How well does Linux scale? |
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EXPERT RESPONSE FROM: Matt O'Keefe
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QUESTION POSED ON: 24 February 2003
I've heard that Linux doesn't scale beyond 4 processors. Is
that true? Do servers running Windows 2000 scale better? Are there 32- and 64-bit server options for Linux?
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Actually, that's not true - Linux does scale beyond four processors. However, with version 2.4 of the Linux kernel, scaling a server to more than
eight CPUs can be challenging, but not impossible. Relative to Windows 2000
in that range, the performance will depend on the application. The vast
majority of multi-CPU Intel server hardware is either 2-way or 4-way, and in
these ranges, Windows and Linux have equal scalability.
With the upcoming modifications to the 2.5/2.6 Linux kernels however, users
and server manufacturers will see enterprise-level enhancements that will
deliver significant benefits with regard to ease of scalability and
performance, including support for larger memory machines (up to 64
Gigabytes), much larger storage devices (> 2 Terabytes), more storage device
scalability (thousands of disks instead of just 100s), and much larger file
systems (10s to 100s of Terabytes).
In terms of what actually scales best, (win2000 or Linux), the experts don't
always agree! Basically it depends on what application you are using and how
that application is written. Furthermore, Red Hat is committed to support
of its Advanced Server version on Intel's powerful 64-bit Itanium
processors. Oracle and Red Hat are committed to support of Oracle's 9i RAC
under Red Hat Linux. Expect to see powerful and scalable Linux-based
solutions replacing many traditional enterprise and large-scale solutions as
a result of Linux modifications and support for large-scale applications on
higher performance hardware.
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