A Look at Solaris 10 and Sun's Dual Core Fire V40z
by Kristopher Kubicki on June 29, 2005 4:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Systems
The Test
We are mostly concerned with how the machine performs under Solaris 10 in comparison to SUSE 9, but we are also concerned with performance from the previous generation V40z to this one. Our very own Johan De Gelas recently wrote a very detailed comparison of various Linux database setups, so we won't spend as much time on database benchmarks for this review. Make no mistake, however, that a machine like the V40z makes the most sense in a database environment. We will use very similar benchmarks to the previous V40z examination, but we will also draw on some references from our Linux workstation articles.
| Test Configurations | ||
Machine: |
Sun Fire V40z (Dual Core) |
Sun Fire V40z |
Processor: |
(4) AMD Opteron 875 |
(4) AMD Opteron 850 |
RAM: |
8 x 1024MB PC-2700 |
8 x 1024MB PC-2700 |
Hard Drives |
SCSI u320 Seagate Cheetah 10,000RPM |
SCSI u320 Seagate Cheetah 10,000RPM |
Memory Timings: |
Default |
|
Operating System(s): |
SuSE 9.1 Professional |
SUSE SLES 9 Solaris 10 |
Kernel: |
Linux 2.6.8 |
Linux 2.6.5 |
Compiler: |
linux:~ # gcc -v |
|
Our tests consist of everything from render benchmarks to database to compilation benchmarks. Each of these are designed to stress a particular portion of the system. As we mentioned earlier, the V40z is a premiere platform for databases due to the large amounts of CPU and memory. All tests are done with x86_64 binaries on Solaris and Linux unless otherwise noted. Furthermore, all programs are compiled via GCC with the flags mentioned in the table above.
X was disabled during these benchmarks to reduce overhead.
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kbsartain - Thursday, June 30, 2005 - link
The Database benchmarks are likely bottlenecked on storage. Attach a high-speed array with multiple disks, and the scaling would be much more linear vs. 2-way.ceefka - Thursday, June 30, 2005 - link
It would be nice if other Opteron-builders would add to the test so we can get an idea of how well the Opteron is implemented.I'd say webspace is best served with dualcore Opterons. 90% gain! Holy moly!
#23 I have worked as a temporary at Sun in The Netherlands in 1987 when they were about to release their 4/ series. Their 3/ machines were already considered top notch then. They offered workstations with an optical mouse that moved over a special gridpad and full color screens. That was really something special then. No AMD CPUs at that time.
To be perfectly honest as well, I also didn't know them before I worked there ;-)
sprockkets - Thursday, June 30, 2005 - link
SuSE Linux Enterprise not enterprise enough for u?KristopherKubicki - Thursday, June 30, 2005 - link
hondaman: This is why we used SLES this time around instead of RH9. Unfortunately the previous single-core V40z tests were all done a few months ago when we had that machine.Kristopher
Xenoterranos - Thursday, June 30, 2005 - link
Wow, I wish my company had a use for a system like that. I'd take a paycut just to be able to play with it for a while... damned fine enginering on both Sun and AMD's part. And to be prefectly honest, I never really payed Sun that much attention until they started using AMD procs. Everyone else needs to get with the program and give AMD the market share they deserve...oh wait...I'll stop there.slashbinslashbash - Thursday, June 30, 2005 - link
#21: Read the comments and you'll find your answer.Kristopher: Page 7, "Apache Benchmarks" text:
"It's also interesting to note the difference between Solaris 10 and SLES 9 here. As the threads increased, there was a wider gap between performance of the Solaris configuration and the SLES configuration in favor of Solaris."
The graph on that page shows the opposite, with SLES outperforming Solaris.
finbarqs - Thursday, June 30, 2005 - link
wait why the xbox360/ps3 article taken down?hondaman - Thursday, June 30, 2005 - link
can you swap suse with a real enterprise os like rhel?themelon - Thursday, June 30, 2005 - link
I guess I should have kept reading.Sorry.
I have one of the v40's in my lab with 4 of the 875's. Very nice machine.
Doormat - Thursday, June 30, 2005 - link
Does anyone know if the v20zs were dual core-capable? I heard that if you negotiate with sun (go to sun's ebay sale for the v20z), you can get really good deals. I'd love to just get two 270s if/when the prices come down.