThere: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: Technical Discussions relating to FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 20:41:40 -0000 --5vNYLRcllDrimb99 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On Fri, Dec 10, 2004 at 05:58:06AM -0600, klr@6s-gaming.com wrote: > Hi, >=20 > I have a Dual Xeon 2.4 and a Dual Xeon 2.8 servers running with > HyperThreading, ACPI, and SMP enabled. >=20 > The 2.8 server won't stand for more than 5 days without crashing, and the > 2.4 server was up 30 days crashed, now was up 12 days, and crashed. >=20 > I didn't have a debugging kernel, I'll be building one when the datacenter > reboots the server. I also don't have any panic messages.. I have, > however, a few questions: >=20 > - machdep.cpu_idle_hlt - I've seen a lot on google about this sysctl, but > still don't fully understand it. What does this sysctl really changes? It doesn't put the CPU to sleep in the idle loop, which can cause a performance loss in some cases, but also uses less power and generates less heat. > - HyperThreading - Do I really have a performance increase with HTT turned > on? It depends on the workload you're doing. Try it and see. =20 > I've heard it can penalize performance because the scheduler isn't > optimized for logical CPUs. Does having HTT enabled impacts the stability > of the system? No. > - ACPI - I'll be disabling ACPI along with HTT to see if the server > doesn't crash for awhile. Is ACPI on 5.3-STABLE (around November 1st, it > was pre-release) still a problem? Only if the problem is with your machine, i.e. if you have a buggy BIOS. Don't discount this; look for an update from your vendor. > Last but not the least, my 5.3-STABLE version is from a few days before > the release. Since I had created a few jails by then, I didn't upgrade the > system to use the -RELEASE. Was there any last-standing problem a few days > before the release that could be causing my instability problems? It's quite possible. The release was made when it was and not earlier precisely because there were bugs in earlier versions. Kris --5vNYLRcllDrimb99 Content-Type: application/pgp-signature Content-Disposition: inline -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.6 (FreeBSD) iD8DBQFBuguYWry0BWjoQKURAlRgAJwOgYJoOMlvdmqvWvCMHe8MsNisLQCeINZF 3TZv8UL6M0Org3xIoJUiLVs= =YWc1 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --5vNYLRcllDrimb99--