Re: macosx 1 process, linux N processes, macosx chokes under load

This WebDNA talk-list message is from

2001

It keeps the original formatting. numero = 36817
interpreted = N
texte = Le Pham wrote:>Dale LaFountain wrote:>>>> I have been doing extensive performance testing to find the fastest>> hardware/software combination to run our websites. In my testing, I>> found that for single executions, MacOSX executes webcat code about>> 33% faster than a similar Linux box (P3-550 dual).>>>> However, when I execute any number of simultaneous requests using a>> performance tool like Netsplat, MacOSX quickly grinds to a halt while>> Linux keeps up rather well.>>>> Upon further inspection, it appears that Linux webcat starts 4>> processes on launch, and then spawns additional child processes for>> every simultanous request. The OSX version runs ALL requests through>> a single process, which is apparently a huge bottleneck.>FYI, Mac OS X does spwan threads to handle request, it is just in >different way. Use command top during your test you can see >number of threads that spawned by WebCatalog>After WebCatalog is launched on Mac OS X, using top command you >will see there are three threads attached with WebCatalog process>Linux shows 4 processes. These are include 1 for main WebCatalog >process and the remain three are spawned threadsOK, fair enough. I see the threadcount rising now when I run Netsplat on OSX.> >>> Why is webcat set up this way on OSX, and can it be fixed to act more>> like Linux?>WebCat itself is using the same method of spwaning threads to handle >requests. But POSIX thread package is implemented different on >Linux and Mac OSX. And it is the part of kernel, we could not do>any thing to force both OS act as the same way.>>>>> Also, the 10.0.4 update to OSXS 2.0 resulted in a 50% improvement in>> webcat performance in cpu-intensive calculations. However, it's>> still an order of magnitude slower than Linux when under a heavy load>> (134 seconds vs 18 seconds).>We are experience the same result here. WebCat/Linux always runs >faster the WebCat/Mac OS X Server/Client>I think it is OS dependentOSX is NOT always slower. Running a single instance of my template, OSX is faster by 50%. It's only when multiple requests occur simultaneously that OSX crawls, even in comparison to OS9/Webstar on the same hardware.Isn't it possible that some inefficiencies exist in the way webcat/osx handles threads that could cause this massive difference in performance? Do other applications that run on both OSX and Linux have this problem, or is this a problem specific to webcat? If not in webcat, then the problem should be reported to the Darwin group and to Apple as a bug.If this is an inherent flaw in (current) OSX, I would strongly discourage anyone from using webcat/osx for busy webcat-driven sites. It certainly can't keep up with our (relatively simple) testing suite using Netsplat.-Dale-- Dale LaFountainVice President of Information Technology, WebMasterDark Horse Comics, Inc. mailto:dalel@darkhorse.comPhone: 503-652-8815 x324 http://www.darkhorse.com/-------------------------------------------------------------This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to the mailing list .To unsubscribe, E-mail to: To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to Web Archive of this list is at: http://search.smithmicro.com/ Associated Messages, from the most recent to the oldest:

Re: macosx 1 process, linux N processes, macosx chokes under load (Aaron Lynch 2001)
Re: macosx 1 process, linux N processes, macosx chokes under load (Dale LaFountain 2001)
Re: macosx 1 process, linux N processes, macosx chokes under load (Alain Russell 2001)
Re: macosx 1 process, linux N processes, macosx chokes under load (Aaron Lynch 2001)
Re: macosx 1 process, linux N processes, macosx chokes under load (Dale LaFountain 2001)
Re: macosx 1 process, linux N processes, macosx chokes under load (Aaron Lynch 2001)
Re: macosx 1 process, linux N processes, macosx chokes under load (Alain Russell 2001)
Re: macosx 1 process, linux N processes, macosx chokes under load (Dale LaFountain 2001)
Re: macosx 1 process, linux N processes, macosx chokes under load (Le Pham 2001)
macosx 1 process, linux N processes, macosx chokes under load (Dale LaFountain 2001)

Le Pham wrote:>Dale LaFountain wrote:>>>> I have been doing extensive performance testing to find the fastest>> hardware/software combination to run our websites. In my testing, I>> found that for single executions, MacOSX executes webcat code about>> 33% faster than a similar Linux box (P3-550 dual).>>>> However, when I execute any number of simultaneous requests using a>> performance tool like Netsplat, MacOSX quickly grinds to a halt while>> Linux keeps up rather well.>>>> Upon further inspection, it appears that Linux webcat starts 4>> processes on launch, and then spawns additional child processes for>> every simultanous request. The OSX version runs ALL requests through>> a single process, which is apparently a huge bottleneck.>FYI, Mac OS X does spwan threads to handle request, it is just in >different way. Use command top during your test you can see >number of threads that spawned by WebCatalog>After WebCatalog is launched on Mac OS X, using top command you >will see there are three threads attached with WebCatalog process>Linux shows 4 processes. These are include 1 for main WebCatalog >process and the remain three are spawned threadsOK, fair enough. I see the threadcount rising now when I run Netsplat on OSX.> >>> Why is webcat set up this way on OSX, and can it be fixed to act more>> like Linux?>WebCat itself is using the same method of spwaning threads to handle >requests. But POSIX thread package is implemented different on >Linux and Mac OSX. And it is the part of kernel, we could not do>any thing to force both OS act as the same way.>>>>> Also, the 10.0.4 update to OSXS 2.0 resulted in a 50% improvement in>> webcat performance in cpu-intensive calculations. However, it's>> still an order of magnitude slower than Linux when under a heavy load>> (134 seconds vs 18 seconds).>We are experience the same result here. WebCat/Linux always runs >faster the WebCat/Mac OS X Server/Client>I think it is OS dependentOSX is NOT always slower. Running a single instance of my template, OSX is faster by 50%. It's only when multiple requests occur simultaneously that OSX crawls, even in comparison to OS9/Webstar on the same hardware.Isn't it possible that some inefficiencies exist in the way webcat/osx handles threads that could cause this massive difference in performance? Do other applications that run on both OSX and Linux have this problem, or is this a problem specific to webcat? If not in webcat, then the problem should be reported to the Darwin group and to Apple as a bug.If this is an inherent flaw in (current) OSX, I would strongly discourage anyone from using webcat/osx for busy webcat-driven sites. It certainly can't keep up with our (relatively simple) testing suite using Netsplat.-Dale-- Dale LaFountainVice President of Information Technology, WebMasterDark Horse Comics, Inc. mailto:dalel@darkhorse.comPhone: 503-652-8815 x324 http://www.darkhorse.com/-------------------------------------------------------------This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to the mailing list .To unsubscribe, E-mail to: To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to Web Archive of this list is at: http://search.smithmicro.com/ Dale LaFountain

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Re: macosx 1 process, linux N processes, macosx chokes under load

2001

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