From owner-freebsd-platforms Sun Sep 15 23:57:11 1996 Return-Path: owner-platforms Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) id XAA16512 for platforms-outgoing; Sun, 15 Sep 1996 23:57:11 -0700 (PDT) Received: from ujf.ujf-grenoble.fr (ujf.ujf-grenoble.fr [193.54.232.33]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) with ESMTP id XAA16507 for ; Sun, 15 Sep 1996 23:57:08 -0700 (PDT) Received: from adm-bruno.ujf-grenoble (adm-bruno.ujf-grenoble.fr [193.54.232.177]) by ujf.ujf-grenoble.fr (8.6.13-durand/8.6.9) with SMTP id IAA25269 for ; Mon, 16 Sep 1996 08:53:53 +0200 Date: Mon, 16 Sep 1996 08:53:53 +0200 Message-Id: <1.5.4.16.19960916085352.2f8f515a@ujf-grenoble.fr> X-Sender: bruno@ujf-grenoble.fr X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 1.5.4 (16) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: freebsd-platforms@freebsd.org From: Gilles BRUNO Subject: Multi processor question Sender: owner-platforms@freebsd.org X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk Hi happy BSD'ers ! We're currently planning to purchase a Bi-Pentium Pro based computer and installing FreeBSD on it : I'd like to know if there's a *REAL* advantage to purchase a BI processor box instead of a single P.Pro ? More especially, is FreeBSD optimized for dual processor PCs ? Is there a real advantage to purchase such a box ? I hope it's not the wrong place to put this question ... TIA ! --- Gilles BRUNO C.R.I.P. Universite Joseph FOURIER 621 Av Central - Domaine Universitaire BP 54X - 38041 St Martin d'Heres FRANCE Tel (33) 76 63 56 68 Fax (33) 76 51 42 74 From owner-freebsd-platforms Mon Sep 16 11:11:35 1996 Return-Path: owner-platforms Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) id LAA23634 for platforms-outgoing; Mon, 16 Sep 1996 11:11:35 -0700 (PDT) Received: from phaeton.artisoft.com (phaeton.Artisoft.COM [198.17.250.211]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) with SMTP id LAA23622 for ; Mon, 16 Sep 1996 11:11:32 -0700 (PDT) Received: (from terry@localhost) by phaeton.artisoft.com (8.6.11/8.6.9) id LAA02598; Mon, 16 Sep 1996 11:10:21 -0700 From: Terry Lambert Message-Id: <199609161810.LAA02598@phaeton.artisoft.com> Subject: Re: Multi processor question To: Gilles.Bruno@ujf-grenoble.fr (Gilles BRUNO) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 1996 11:10:20 -0700 (MST) Cc: freebsd-platforms@FreeBSD.org In-Reply-To: <1.5.4.16.19960916085352.2f8f515a@ujf-grenoble.fr> from "Gilles BRUNO" at Sep 16, 96 08:53:53 am X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL24] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-platforms@FreeBSD.org X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk > Hi happy BSD'ers ! > > We're currently planning to purchase a Bi-Pentium Pro > based computer and installing FreeBSD on it : > I'd like to know if there's a *REAL* advantage to purchase > a BI processor box instead of a single P.Pro ? > More especially, is FreeBSD optimized for dual processor > PCs ? Is there a real advantage to purchase such a box ? > > I hope it's not the wrong place to put this question ... TIA ! The correct list for this request is probably freebsd-smp, not freebsd-platforms. The answer is that there is a brach version of -current that is SMP capable; it is not a release. If you wish to run it, you should upgrade you macine to -current, and join the SMP list to get access instreuctions. Terry Lambert terry@lambert.org --- Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present or previous employers. From owner-freebsd-platforms Mon Sep 16 11:32:42 1996 Return-Path: owner-platforms Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) id LAA25631 for platforms-outgoing; Mon, 16 Sep 1996 11:32:42 -0700 (PDT) Received: from FileServ1.MI.Uni-Koeln.DE (FileServ1.MI.Uni-Koeln.DE [134.95.212.1]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) with SMTP id LAA25620 for ; Mon, 16 Sep 1996 11:32:39 -0700 (PDT) Received: from x14.mi.uni-koeln.de (annexr3-1.slip.Uni-Koeln.DE) by FileServ1.MI.Uni-Koeln.DE with SMTP id AA05091 (5.67b/IDA-1.5 for ); Mon, 16 Sep 1996 20:32:06 +0200 Received: (from se@localhost) by x14.mi.uni-koeln.de (8.7.5/8.6.9) id UAA01621; Mon, 16 Sep 1996 20:32:05 +0200 (MET DST) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 1996 20:32:05 +0200 (MET DST) Message-Id: <199609161832.UAA01621@x14.mi.uni-koeln.de> From: Stefan Esser To: Gilles BRUNO Cc: freebsd-platforms@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Multi processor question In-Reply-To: <1.5.4.16.19960916085352.2f8f515a@ujf-grenoble.fr> References: <1.5.4.16.19960916085352.2f8f515a@ujf-grenoble.fr> Sender: owner-platforms@freebsd.org X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk Gilles BRUNO writes: > Hi happy BSD'ers ! > > We're currently planning to purchase a Bi-Pentium Pro > based computer and installing FreeBSD on it : > I'd like to know if there's a *REAL* advantage to purchase > a BI processor box instead of a single P.Pro ? Don't think this is a good choice. Multi-processor systems always pay a price for having the CPU's work on common data structures, and the locking overhead can be very high. (Some primitives may run a factor of ten slower than in the single processor case.) I've seen dual P5 boards starting at $300, but most cost $500 or more. With the P133 costing $200 each, you end up at $700 to $900 for a 2*P5/133 system. The ASUS P6NP5 with a P6/150 can be had for some $800, too, with prices going down rapidly. And this is IMHO the far better choice ... > More especially, is FreeBSD optimized for dual processor > PCs ? Is there a real advantage to purchase such a box ? No, I don't think so. A P5/200 is not that much faster than the P5/166 since memory bandwidth is a limiting factor. And with two 133MHz P5 you'll see a much worse effect, because of the synchronization issues. FreeBSD doesn't support fine-grained kernel locking, and thus is not (yet) optimally supporting SMP systems. I've seen quite impressive performance numbers from those working on the SMP code, but if you want a reliable system just to get your work done, the single processor P6 can't be beaten :) Regards, STefan