From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Apr 24 19:46:20 2006 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 73BA416A406 for ; Mon, 24 Apr 2006 19:46:20 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from wmoran@potentialtech.com) Received: from internet.potentialtech.com (internet.potentialtech.com [66.167.251.6]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DC17E43D48 for ; Mon, 24 Apr 2006 19:46:19 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from wmoran@potentialtech.com) Received: from vanquish.pgh.priv.collaborativefusion.com (vlan40.pr0.pitbpa0.pub.collaborativefusion.com [206.210.89.203]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by internet.potentialtech.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id BF23F69A4E for ; Mon, 24 Apr 2006 15:46:18 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 15:46:17 -0400 From: Bill Moran To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Message-Id: <20060424154617.9dc28c94.wmoran@potentialtech.com> X-Mailer: Sylpheed version 2.2.0 (GTK+ 2.8.12; i386-portbld-freebsd6.0) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Purchasing the correct hardware: dual-core intel? Big cache? 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: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 19:46:20 -0000 I've been asked to make some hardware recommendations, I'm hoping some folks on the list can make some suggestions. We're looking hard at getting either Intel dual-core procs, or getting hyperthreaded procs with huge (8M) caches. We currently have a few dual proc Intel HT machines that we can test out our workload on, and I'm trying to get a feel for how to determine if a larger cache size will generate better performance than replacing HT procs with full-blown dual-core procs. We're looking at the 6850 from Dell, which supports both processor families: http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/pedge_6850?c=us&cs=555&l=en&s=biz The goal for these machines is to serve out PosgreSQL databases to as many Apache+php front ends as we can hang off each one. So we're trying to purchase hardware that will create a DB server that can handle a lot of web server front ends. I have a Dell 2850 (dual HT procs) here that I can use for testing. I'm a little fuzzy on determining how well the cache is working, so I'm stuck on whether or not the 8M cache that's available on the HT units is worth the money or not. Can anyone suggest a testing methodology that will isolate this particular aspect? -- Bill Moran Collaborative Fusion Inc.