From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Oct 1 07:42:34 2005 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5EF9F16A41F for ; Sat, 1 Oct 2005 07:42:34 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from bsd@bathnetworks.com) Received: from lmail.bathnetworks.co.uk (mail.bathnetworks.com [84.92.24.252]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 65D9F43D49 for ; Sat, 1 Oct 2005 07:42:32 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from bsd@bathnetworks.com) Received: (qmail 29565 invoked by uid 510); 1 Oct 2005 07:44:16 +0100 Received: from 84.92.24.252 by lmail.bathnetworks.co.uk (envelope-from , uid 508) with qmail-scanner-1.24-st-qms (clamdscan: 0.86.2/1032. spamassassin: 3.0.2. perlscan: 1.24-st-qms. Clear:RC:0(84.92.24.252):SA:0(-2.9/5.0):. Processed in 1.538647 secs); 01 Oct 2005 06:44:16 -0000 X-Spam-Status: No, hits=-2.9 required=5.0 X-Antivirus-MYDOMAIN-Mail-From: bsd@bathnetworks.com via lmail.bathnetworks.co.uk X-Antivirus-MYDOMAIN: 1.24-st-qms (Clear:RC:0(84.92.24.252):SA:0(-2.9/5.0):. Processed in 1.538647 secs Process 29558) Received: from mail.bathnetworks.com (HELO ?84.92.24.252?) (bsd@bathnetworks.com@84.92.24.252) by lmail.bathnetworks.co.uk with SMTP; 1 Oct 2005 07:44:15 +0100 From: Robert Slade To: Ansar Mohammed In-Reply-To: <000901c5c63c$5c2fa190$0b02a8c0@northamerica.corp.microsoft.com> References: <000901c5c63c$5c2fa190$0b02a8c0@northamerica.corp.microsoft.com> Content-Type: text/plain Message-Id: <1128149031.28791.7.camel@lmail.bathnetworks.co.uk> Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Ximian Evolution 1.4.6 (1.4.6-2) Date: Sat, 01 Oct 2005 07:43:51 +0100 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: "freebsd-questions@freebsd.org" Subject: RE: BGL X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 01 Oct 2005 07:42:34 -0000 On Sat, 2005-10-01 at 04:58, Ansar Mohammed wrote: > I love FreeBSD. I have been using it since 2.x. I have never had any > problems with it. Rock Solid. Never a single kernel panic. > > Then I come across this article in a comparison between Linux and FreeBSD > saying that FreeBSD has kernel locking issues. Specifically, a problem > nicknamed BGL or Big Giant Lock. It seems that it affects SMP systems under > high load. > > How much do other OSes suffer from this? > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Kris Kennaway [mailto:kris@obsecurity.org] > > Sent: September 30, 2005 4:46 PM > > To: Ansar Mohammed > > Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org > > Subject: Re: BGL > > > > On Thu, Sep 29, 2005 at 10:09:17PM -0400, Ansar Mohammed wrote: > > > Is the kernel locking issue with FreeBSD 4.x sorted out in 5.x? I can't > > seem > > > to get a proper answer. > > > > Perhaps because the above isn't a proper question? Yes, the BGL was > > pushed down a lot in FreeBSD 5. It still covers some parts of the > > kernel (less in 6), so if can be more precise about a specific > > "locking issue" then perhaps we can give a more precise answer. > > > > Kris Ansar, I have had a mail server running a SMP kernel with Fedora Core 2 I have not seen any Kernel Lockup or random reboots. I am been having problems with a Quad processor machine with both 5.4 and 6 beta so much so that the machine is unusable with the SMP kernel. Hope this helps Rob