Re: smp, debian and me
"G. L. `Griz' Inabnit" wrote:
>
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>
> Hey Gang,
>
> This is not intended to be a hot thread. :--) Which means I'll likely get
> deludged in mails.
>
> I have a fairly nice machine that I would like to optimize for MAXIMUM
> performance.
>
> dual i686 (p3's) 750
> tyan thunderchicken mb
> 512 ram
> dual 18 gig lvd scsi (wd & seagate)
> eepro
> es1371
> internal scsi 2 gig jazz
> internal ide zip
> floppy
> gforce2 mx (32 meg)
>
> At one time I was playing with a distro called sorcery under vmware, which
> was a nice thought. In that I mean that all the packages downloaded (cast)
> were compiled for the machine that cast the spell. Therefore, everything was
> optimized very very nicely for whatever machine they were built on. I found
> that (damnit!) sorcery under vmware in SID actually outran Debian native.
> :--\ Which, being a Debianite, annoyed the beejezus outta me.
>
> Subsequently, I've been following the threads concerning pulling down the
> sources (apt-get -b source {package}) and building my own packages to insure
> that all of my existing software has the ability of using SMP support.
>
> My questions are:
>
> 1. Do I need to wipe and start over (fresh install)?
> if yes
> how far do i go on the install (cds) before i begin using source?
> if no
> what packages should I begin 'replacing' first? (for ease of upgrade)
>
> 2. How can I tell the software (via apt) that I want to use SMP?(makefile(s)?)
> (in sorcery there was one file built eary in the install that held all of
> the pertainant info)
>
> 3. What is the best recommended way to do this? (or is there one?)
>
> I'm not a newbie to Debian by any means, but I'm not completely comfortable
> compiling my own sources. Mainly just due to being lazy (and loving debian)
> up to this point. But, I've found that the more packages that I have that use
> the full power of the multi-processors, the faster the machine runs. (i'm a
> guy! i love having more power!)
--------------------------------REPLY--------------------------------
>From years of experiece with Debian, & SMP systems.....
RAM,RAM,RAM....If 512 is ok for a single processor system, and your
using 2...get the picture. If you really want to see your unit smoke,
give it all the room it can use in RAM. Additionaly ther are a couple of
other things you can do.
1. Make sure perl is SMP enabled as far as all of the various files that
are involved in compiling your packages.
2. Install and use the pentium builder packages.
3. Try to compile all of your own packages by using apt-get src. It will
be slower but it will improve overall performance.
4. Make sure your video card can do its job, as most people equte
performance with what they see on the screen.
5. Now for the real GUY TOY; Install a PCI chip disk as big as you can
afford. These are just banks of memory (RAM) chips that are designed to
appear as a disk drive in your system. Put your swap disk there.
Best wishes!!!
--
John Foster
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