[K12OSN] Relative performance characteristics

[Immanuel Derks]

Hi all,

Just wondering at the moment how people feel about the difference in
performance characteristics between the latest Xeon core duo breed
processors and the old fashioned dual Xeon server layouts for LTSP.

We have multiple IBM X235/x236 with double Xeon 3GHz processors
outfitted for a failover LTPS configuration at our school (80-100
clients) and are wondering whether we can simplify the configuration by
making use of a single server with double Xeon dual core processors (say
an X3650 that comes with 2 dual-core Xeon 2.33/2.66 or 3.0GHz)

Can anybody testify a configuration with similar loads who made such a
swap? I know dual core processors don't have a similar performance as 2
separate xeons at the same speed, but one might wonder with all the
threaded apps en memory use in LTSP, that it could stack up to it...

I must say I feel a bit skeptical sometimes at the performances quotas
that I sometimes see here on the list, since we noticed (even on our
glass backbone) that x236 servers with 3GHz processors and 8GB ram
fitted are really dropping performance to a slow when 60 people login (2
classes) and start working on office and firefox stuff at the same time.
That's why we needed 2 similar servers and we are doing fine now.
As soon as the CPU loads get over the 65% peak loads, we get a real drop
in performance, but no iowait or memory hogs or anything....
(we basically run standard RedHat 4 edu edition)

Kind regards,

Immanuel Derks




-- 
Immanuel Derks <I.Derks at translucent.nl>
Translucent Systems