Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2006 21:01:45 -0500 From: Mike Tancsa <mike@sentex.net> To: Marcos Bedinelli <bedinelli@madhaus.cns.utoronto.ca> Cc: freebsd-net@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Network performance in a dual CPU system Message-ID: <9qgqu19rt594h5k4t73s3dng3alprcd06f@4ax.com> In-Reply-To: <63274172a54fb70a88d6cb55b9ae6e23@madhaus.cns.utoronto.ca> References: <7bb8f24157080b6aaacb897a99259df9@madhaus.cns.utoronto.ca> <43ECB1E7.8010308@mac.com> <711b7ec873f31bc5be50ce477313fac3@madhaus.cns.utoronto.ca> <63274172a54fb70a88d6cb55b9ae6e23@madhaus.cns.utoronto.ca>
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On Fri, 10 Feb 2006 14:57:26 -0500, in sentex.lists.freebsd.net you wrote: > >"If your system runs out of CPU (idle times are perpetually 0%) then=20 >you need to consider upgrading the CPU or moving to an SMP motherboard=20 >(multiple CPU's), or perhaps you need to revisit the programs that are=20 >causing the load and try to optimize them." > >That's basically the problem I am experiencing: memory is fine, swap is=20 >fine, disk access is fine, CPU utilization is way high... > >The machine is in production and needs to have its performance improved=20 >asap. Consequently, we are fine with the idea of spending some $ with a=20 >second processor, provided that someone can tell me whether such matter=20 >can be solved using this approach. What we would like to avoid is=20 >spending $ with a second CPU that ultimately won't do any good for us. If the box is just doing routing etc, adding a second CPU will not really help matters and in some cases can make it worse. Your top output indicates the load is all from servicing interrupts. If your box has a PCI-X slot in it, you might try something like a dual port em NIC. They can be bought in the GTA area for around $150 or so and might perform better than the broadcoms you have. If you want to make a minimal upgrade, try swapping out your 2.4Ghz xeon for a faster CPU (provided the MB can handle it). Otherwise, look at a new box that has fast memory throughput. But stay with a single CPU. Experiment with polling, but be careful as you can start to loose packets if the box cannot keep up. There are some interesting networking enhancements coming soon to FreeBSD with the em driver, but it will be a little while I think before it makes it to RELENG_6 ---Mike -------------------------------------------------------- Mike Tancsa, Sentex communications http://www.sentex.net Providing Internet Access since 1994 mike@sentex.net, (http://www.tancsa.com)
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