Re: [TCLUG:607] Mixing Alphas and x86s

[Clay Fandre <cfandre@minn.net>]

whisper@bitstream.net wrote:

> On Sun, Jul 12, 1998 at 10:14:13PM -0500, Clay Fandre wrote:
> > > Would it be possible to compile apps on the x86 machines and then copy
> > > them to the server and run them from there?
> > >
> > > -Tim
> >
> > I think compiling the apps on a x86 and then putting them on the server is
> > your best bet. Netscape comes as binaries, so you don't even need to compile
> > that. Just throw it on your server and export that directory. Running 30
> > instances of Netscape remotely causes excess network traffic which will
> > slow things down as bit.
> >
>
> this will not work if your server is an alpha.  the alpha has a completely
> different architecture and system calls, it would be like trying to take a
> microsoft x86 binary and run it on a mac powerpc (with no x86 emulator that
> is).  i was not aware of your 30 simultaneous copies of netscape running
> when i made the statement.  as i have no experiance with using an alpha, i
> cannot really say what 30 netscapes are going to do to it, but my guess is
> that it hopefully wont be too bad, because if i'm not mistaken, if more then
> one copy of a program is run, don't the rest of the copies use basically the
> same data segments, etc. of the first???  i could be wrong here, its been a
> while since operating system classes, any developer out there know for
> sure.  by the way, what kind of alpha?  the newer 21264's or the older
> 21164's?  how much ram?  i know this is hypothetical, but i was just
> wondering.
>

Yes this will work. Maybe I wasn't clear before. You're still running the apps
locally. The server is just doing the file server. This is the easiest way of
keeping apps up to date, while utilizing each workstations processor. (And
keeping the X traffic low). It also saves on client disk space. It doesn't matter
what platform you use as the server. You can use an NT box and put some NFS
software on it, it doesn't matter. (It would work, but why someone would do it is
beyond me.) It makes it a lot easier to update a package if you only have one
copy. The alternative to that is rdist, which is also very simple to do. This
keeps remote copies in sync.. I would recommend rdist if you have a overloaded
network, or a slow (ppp, etc.) network.

On the other hand, if all you are running is Netscape, you probably can run 30
instances at the same time on the server. Netscape is a rather non-CPU intensive
app. The only thing I would worry about is X traffic and memory.

Clay

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** Clayton T. Fandre      cfandre@minn.net       **
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