On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 4:09 PM, Neil Joseph Schelly <n...@jenandneil.com>wrote:
> I'm looking to build a small Shuttle barebone machine into a NAS running > Linux. The intent of the machine is to be a networked PC with lots of > storage in a RAID array, made available over the gigabit network interface > via Samba, NFS, and maybe iSCSI protocols. I'm curious what experience > others have with this sort of stuff in general, but two immediate questions > come to mind about processor and memory performance. > > I can go the low-power, low-heat route and get a single-core processor and > a > single memory stick of minimal quantity. Or I can upgrade a bit, get a > dual-core processor with 2 sticks of dual-channel memory. Or something in > between. What I don't know is how much impact processor speed, multiple > cores, memory capacity, and dual-channel memory has on disk I/O, network > I/O, > software RAID processing, etc. > > I like the idea of a small low-power, low-heat appliance, but will going > too > low on those negatively impact performance much? The cost difference > between > a single-core processor with 1GB of memory and a dual-core processor with 2 > sticks of 1GB dual-channel memory is insignificant, so that's not much of a > concern. > -N > > I'm running OpenSolaris on an AMD dual core 165 cpu on a 939 motherboard with 3 GB of RAM. It keeps up with gigabit. I used to run Linux on a Dual PIII 500MHz with 512MB. It maxed out at 30 MB/s. The disks and SATA cards got put onto the current system, It doesn't really answer your question, does it? There is a threshhold for matching gigabit ethernet speed though. What's the power savings a single core will give you vs dual core? How much does your electricity cost?
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