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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!munnari.OZ.AU!news.mel.connect.com.au!news.mira.net.au!news.vbc.net!garlic.com!news.scruz.net!noos.hooked.net!www.nntp.primenet.com!nntp.primenet.com!howland.erols.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!panix!news.panix.com!not-for-mail From: bryan@panix.com (Bryan Althaus) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.os.linux.misc,comp.unix.solaris Subject: Re: Benchmarking different Unix Operating Systems Followup-To: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.os.linux.misc,comp.unix.solaris Date: 11 Sep 1996 22:33:46 -0400 Organization: Somewhere in Manhattan Lines: 38 Distribution: inet Message-ID: <517sqa$l78@panix.com> References: <aak2.842008017@Isis.MsState.Edu> <50p41e$1ie@nnrp1.news.primenet.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: panix.com X-Newsreader: TIN [UNIX 1.3 950824BETA PL0] Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:27125 comp.os.linux.misc:128631 comp.unix.solaris:82295 G Sumner Hayes (sumner+@CMU.EDU) wrote: : shaworth@intellistar.net (Stephen Haworth) writes: : > This site you refer to does the comparison on an Intel PC platform. : > Let's see what kind of results we would get if we ran "efficiency" : > tests on a machine which was actually designed to run Unix. : > : > For the casual Unix user, Linux on a PC would probably be fine. For a : > UNIX professional, you can't beat Solaris on an Ultra-Sparc. There : > are MANY other considerations other than some random speed tests run : > on a PC. How about security, scalability, and robustness of the OS?? : : Well, I'd have to say that in any case you absolutely, positively _do_ : _not_ want to go with Solaris. It is _much_ less stable than HPUX, : SunOS, Ultrix, NetBSD, and Linux. In particular, CMU has a cluster of : about 30 Ultras running Solaris and 15 Sparc 5's running Solaris; I : see, on average, one kernel panic every 6-8 hours. That's one kernel : panic every 315 machine hours or so, under very light load (single : user). I've seen only 1 kernel panic on the HP's (not sure which : make, fairly new) in the cluster next door. That's about 60 hours of : time for 25 HPs, or 1 kp every 1500 machine hours. I have yet to see : Ultrix go south (possibly because it doesn't do anything useful). The : Linux cluster is likewise very stable, on par with the HPs. : : Of course, before CMU switched to Solaris they were running SunOS on a : bunch (30-50) of Sparc 5s. I never saw a kernel panic on those. : : Lest you think that this is a local configuration problem, I've seen : similar results (with Solaris) at a local software design house and a : local engineering firm. I could never recommend Solaris to a client : in my capacity as a computer consultant; I could recommend nearly any : other mainstream commercial Unix, or Linux, or one of the BSDs, : depending on the needs of the client. :t What version of Solaris? What version of HP-UX? What version of Linux? What version of NetBSD? What version of SunOS? What patches are loaded. We have not seen problems with Solaris since 2.5 was installed. We will soon upgrade to 2.5.1.