I posed this problem to the good folks on the users list. While they are a great
bunch, and several offered some suggestions, I was unable to get any help from them so
I'm trying the dev list now.
The problem in a nutshell is that requests I make to tomcat running on a Solaris Sparc
from a Windows client take at least 0.15 to 0.20 seconds. If I run tomcat on a Linux
PC, or use a Linux PC as a client instead of Windows, the turnaround time is more like
0.01 seconds.
Here are the particulars:
* All machines are on the same 100Mbit ethernet.
* Tomcat is running standalone.
* I tried a couple of different Sparcs, a 420R and an Ultra 5, neither with any load.
No difference.
* I wrote a simple Java program to use as the test client so there are no browsers
involved.
* I tried various different Java VM releases on the Sparcs, 1.2.1 and 1.3.0 with no
difference seen.
* I tried a couple different PCs (NT4 and Win2000) and found the same results.
* Other programmers here reported slowness using VisualBasic as the client instead of
Java (that's how I got started investigating this). Java Web Server 2.0 also appeared
to have the same problem as tomcat. I have not personally been able to verify these
assertions.
* The results seem very repeatable.
* I used a generic tomcat 3.2.1 for the server and hit the
examples/servlet/HelloWorldExample URL for these tests.
This is a very serious problem for us. The above mentioned VB client that we're
developing can make dozens of calls to the server per screen, so those 0.2 second
delays add up. I like Linux a lot myself but the bosses here feel more comfortable
with more traditional business models, and besides shouldn't Java run best on a Sparc
with Solaris? I am perplexed as to what the problem is and would greatly appreciate
any help or ideas I can get.
Thanks in advance,
Douglas Hornig
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
Lebanon, NH
