From owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Sun May 1 20:59:21 2005 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 90CD316A4CE; Sun, 1 May 2005 20:59:21 +0000 (GMT) Received: from outgoing.redshift.com (outgoing.redshift.com [207.177.231.8]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6B9E143D1F; Sun, 1 May 2005 20:59:21 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from ray@redshift.com) Received: from workstation (216-228-19-21.dsl.redshift.com [216.228.19.21]) by outgoing.redshift.com (Postfix) with SMTP id 1E1D79709E; Sun, 1 May 2005 13:59:21 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.20050501135931.00b23ee0@pop.redshift.com> X-Mailer: na X-Sender: redshift.com Date: Sun, 01 May 2005 13:59:31 -0700 To: freebsd-amd64@freebsd.org From: ray@redshift.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" cc: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Subject: AMD64 / EM64T 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: Sun, 01 May 2005 20:59:21 -0000 Hi List, I'm running a cluster over here (15 Xeon's) and need to put a couple of new master database servers on line. I've done some testing with FreeBSD/amd64 but aside from a small increase in performance, haven't really seen anything too dramatic (this is a single Supermicro Xeon 2.40 Ghz vs. a Dual Opteron 246 with a Tyan board). I guess my questions is two fold: 1. Does anyone have any feedback/experience as far as running FreeBSD/amd64 on a dual the Intel Xeon 64 bit EM64T setup? I have tried amd64 on the Opteron machine we have here and it seems to work okay, but it has not been in a production environment yet. I've also never tried it on the EM64T CPU's. Are the EM64T cpu's just as compatible with it as the AMD Opteron's? And are there any pros/cons vs. one or the other? 2. Is the AMD64 branch stable enough for production use or would it make more since to stick to i386 and run that on a faster (although probably not as fast) machine, and avoid 64 bit for the time being. I've heard mixed reviews from our hardware vendor regarding enterprise sites which have jumped on the 64 bit bandwagon too soon and regretted it. If anyone has any feelings or comments as far as if the amd64 works well on the EM64T CPU's and/or if the general consensus is that the AMD64 branch is as stable and production ready as the i386 branch - I would certainly enjoy hearing comments/suggestions from members of the list. For me, I'm not looking to squeeze every possible ounce of performance out of the machines - stability is the first priority, then speed (as much as possible while staying with something fairly standard and tested) is the next concern. Thanks! Ray cc: cross post to hackers as well... I know, I know... :)