Re: Witango-Talk: Mac OSX performance

[Robert Garcia]

I will give you model numbers of the components, but it is not a box. I  
buy the parts that I want and put them together myself. I used to have  
an erector set when I was younger, and I loved the sucker. Some things  
never change. I guess there isn't much chance that I could convince  
anyone on this list that I am not a geek. ;-)

Robert.

great place for hardware components: http://www.8anet.com/

On Wednesday, June 4, 2003, at 10:39 AM, Ben Johansen wrote:

Do you have a model number and/link to this box?

Ben Johansen - http://www.pcforge.com
Authorized Witango Reseller http://www.pcforge.com/WitangoGoodies.htm
Authorized MDaemon Mail Server Reseller
http://www.pcforge.com/AltN.htm
-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Conlon [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 10:33 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE: Witango-Talk: Mac OSX performance
Once I get witango running on Redhat 9, I'll post some info.  My new
Dell
box cost $642 plus tax.
2.4 GHz P4, 512 MMB DDR SDRAM, 2x80GB 7200 RPM IDE drives, gigabit
ethernet, CD/floppy, KB, mouse.
$40 for Redhat linux.  it's configured with software RAID (mirrored)  
and

ext3 journaling file system.

Great info,



What I want is you supplier on the $700 server. Does this come with  
the
Win2k server license?

Ben Johansen - http://www.pcforge.com
Authorized Witango Reseller http://www.pcforge.com/WitangoGoodies.htm
Authorized MDaemon Mail Server Reseller
http://www.pcforge.com/AltN.htm
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Garcia [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 7:38 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: Witango-Talk: Mac OSX performance


I have done a lot of research on this. I am a huge Mac enthusiast, and
I
wanted to go with OS X, and worked very heavily with Andre(stone  
steps)
and Witango when they were developing the v5 OS X version.

There were a lot of bugs in the first OS X version, it would crash
under
any load, and as they were able to fix those issues, and make the
server
more reliable, I noticed the server slowly decreased in performance.
When 054 came out, I did some benchtesting with Mac and Windows
versions
going head to head, with the same code, hitting the same database. My
database screams, so I know that is not any bottleneck.
I first did a bunch of tests to determine the optimum configuration  
for
each platform, and found that the Windows Witango server needs to stay
at 10 threads, and the OS X version can vary between 10-20, but no  
more
than 20.

It is also very important to know that the cache was in complete use  
on
both test systems. It has been my experience that the cache in the
Witango Server is the single biggest performance booster. Use cache,
and
add memory to your system so that you use it alot. Also, when cache is
off, your server will be less reliable, especially on OS X. I can  
cause
crashes with the cache off, that I cannot seem to cause with the cache
on (at least in 054).

The windows system was a AMD XP 2100 Processor (1.7ghz) with 512 megs
of
ram running 2000 server and IIS 5. The mac system running on a G4 dual
1ghz with OS X Server 10.2. The database was on a G4 dual 1ghz, using
primebase. I find these systems to be good for comparison, especially
since Witango only uses one processor on the mac.
I used apache bench to hit the servers, it allows a set number of  
hits,
and simulates concurrent users.

I first tested the performance of IIS 5 on the Windows sys, vs Apache
1.3.27 on the Mac. Apache edged out IIS by about 25%.
I then tested the Witango performance. I tested the servers repeatedly
simulating multiple users. I tested the performance on relatively
simple
tml files, with no db access, and I also tested with a image library
taf
that pulles info and thumbnails from the db. I found the Windows  
server
to usaually be around 80% faster. It was a big difference. I have a
long
text document of my results, although I have not thoroughly notated  
it,
and is a little cryptic. I am attaching it, since it is small.

My conclusions and observations: Basically, use windows to serve. My
experience is that Windows is faster and more reliable as a server
platform for Witango. Also, even if all tests were equal, I think I
would still choose windows for the following reasons:
1. As an administrator of multiple servers, witango, mail, database,
etc, Windows 2000 is much easier to administrate and administrate
remotely. Especially with the free Remote Desktop Connection for OS X.
2. Hardware is dirt cheap on Windows. You spend a ton on XServe. So
what
if the XServe has better hardware redundancy and should be more
reliable. I can set up two load balanced Windows servers for about  
$700
each, which gives me complete redundancy, which is even more reliable.
3. I am an old Webstar guy, and apache is a pain in the ass. I am
completely proficient in it, and deployed with it for months. I hate
the
fact that you have to restart the server to accept a change. I hate
that
if you screw up in syntax, you have almost no help finding the  
problem,
so you have to make small changes restart and repeat to be safe. Maybe
you type perfectly, I don't. IIS 5 is so easy and flexible, and  
Webstar
like. It is even better than webstar. It is designed to make changes  
on
the fly. It is designed to serve from network shares. I love it. I
check
security patches once a week, and have never had a security issue.

IMHO, OS X still has a way to go to be a mature server platform. Phil
might have more to say about that. I do know that Witango had to go
through a lot of extra hoops to work on OS X, and that may be why
performance lacks.
Also, some may argue that Apache is faster, and should be used. That  
is
like comparing the speed of a Ferrari and a Lamborghini, and you live
in
Southern California. You can never get the sucker up to 200 mph  
anyway,
so go with the one that is funner to drive. That is how it is with
Apache and IIS. They are both much faster than they need to be. They
can
fill up a T1 on a pentium 90. The bottleneck is Witango, and your
database, not the webserver, unless you use some server that I don't
know of that really tanks.
Hope this helps. I spent many, many hours on this question.

Robert.

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Bill Conlon

To the Point
345 California Avenue Suite 2
Palo Alto, CA 94306
office: 650.327.2175
fax:    650.329.8335
mobile: 650.906.9929
e-mail: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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--

Robert Garcia
President - BigHead Technology
CTO - eventpix.com
2781 N Carlmont Pl
Simi Valley, Ca 93065
ph: 805.522.8577 - cell: 805.501.1390
[EMAIL PROTECTED] - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://bighead.net/ - http://eventpix.com/ - http://theradmac.com/
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