Re: What hardware components bottleneck Linux?

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• In reply to: Mike: "Re: What hardware components bottleneck Linux?"
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Date: 16 Feb 2005 19:30:45 -0800

Mike wrote:
> Mike wrote:
> > Rather than asking what hardware you would recommend, let me
approach
> > it from the other end. What components in a desktop system are
most
> > likely to cause a performance bottleneck in a Linux system?
> >
> > To make it interesting, I want to run Apache, I don't expect the
> world
> > to come knocking, I will likely run a relational database such as
> > MySQL, and I want to spend about $500 on the tower; no mouse,
> keyboard,
> > display included in the price. How should I allocate my money to
> > maximize total system thruput?
> >
> > First, am I missing anything from the following component list?
CPU,
> > RAM type, RAM size, bus speed, cache sizes, disk access times,
> multiple
> > disk arms, NIC.
> >
> > Second, does the Linux distribution that I pick influence the
answer?
> >
> > Third, which of these components is Linux most sensitive to?
> >
> > Lastly, are there any rules of thumbs for picking component
mixtures
> so
> > as to avoid bottlenecks? "No bottlenecks" is defined as the entire
> > system failing at once when response time hits the elbow in the
> > response time vs. load curve. Pointers to pertinent URL links
would
> be
> > appreciated.
> >
> > --Thank you,
> > --Mike Jr.
>
>
> Wow. Thank you everyone for responding. Let me digest your
responses
> and I will post a followup with what I decided to do.

I found the following URL
http://en.tldp.org/HOWTO/Unix-Hardware-Buyer-HOWTO/index.html

that reinforces a lot of what has been said here. Some of you may find
it interesting/helpful. I know that I did. The Table of Contenets
looks like this:
1. Introduction

    1.1. Purpose of this document
    1.2. New versions of this document
    1.3. Feedback and corrections
    1.4. Related resources

2. Overview of the Market
3. Buying the Basics

    3.1. How To Pick Your Processor
    3.2. Bus Wars
    3.3. One Disk or Two?
    3.4. Getting Down to Cases
    3.5. Power Supplies and Fans
    3.6. Motherboards
    3.7. Memory
    3.8. Monitor and Video
    3.9. Keyboards and Mice
    3.10. Floppy Drives
    3.11. CD-ROM Drives
    3.12. DVD Drives
    3.13. Sound Cards and Speakers
    3.14. Backup devices
    3.15. Modems
    3.16. Printers
    3.17. Power Protection
    3.18. Radio Frequency Interference

4. What To Optimize

    4.1. First, add more memory
    4.2. Bus and Disk speeds
    4.3. Disk Wars: IDE vs. SCSI
    4.4. Tuning Your I/O Subsystem

5. But What If I'm Economizing?
6. Noise Control and Heat Dissipation
7. Special Considerations When Buying Laptops
8. How to Buy

    8.1. When to Buy
    8.2. Where to Buy
    8.3. Computer Fairs
    8.4. Mail Order
    8.5. Computer Superstores
    8.6. Other Buying Tips

9. Questions You Should Always Ask Your Vendor

    9.1. Minimum Warranty Provisions
    9.2. Documentation
    9.3. A System Quality Checklist

10. Things to Check when Buying Mail-Order

    10.1. Tricks and Traps in Mail-Order Warranties
    10.2. Special Questions to Ask Mail-Order Vendors Before Buying
    10.3. Payment Method
    10.4. Which Clone Vendors to Talk To

11. After You Take Delivery
12. Software to go with your hardware
13. Other Resources on Building Linux PCs

>
> Thanks again,
> Mike Jr.

• Previous message: kirktrue: "Performance issue: compiling kernel taking 5x longer than on comparable systems"
• In reply to: Mike: "Re: What hardware components bottleneck Linux?"
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