On Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 2:41 PM, Jason Qualkenbush <[email protected]>wrote:
> I'm being asked to build a 32bit system. There is no specific reason for > this to be 32bit except my boss likes that there are less libraries to > install. This is a CentOS 5 install and they way things work, this will > remain a 32bit install for the next four years (until a hardware refresh). > > It's hard for me to explain why, but that just feels dirty to me. When in > performance tuning classes, it was understood that you want 64bit over > 32bit. I can't use "people told me 64bit is better", but I keep reading > "unless you have a specific reason for 32bit, choose 64". I need something > that has details. > > Can someone provide a link to why you want to install 64bit? The best I > could come up with is this article: http://kerneltrap.org/node/2450 which > explains how PAE works. Does 64 bit matter for large files? Network > performance? > > I'm irritated that I'm being forced to build this thing as 32bit. It's a > RSyslog, Cacti, Nagios system, and if I build it, I'm pretty much signing my > name to this. It becomes a "JQ built server". I just feel like going 64bit > is better for "future proofing" this thing than 32bit. > > I don't understand the "fewer libraries to install" argument. Aren't the apps you mentioned all available in 64-bit form? You wouldn't have to install 32-bit libraries simultaneously in a CentOS 64-bit system for those apps. Is there any software your boss wants that is only available in 32-bit? I'm probably missing something obvious. As others have mentioned, 32-bit can be faster sometimes. However, you don't seem to be running into anything that specific. Also, if you're building this to last, do not understimate the eternal need for more RAM. A 64-bit address space will come handy. If all your environment is 64-bit and you boss wants this to be 32-bit out of the blue, ask him about keeping the environment homogeneous. Will you have to dedicate time and resources to keep a 32-bit repository around? I haven't followed discussions closely but does anyone know if we're at the point that some Linux distros are considering to drop 32-bit support? I read something about it but it seemed netbooks were the reason for keeping 32-bit around. Does that still applies? I haven't seen a 32-bit in a while but that alone isn't enough reason to discard it. -- Giovanni Tirloni [email protected]
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