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Re: kernel update from 2.4.26 to 2.6.



On Wednesday 01 February 2006 5:04 pm, Jon Miller wrote:
> I need to do a kernel update on our Debian server from 2.4.26 to 2.6.11 or
> better.  When I did a apt-cache search kernel-image 2 of the images I got
> was: kernel-image-2.6-686 - Linux kernel image for version 2.6 on
> PPro/Celeron/PII/PIII/P4. kernel-image-2.6-686-smp - Linux kernel image for
> version 2.6 on PPro/Celeron/PII/PIII/P4 SMP. The server has a P4  in it,
> from what I remember there is a feature in the BIOS that can turn on or off
> the Hyperthreading and with it on it's possible (correct me if I'm wrong
> here)  to run the system with the kernel-image-2.6-686-smp image. 

> 1) is this correct

If you have a hyperthreading proc and it's enabled... the smp kernel will 
work, hell it will work even if you don't have HT.

> 2) are there really any benefits to running this as a gateway server? or
> should I just stay with the kernel-image-2.6-686?

The benefits are minimal in nearly every circumstance when using 
hyperthreading... I imagine there are times when it may hurt you even... but 
I can't imagine that is the case for you.  Considering that most future 
computers will be smp (dual core) then I would say go with the smp kernel as 
it may make transitioning to future hardware and kernels easier?... And who 
knows, now that smp is getting more common, perhaps the dev's will start to 
actually write most of their apps with smp in mind?

Joe



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