From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Nov 18 17:13:43 2008 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id F1B44106564A for ; Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:13:42 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from andrewlylegould@gmail.com) Received: from gv-out-0910.google.com (gv-out-0910.google.com [216.239.58.188]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 77C578FC0A for ; Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:13:42 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from andrewlylegould@gmail.com) Received: by gv-out-0910.google.com with SMTP id n8so506297gve.39 for ; Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:13:40 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:received:received:message-id:date:from:to :subject:cc:in-reply-to:mime-version:content-type:references; bh=NvpBzHrpeEO4ryrxyl1P1TKfV1osoflrJhsxUH6Neds=; b=iCI9G8viFBtczYLmwfQBPTFop/J5keE3uPBY7T/O+xnd8l4CsyDTpNOcQlBdVEXXLE SdhO+K66SwZDgQFiC1dNvbVpyy7r9C5Wr4oJjxuC+qsb70MZLTKINw+iL9ytYYz80A1p wWz4yl1m1OJwMLBf0a1WzFaektMe8w+3P64Gk= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=message-id:date:from:to:subject:cc:in-reply-to:mime-version :content-type:references; b=lQtRTbgC+xrr3/3SbO4JCHRTRs1v9EpaM9iW0dP8sr46FcrBNIAkhq7hDsGa3XCLI8 9nglawRk8tSEWA7+8cnAchh6Blb/Ww8QQ8sHRe2Bwi+EmMbtdwjjsGHh1gztwFmkNOCl JfD+MK8LNy2QdcYKTvtnoYrQAkoc+Ktov6Vu8= Received: by 10.103.2.14 with SMTP id e14mr36217mui.48.1227028420417; Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:13:40 -0800 (PST) Received: by 10.103.221.4 with HTTP; Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:13:40 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:13:40 -0600 From: "Andrew Gould" To: "Jerry McAllister" In-Reply-To: <20081118164947.GF28439@gizmo.acns.msu.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 References: <7f8a05a80811171609h2f5742cfo2ae003415a99e45f@mail.gmail.com> <20081118121634.S84157@wojtek.tensor.gdynia.pl> <20081118154226.GA20147@ourbrains.org> <20081118165011.G84987@wojtek.tensor.gdynia.pl> <20081118155448.GC20147@ourbrains.org> <20081118164947.GF28439@gizmo.acns.msu.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.5 Cc: Dan , freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: FreeBSD and hardware?? X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:13:43 -0000 On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 10:49 AM, Jerry McAllister wrote: > On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 10:54:48AM -0500, Dan wrote: > > > Wojciech Puchar(wojtek@wojtek.tensor.gdynia.pl)@2008.11.18 16:51:16 > +0100: > > >> > > >> Have you used, erm... Linux? Both Linux and FreeBSD run pretty much at > > >> hardware level. You benchmark either, you'll get very close results in > > > > > > for benchmarks doing same thing over and over, or same thing in > parallel > > > linux can even be better. > > > > > > but try running many different tasks in parallel under linux. FreeBSD > > > flies, while linux chokes. > > > > Can you point out some places on the web that confirm this? > > > > I can't point this out between Linux and FreeBSD, but back a few > years ago, when I was involved in benchmarking high performance > systems for purchase here, we found this to often be the case. > Some systems just screamed on certain very parallel tasks, but > practically came to a halt when a mix of tasks were run or even > when trying to edit a script while things were running. Others > were slightly less hot on the highly specialized tasks, but did > well - much better - on the mix. We chose the system that handled > the mix - which ran a BSD UNIX by the way, although a proprietary > version as did most back then. > > Anyway, so, even though I haven't compared FreeBSD and Linux, I am > not surprised to hear someone say there is this sort of difference. > It is possible. Someone might investigate further and put out > some verifiable numbers. > > ////jerry > I don't have verifiable numbers; but I can speak from personal experience. I do complex financial/clinical data analysis for hospitals. I was using MS Access as a front-end. On the server end, I started with Linux and PostgreSQL. I moved from Linux to FreeBSD because during my more complicated series of queries, the Linux system would slow to a crawl. Sometimes, the PostgreSQL server would die. This never happened with FreeBSD. I even added Samba services and a web forum for the department. >From 2000 to 2006, the only unplanned downtime experienced with my PostgreSQL/FreeBSD combo was due to 2 separate, prolonged power outages. When power was restored, the hardware and database servers came back online. Sadly, I no longer work there; and no longer have control over database assets. I read once that: "The difference between the lab and the real world is that, in the lab, there is no difference." I wish I had noted the source. Andrew