With Linux do Hardware Brands Matter?


 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Top Forums UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers With Linux do Hardware Brands Matter?
# 1  
Old 12-22-2011
With Linux do Hardware Brands Matter?

We have run software on Dell Servers w/ Windows and seen the performance degrade overtime. We switched to an IBM server w/ AIX and have not seen the same performance degradation over time. In fact, the IBM servers are at least five years old and continue to preform well at the same level.

How much of that is hardware vs. operating system?

If we ran the Dell with Linux would we have seen the same performance degradation?

Where is this leading? I am looking to setup a server environment to install and learn enterprise software. Based on experience I think the right operating system to select is Linux but I am not clear on the hardware I should look for. I am thinking I would like a multiprocessor machine so I may partition it into different LPARs and install the software in a distributed fashion as it would be in a real enterprise. My budget is about $1000. HW/OS recommendations welcome.
# 2  
Old 12-22-2011
Hard question to answer. Yes... it is very true that most Windows Servers degrade performance wise over time even if not updated. For example, file system fragmentation.

Unix/Linux hosts will have much less fragmentation issues file system wise.

However, both Unix (AIX) and Linux can degrade as updates are made, especially if additional services are brought online, extra security is inserted or just growth of various programs. But in general, those items are not "big" killers of performance.

So... if vs. Windows, you can bet that the majority of it is OS related.

Linux is a good choice and much more affordable than commercial Unix (e.g. AIX) for learning some enterprise level software. Most of the major enterprise software manufacturers have excellent support Linux now.

With that said, not all hardware is created equal. "Cheap" consumer hardware is typically where the most problems are. You generally don't want bleeding edge because Linux might not support everything there. Usually big vendors have compatibility lists which will tell you whether or not Linux is supported on their servers (e.g. Dell, HP and IBM). Those same "big vendors" may also have consumer line hardware which is *not* ok for Linux... so do your research wisely.
# 3  
Old 12-22-2011
Quote:
Originally Posted by bggibson
We have run software on Dell Servers w/ Windows and seen the performance degrade overtime. We switched to an IBM server w/ AIX and have not seen the same performance degradation over time. In fact, the IBM servers are at least five years old and continue to preform well at the same level.

How much of that is hardware vs. operating system?
Windows has its problems, but you can't blame it all on the OS. A fresh install of Windows XP on a 10 year old machine won't perform as well as it did 10 years ago because it's expected to do a lot more than it did 10 years ago.

There's kind of an obligation to keep an antivirus running on a network-connected Windows machine, especially a server. AVG used to run reasonably in 64 megs. Now it won't even try to run in 512. Their full-download exe's have more than quadrupled in size in 5 years. And that's one of the less demanding AV's. I can't even imagine what Mcaffee and Norton require these days.

On top of that, much new software will force you to install otherwise-nonessential updates just to function. The smart ones bundle many with them, so they don't even need to ask ( I think this may account for some of AVG's increasing girth ).

So I don't think it's the Windows operating system that's ultimately to blame as much as the Windows software model. There's still people using Visual Studio 6.0, buggy and old as it is, because anything newer adds an entire .Net requirement to any program containing "int main()". If you build your software with MS tools, it will demand not just newer systems, but more runtime software in general.

There's no such continuous push to extend your operating environment in UNIX. Security fixes are one thing, but your distributor's not likely to suddenly decide they really, really like a newfangled language and insist on using it for everything, dragging along its hundreds of megs of footprint, memory-hungry daemon+runtime optimizer+JIT compiler, and endless updates just to do what used to work without it. Usually. (Looking at you, Java. ;p)

---------- Post updated at 08:04 PM ---------- Previous update was at 07:49 PM ----------

Furthermore, it really does matter what you intend to do with the server. I ran a web and database server with a good number of decently intensive sites on it for several years using an old Pentium III 866Mhz with 512M RAM, with the load average mostly below .1. One instance of Wordpress took more CPU and resources than everything else combined. It's keeping the improved 3Ghz machine at a load of .4 even now.

Last edited by Corona688; 12-22-2011 at 10:01 PM..
 
Login or Register to Ask a Question

Previous Thread | Next Thread

8 More Discussions You Might Find Interesting

1. Hardware

Does this hardware works with Linux

Hello folks, I pretend acquire this hardware: 1-Motherboard Asus Skt1151 - H110M-A/M.2 (https://www.asus.com/pt/Motherboards...cifications/); 2-Intel i5 6400 2.7Ghz QuadCore Skt1151; or 2-Intel i5 6500 3.2Ghz QuadCore Skt1151; 3-Dimm 8GB DDR4 Kingston CL15 2133Mhz; Obvious I pretend... (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: enodev
1 Replies

2. Shell Programming and Scripting

Help with Linux hardware fault script in Perl

Hello, I am working on a Perl script to run from an AIX Nim server to extract hardware errors from our Linux server using various forms of grep statements - I have all my hosts in a text file and a command is run from the nim server to each host to pull out data from /var/log/messages and... (5 Replies)
Discussion started by: neilh1704
5 Replies

3. Hardware

Requirment are without password to get hardware info in the the linux using Qt?

Dear All, I have developed one application in the Qt Creator. I have one requirment for get hardward information in the Linux system, Then i try dmidecode using and run in Qt.It will occur error message for "dev/mem" permission denied". So i try to terminal to run sudo ./application. it will ask... (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: JGops79
1 Replies

4. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Linux on custom hardware

I would like to configure a bare minimum Linux with internet browser on a system with Flash & RAM (but no harddisk or any other nonvolatile storage). Please advise. (5 Replies)
Discussion started by: rherb
5 Replies

5. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

What are the two ways the hardware clock can be configured under Linux?

What are the two ways the hardware clock can be configured under Linux? Thanks (3 Replies)
Discussion started by: lemon_06
3 Replies

6. Windows & DOS: Issues & Discussions

How To Check Hardware RAID On Windows and Linux

Hello, I have Win NT server running and I want to know how can I get Hardware RAID settings without rebooting the server? Thanks in advance. (2 Replies)
Discussion started by: sureshcisco
2 Replies

7. Hardware

Linux Hardware Compatibility Guide (2007 HOWTO)

Before posting questions about Linux hardware, it is a good idea to check the Linux Hardware HOWTO guide (Last Update: 2007-05-22) However, this HOWTO has not been maintained since 2007 and it out-of-date. (0 Replies)
Discussion started by: Neo
0 Replies

8. Linux

What hardware will LINUX run on 386/486 ?

I'm really new to this and I want to learn UNIX/LINUX and saw the post about setting up a server to use everyday to practice. I have an old 386 PC and a 486 PC sitting around. Can they be reformatted and used to run UNIX/LINUX on as a network. (4 Replies)
Discussion started by: Barkingmad
4 Replies
Login or Register to Ask a Question