Topic: One or two processors ? That is the question ! ;o)

[Quadrax]

Hello,

I desire to know if two processors on a 'DELL PowerEdge 2200' server is better than on processor.

I have 128Mb of EDO 168pins RAM and I'm will increase soon to 256Mb.

Is-it possible to put Apache and/or PHP on a processor and others on other processor to obtain better performances ? I eared is it possible. Is-it true ?

Thank you very much by advance.

HP

[Boris]

You can not manualy chose processor for the apache, but two CPU's will share the load and generaly performance will be better with two CPUs

[lee]

Apache creates a pool of httpd processes to handle individual browser connections (pgrep -l httpd will show all these processes currently running on your server).  If you started the  server with SMP (symmetrical multi-processing) rather than UP (uni-processing) on the LILO screen then the process scheduler of the operating system will automatically spread the load of the different Apache processes between the processors available.

To put it another way: yeah it'll go faster with two processors.

Lee

[Quadrax]

Ok, thank you for your reply.

Now, I need to know how to do with SME (5.6 or higher) because, somebody tells me, today, Debian and few others distributions of Linux offer this possibility but a lot of distributions are built for just one processor.

>>Lee
Can you tell me what distribution(s) of Linux allow this possibility with LILO ?
<<

I have another question : What difference(s) between 1.1 and 1.4 "compatibility mode" to use dual proccessor ? (I have this option in the BIOS of my ELL server)

I'm sorry if my questions are 'basics' but I try to learn my-self how to use Linux because Windows doesn't allow me to do what I want with my hardware like I need. (I'm electronician at start...)  

Thank you very much ! )

HP
[/quote]

[Quadrax]

I think it's a very stupid question :

If I add a second part of RAM 128Mb (EDO 168pins), a computer built to be used like a dual processor server can be use each memory "device" for each processor or, (like I think), the RAM map is just one bloc and is shared between both processors ?

Ok, I stop here ;o)

HP

[lee]

SME 5.6 didn't distribute with an SMP kernel but SME6.x does so if you are using 5.6 I'd upgrade to 6.0.1 first.  With SME6.x it'll stop briefly during boot and ask you whether you want to boot with UP or SMP kernel.

Your RAM will be shared between both processors.

Don't know what 1.1 and 1.4 compatibility mode on the BIOS settings is though.

L.

[Quadrax]

SME 5.6 didn't distribute with an SMP kernel but SME6.x does so if you are using 5.6 I'd upgrade to 6.0.1 first.

Ok, thank you. But, do you know if the problem what I have with the SME 6.x.x installer is resolved ?
You can find my post about at this address : http://forums.contribs.org/index.php?topic=23731.0

Also, if the problem is not heavy, I want to try the solution to allow me to install SME 6.

Now, I'm thinking about my money : more 40 €uros in this old DELL server or not ? With 40 €uros I can buy a second server and upgrade mine to dual processor with 256Mb of RAM.

Do you know if that will be sufficient to build a web and file server for a little organisation (10 persons about) ?

Thank you.

HP )

[lee]

Your install problem is a new one on me.  In your other post I see that you refer to SME6.0 have you tried the contribs SME6.0.1 iso?  It does sound as if the iso image you are using might be corrupted.

I guess that the spec of your server depends on how busy the web server is going to be but I'd have thought that it would be ample.

L.

[Quadrax]

I used this link provided by a friend : http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/distributions/smeserver/releases/6.0.1/iso/smeserver6.0.1-01-20040316.iso

It is the SME 6.0.1 (I'm very sorry, my computer where this link was stocked was out of order since few days...)  

How to verify the checksum given in the file on the same FTP folder of the iso file ?

But, if ISO is corrupted, WinRar must tell me that, no ?
I burned my CD with Nero without error or warning message.

May be a problem in th list of files to be installed if not, the new installer doesn't support my SCSI adpater but, it's wrong because, installer starts since this CD drive ! ??? :-/

It's strange.

HP

[lee]

That link is fine.  You can check the iso by entering
md5sum smeserver6.0.1-01-20040316.iso then check that the number printed is the same as the checksum in the http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/distributions/smeserver/releases/6.0.1/iso/smeserver6.0.1-01-20040316.iso.md5sum file.

I have to admit that I have only ever burnt CDs from Linux with cdrecord and have never used WinRar or Nero!  Someone else reading will have to comment on that one.

The company I work for have installed SME on dozen of PowerEdges as Dell are our prefered supplier of PC hardware.  Can't say I have had any problems with their SCSI adaptors before, pretty much any SCSI that has a BIOS chip should work for SME.

L.

[Quadrax]

Thank you for your help.
I tried your command and the MD5 checksum is the same.

About WinRar, it's false, It was my first idea to open the ISO file.
To burn this file, it was like my first for SME 5.6, with Nero because, It can burn ISO directly and make the boot record properly, etc...
No need to use another program between ISO file and CD.

About my DELL PowerEdge server, it's a 2200 (dual PII 266MMX) at first view, in the compatibility hardware list for Red Hat, it's not appear. /

It's very strange because, I have no problem with my SME 5.6 ...    

[1111]

SME 5.6 didn't distribute with an SMP kernel...

Yes, it did.

[Quadrax]

????
Why SMP is here ???

Then, I open and close quickly the brackets about SMP : SMP is-it like SMB to use a printer with SME via Samba ? but what provide SMP protocol ? If not, what is the name of another protocol used to provide a printing service ?

(I'm a beginner...)

Thank you.

HP

[Quadrax]

I'm sorry, I'm so tired, I forgot what was SMP in this topic...    

But, If somebody can response me about printing protocols, I thank him also.

Just use the new topic link here : http://forums.contribs.org/index.php?topic=23784.msg94794#msg94794


Thank you,

HP

[Quadrax]

Hello,

I just upgrade my DELL Server with a second PII 266MMX and a second "memory card" of 128Mb.

In the same time I swapped my NIC RTL8139 and my RAID controler card to have a better air cooling and, it's very strange (I think) SME 5.6 don't have 'Kernel Panic' when I restart my server. So funny ! ;o) no ?

Now, I need to know if this hardware upgrade needs a sofware upgrade (or a complete reinstallation) of my SME server to have better performances.

Is-it possible to "bench" (="test & compare"??) my server to know if changes allow better performances or not ? How to do it if yes ?

Ok, now, a question really for "Experienced Users" :
How SME server does management of two processors ? How to change it, if necessary ?? and I ask one more time "what difference between 1.1 and 1.4 compatibility mode about MultiProcessor and Op. Syst." ???

Also, for 1111 : How to know/find information about 'SMP' of SME server ?

SME 5.6 didn't distribute with an SMP kernel...

Yes, it did.

Thank you very much for all.

Have a nice day ! )

HP

P.S.
About upgrade of RAM available now, must-I do reinstall SME server or, the swap partition is always sized to 256Mb ??? I read, somewhere, "...swap size is about the double of the RAM quantity on a system..." Logicaly, I think it's not silly but, really, it's possible to allow more no ?
Ok, time to sleep for be. Good bye ! ;o)