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Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!yarrina.connect.com.au!classic.iinet.com.au!news.uoregon.edu!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news.sprintlink.net!in2.uu.net!spcuna!ritz!ritz From: ritz@ritz.mordor.com (Chris Mauritz) Subject: Re: "An HTTP software server can pummel a CPU..." References: <gary-1309951409030001@bhb17.acadia.net> Organization: Mordor International Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 19:38:28 GMT X-Newsreader: TIN [UNIX 1.3 950824BETA PL0] Message-ID: <DEuzw4.H6q@ritz.mordor.com> Lines: 40 Gary Robinson (gary@first.acadia.net) wrote: : Hello, : : From an InfoWorld 6/19/95 article: : : "An HTTP software server can pummel a CPU, because there's no mechanism in : any existing server to control the amount of processor time allotted. Ten : users doing SQL questies, for instance, might bring the system to a : standstill while users trying to receive static pages wait." : : This is very surprising to me. I used to use Concurrent DOS, where one : could set priorities for different processes. If a high-priority process : was waiting for the CPU, it would get it before lower-priority processes. : : I'm pretty sure OS/2 has this capability too. : : But the above quote seems to imply that Unix does not. (I haven't ever : used Unix.) Otherwise, why couldn't one simply set the HTTP daemon to a : higher priority than the SQL tasks? : : [ Now that I think of it, I maybe I do remember hearing before that Unix : didn't allow priorities ]. : : Am I correct in what I'm saying here??? No. It is quite possible to set cpu time limits to the server under unix. However, if you have it configured properly and have enough system resources it seems somewhat counterintuitive to intentionally cripple a resource you're making publicly available. CPU utilization is almost NEVER a factor on my web server, and it gets hit anywhere from 200-400k times/day. Net bandwidth and disk IO speed influence performace a lot more. Given enough RAM and a fast disk subsystem, a 486/33 is probably enough cpu to do the job for a busy web server. I'm confident that my 486/DX2-80 will handle 500-600k hits/day before I'll need to even think about adding more cpu. We're using apache over here. Regards, Chris -- Christopher Mauritz | For info on internet access: ritz@mordor.com | finger/mail info@ritz.mordor.com OR Mordor International | http://www.mordor.com/ 201/212/718 internet access | Modem: (201)433-7343,(212)843-3451