There's one circumstance under which I'd recommend running AOLserver 2.3.3
instead of AOLserver 3, and that's if you need to run a number of nsd
processes. AOLserver 3 can't scale to multiple nsds, because it is too
bloated (in terms of resource usage). Unfortunately, AOLserver 2.3.3 has
a number of other issues that make it inferior to AOLserver 3. Still, if
you need to run a number of nsds on one machine, and you can accept the
other limitations that come with AOLserver 2.3.3, it is a better choice
for you.
On Thu, 20 Sep 2001, Kriston wrote:
> The current trend in service calls to the AOLserver Support team concerns
> systems that have been crashing for mysterious reasons unrelated to the
> release of the server. The common factors to all of these calls is that the
> machines had been changed to run 5 or more nsd processes per machine rather
> than just one or two. It's important to consider that AOLserver will
> aggressively use the resources available to it and running multiple nsd
> processes carelessly will affect the performance of your machine. This is
> due to resource limits in the operating system. Let's be smart about this
> and if the occasion comes around where you want to run multiple nsd's per
> machine, please closely watch your system parameters. Naturally, AOLserver
> will always effectively use *all* the processors on a multiprocessor
> machine, and starting up more than one nsd process should be considered with
> great care, study, and operational vigilence--something that is more
> detrimental than the predicted benefits might be. Assuming that "everything
> was okay until now" does not count! Especially since there has been some
> poor timing: increased load as a result of the Nimba worm, the increase of
> nsd processes per machine, and after-effects of current world events at the
> Pentagon and the Twin Towers.
