From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Feb 29 16:54:39 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 6DC181065678 for ; Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:54:39 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from chrcoluk@gmail.com) Received: from ug-out-1314.google.com (ug-out-1314.google.com [66.249.92.171]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E66F28FC1B for ; Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:54:38 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from chrcoluk@gmail.com) Received: by ug-out-1314.google.com with SMTP id y2so416759uge.37 for ; Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:54:38 -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:content-transfer-encoding:content-disposition:references; bh=bpu5YaazFNF7LPDPPQd6UT38FE33a8idjfJUAlCQfsk=; b=TCJZcTM0ybMVeKLcvggsFFW05cmRxX5GNzv4myuK6kvQcpEAnEkovA/zTbJdENz34rkzKIKFvQpOoCeNrZ6pB5A5yJvKsZdCZAu9wmfMdNKW56sBlF/vYAJU3kg3gsnBP+3AlMeeKk6V6HyWU5o85LuRn2nNaaL8NlIf6HSbrMY= 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:content-transfer-encoding:content-disposition:references; b=ieZ+9Zp5Utf/ThzJ97xjg9zCWtLQrDveCkalUijKT2NecqPtnO+URi+KEpnVZU27QJAAtjCjLVdYjeanxdgb7Gow1ryo5ChHvpSWkp5EC3XphnFT/kzk4++LwGNR+dX8PlQEiCaeGiQU5cQisza2LZ9vPG7wbbiHfL9MbYQZKvs= Received: by 10.66.245.2 with SMTP id s2mr1248715ugh.16.1204304077564; Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:54:37 -0800 (PST) Received: by 10.66.219.18 with HTTP; Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:54:37 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: <3aaaa3a0802290854t639559b6if0adc4009997e9db@mail.gmail.com> Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:54:37 +0000 From: Chris To: "Tom Evans" In-Reply-To: <1204302128.2126.150.camel@localhost> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline References: <47C59591.6040600@errno.com> <3aaaa3a0802290744x25a81d68vf0ff101f6b7a819e@mail.gmail.com> <1204302128.2126.150.camel@localhost> X-Mailman-Approved-At: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:11:29 +0000 Cc: freebsd-performance@freebsd.org, Oliver Herold , Kris Kennaway , Ted Mittelstaedt , freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: FreeBSD bind performance in FreeBSD 7 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: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:54:39 -0000 On 29/02/2008, Tom Evans wrote: > On Fri, 2008-02-29 at 15:44 +0000, Chris wrote: > > On 29/02/2008, Ted Mittelstaedt wrote: > > > > A weakness of freebsd is its fussyness over hardware in particular > > network cards, time and time again I see posts here telling people to > > go out buying expensive intel pro 1000 cards just so they can use the > > operating system properly when I think its reasonable to expect > > mainstream hardware to work, eg. realtek is mainstream and common as a > > onboard nic but the support in freebsd is poor and only serving > > datacentres to shy away from freebsd. If the same hardware performs > > better in linux then the hardware isnt to blame for worser performance > > in fbsd. > > > > Chris > > Not to come down too hard on you, but the reason why Pro/1000 chipsets > are reasonably pricey, and uncommon to find as an integrated NIC, except > on server boards or intel own brand mobos, is that it is decent > hardware, and hence costs real money to use. Consumer NICs like Realtek, > Via Rhine and (imo) Marvell are cheap tat that 'just about' works, until > you put it under heavy stress. I have encountered a series of Marvell > based chips on my personal home computers that work about as well as a > slap around the face. Also, even from the 'good' manufacturers, like > broadcom and intel, you have 'consumer' parts, which are reasonably > cheap, like bge(4) supported parts, and 'professional' parts, like > bce(4) parts. One should work fine under moderate load, one should work > fine under heavy load. One will cost $4, one will cost $100. > > I'm not saying the drivers are bug-free, but if you want performance and > reliability, you get an em(4) or another professional chipset. Only a > few months ago at work, we had to order around 75 Pro/1000s as we had > had enough of crashes from our bce(4) based integrated NICs on our Dell > 2950s. Fortunately for our wallet, we managed to fix the issues in the > driver/hardware before our supplier could source that many - thanks > David Christensen! > > Personally, I wouldn't put something in a data-centre with only a vr(4) > or re(4), regardless of OS. > > Tom > > > You working round what I just said. A nic should perform equally well as it does in other operating systems just because its cheaper its not an excuse for buggy performance. There is also other good network cards apart from intel pro 1000. I am talking about stability not performance, I expect a intel pro 1000 to outperform a realtek however I expect both to be stable in terms of connectivity. I expect a realtek in freebsd to perform as well as a realtek in windows and linux. :) We have our own opinions but for many tasks a vr re bge etc. even a rl does the job its required just fine. I have seen linux servers using rl adaptors outperform freebsd servers with superior cards because the linux driver is better. I do agree its a sad state of affairs datacentres like to rent out servers built from desktop parts but unfurtenatly thats the market for you unless paying a premium or going with own hardware colocated. Chris