Re: 5.x versus 7.x

>We're currently in the process of emerging from the stone >age and evaluating a move from 5.x to 7.x. I've read through >all of the sales-oriented stuff I can handle, and conducted some >basic tests to make sure everything functions, but I'm still lacking >some hard facts. Maybe someone out there with actual experience >can offer some opinions. Someone asking for an opinion! Red rag to a bull! :-) >I'm trying to determine major changes between 5.x and 7.x - >mostly in the area of performance. I'm looking for things that the small >scale tests that I've conducted can't really shed too much light on: I saw a (very limited) benchmark on one machine. Up to about 150 users, *on*this*machine*, 5.0x smoked 7.1x. After about 150 users, 5 started to struggle (it was a very small box), whereas 7 just soldiered on at the same pace. And the more CPUs you chuck at 7, the better it goes, whereas 5 makes comparitively little use of multiple CPUs. I think this is largely due to the fact that most of the neat architectural stuff is more of an overhead than a help at the bottom end of the user/volume scale. I'm guessing that you would probably find similar behaviour (with different breakpoints) on most boxes. I also haven't seen anybody match up 5 against 7.2x or 7.3x, but I suspect the same pattern would emerge. >1. Hardware requirements - Higher for 7.x? Should I plan for >more memory overall, per process, etc. In theory, at the top end, you should need *less* per process because of multithreading. Whether this is true in practice is of course another matter entirely! :-) >2. Multiprocessor vs. Single - How do the added parallel >processing feature perform, and is performance seriously >impacted on single processor machines? How about >slower speed processors? I think you'd be better off with lots of slower processes than one cracker. >3. Operating Systems - What experiences have you had with >Solaris 2.5.1/2.6, Dynix/ptx4.2.x, and AIX 4.2 - has anyone >found one to fall a little short? I've not heard of anything. If any OS were to suffer, based on past experience I'd say HP-UX or DEC OSF/1, as they had the most glorious, uh, undocumented features come up. But most/all of these seem to be fixed now. I hope. >Anything is welcome. Thanks in advance. I gave at the office. :-p -- "I'll Be Back" Obnoxio ************************************************ Sane? Hell, if I was sane, why would I be here? ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com