Linux on Sun E10000
Has anyone done any E10000 testing? We're in the process of getting our
second E10k, and when it arrives I'll have about a week to debug and
test. I have (unofficial) permission to run Linux performance testing,
so here's a chance to try UltraPenguin on an E10k.
Issues:
1) booting:
In theory this shouldn't be a problem. I can use the SSP
(System Service Processor) to configure the hardware and
bring up the PROM monitor. From here I should be able to
boot a prepared system image from a spare disk array.
2) cvcd:
The E10k has no console ports, which is a potential problem.
The "Cray Virtual Console Daemon" is a Solaris only bit of
software, but with Solaris emulation installed this, and the
other required E10k specific stuff, should be able to be run
under Linux.
3) Mods to Sun4u arch:
Does anyone know enough about the backplane hardware to
determine if there will be any problems? I believe that the
SSP is fully responsible for configuring the unique hardware,
and that other than the virtual console stuff, an E10k is
very similar to other Ex000 hardware.
4) Performance testing:
Any suggestions for benchmarking a Linux / Solaris comparison?
How fast is Solaris emulation compared to native Solaris? I
have heard that SPEC takes days to run (and isn't very
interesting), so how about some application level benchmark
suggestions. If I was going to do a SPEC run, it'd just be
SPEC_INT_RATE, and hopefully I could find a published one
for the Solaris half.
5) 16 CPU SMP limit :)
I'll have a poke around the kernel source to 2.2.0 and see if
I can't make a patch to allow 64 CPUs.
Any suggestions as to next steps? There's plenty of time to prepare,
delivery time for an E10k in Australia is two months+, and we haven't
put an order in yet. The E10 we have currently is running production
workloads, but occasional testing may be able to be done before the
second frame arrives.
Before anyone asks, yes we know about DR, but after having an entire
frame fall over after installing extra hardware, we don't trust it.
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Richard Lane, Unix Specialist #include <disclaimer.h>
EDS Australia - Technical Infrastructure - Open Systems
EDS Phone: (+61 2) 9312 6097
EDS Email: <Richard.Lane@eds.com>
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