Re: Minimal hardware for web server

1997-07-08 Thread Paul Wade
On Mon, 7 Jul 1997, Nicolás Lichtmaier wrote:

> On Mon, 7 Jul 1997, Paul Wade wrote:
> 
> > >  8 Mb should be enough too.
> > I don't know about that. Like I said before apache runs ok on the 8mb
> > machine until I run some cgi/perl script. It was even worse when I had

>  Well... Maybe it's that I don't use perl.. =) I've always used compiled c
> programs...

You can write some very tiny perl programs, but it takes some time and
memory to load and initialize perl. The idea is to quickly get some code
that works and then optimize.

Well... Maybe I don't use c.. =) I've always used the Intel x86 books and
coded directly in binary (hexadecimal is for weak minds). I prefer the
simplicity of ones and zeroes. 



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Re: Minimal hardware for web server

1997-07-08 Thread Nicolás Lichtmaier
On Mon, 7 Jul 1997, Paul Wade wrote:

> >  8 Mb should be enough too.
> I don't know about that. Like I said before apache runs ok on the 8mb
> machine until I run some cgi/perl script. It was even worse when I had
> slackware and then redhat on the machine. Even a 486DX2 was sluggish until
> I went from 8mb to 12mb. I suppose I could eliminate some daemons to free
> up memory, but that would take away from the joy of running linux.
> I find that the 386 w/8mb works well as a combination router, firewall,
> file server, print server, and more. It will run X if you don't mind the
> startup time. Maybe there are a few tweaks I need to try.

 Well... Maybe it's that I don't use perl.. =) I've always used compiled c
programs...

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Re: Minimal hardware for web server

1997-07-08 Thread Paul Wade
On Mon, 7 Jul 1997, Nicolás Lichtmaier wrote:

> On Mon, 7 Jul 1997, Paul Wade wrote:
> 
> > I would think that 16mb ram would be a minimum regardless of CPU. 
> 
>  8 Mb should be enough too.

I don't know about that. Like I said before apache runs ok on the 8mb
machine until I run some cgi/perl script. It was even worse when I had
slackware and then redhat on the machine. Even a 486DX2 was sluggish until
I went from 8mb to 12mb. I suppose I could eliminate some daemons to free
up memory, but that would take away from the joy of running linux.

I find that the 386 w/8mb works well as a combination router, firewall,
file server, print server, and more. It will run X if you don't mind the
startup time. Maybe there are a few tweaks I need to try.


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Re: Minimal hardware for web server

1997-07-07 Thread Nicolás Lichtmaier
On Mon, 7 Jul 1997, Paul Wade wrote:

> I would think that 16mb ram would be a minimum regardless of CPU. 

 8 Mb should be enough too.

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Re: Minimal hardware for web server

1997-07-07 Thread Paul Wade
On Mon, 7 Jul 1997 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> I have offered to set up a web server for computer science students
> here at Western Kentucky University to practice their cgi and perhaps
> java skills on.  The machine would never have to support more than
> about 5 simultaneous users, and usually would have only one user at a
> time.  The idea is to have a machine that students can bang on without
> endangering vital files on one of our big servers.
> 
> I administer a sun sparc with a few hundred users, and I run linux on
> my personal machine, but I've never supported multiple users on a
> linux box.  I'm not sure how much load I can handle with linux for a
> given level of hardware.  This is a chance to show what debian linux
> can do, so I'm excited -- but the hardware I will have will be very
> marginal at best.  Will a 386 work?  I might be able to wheedle
> something a little better, but I'm not sure.  I know java grinds down
> fairly sustantial machines -- would there be any hope of getting java
> to run at all on a 386?  Maybe we can reduce the web resource
> requirements by running boa instead of apache. Are there any other
> tricks for marginal hardware I can use that immediately spring to
> mind?
> 
> I'd hate to fall on my face because of weak hardware and have people
> blame linux; it would be better to cancel the whole thing rather than
> bomb out.
> 
> How low can the hardware go?

If they blame linux, they aren't good CS students. However, they may get
very annoyed with the performance.

Stay with apache so people can develop and test cgi that runs on the 'big
boys'. Memory is the killer. When I run perl5/cgi/apache on a 386 with 8mb
there is a noticable delay while memory swaps. I can view flat html with
large graphics at good speeds. The performance should be better than this
because it is easy to switch to an open edit in telnet, add the missing {
or whatever and save the file. Then you switch back to netscape and click
on reload. If it takes 30 seconds to create another 'server error' page,
they will not blame linux or the hardware. They will blame you.  

I would think that 16mb ram would be a minimum regardless of CPU. As far
as Java goes, if the client is weak it becomes annoying. I usually try not
to waste mips and have a lot of tasks running. I really hate it when I get
to a website that has 'cute' applets because they can really slow things
down on a 486 or slower pentium.

If the machine is going to be a server/workstation with X available, you
may want even more ram.

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Re: Minimal hardware for web server

1997-07-07 Thread Jim Pick

I used a 386/33 with 8MB RAM as my web server for almost a year.
It was also running a busy mail server too.  Something like that
can handle quite a bit of load, surprisingly.  I wouldn't want
to run it with 4MB of RAM though.

Actually, if you are teaching CGI, it's probably a really good idea
to use a gutless box - that way, the students will be able to easily
tell when they've created inefficient scripts.  (That's mostly what
I'm using my 386 for now - testing)

Cheers,

 - Jim




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