Date:         Tue, 16 Feb 1999 00:00:14 -0800
Reply-To:     Dave Bayer <bayer@SYBASE.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Dave Bayer <bayer@SYBASE.COM>
Subject:      Re: Is Gerry Really Dead?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Joshua Van Tol wrote:
> > There is 64MB on Gerry - there is on average 75 to 100 page faults per
> > second so we need more memory.
>
> Which might clear up the problem alltogether. More memory can often
> make a huge difference in performance, particularly when the os has
> support for caching of disk files in main memory.
>
> >
> > The solution is a faster box.
>
> Not necessarily. Gerry must see about 100 incoming messages per day,
> and sends those out to 700 subscribers. Thus it sends about 70000
> messages per day. Each of these might contain 4K of text (except when
> some fool trys to send out a picture, an html encoded email, GRRR.).
> So we have bandwidth usage of ~270 MB/day, or a sustained rate of
> ~3.2 K/s. Hardly a challenge for even a puny 486. Of course, in
> reality, traffic comes in bursts, but even a single 90 MHz pentium
> should be able to handle approximately 1 MB/s continously, provided
> the os and server software are efficiently written. Windows NT, and
> most of the apps written for it, don't fall into this category.

        Ahhh, but email address resolution is uses a good amount of
processor time. It also eats up memory quite quicily (hence the
70 page faults/sec). A lot of that is due to the way DNS support is
bundled into NT. In any event, if the actual mail routing
is done on gerry and gerry continues to run NT, gerry should get alot
more memory. The fact that gerry runs 72 pins SIMM also means that
it has 60 ns memory at best which is a lot slower than the newer
memory that is out there...

> > I see lots of good reasons why we should upgrade Gerry - Y2K is another
> > issue as someone will have to set the clock on January 1 for it to function
> > correctly - not a big issue but an issue none the less.
>
> Whacha bet both linux and FreeBSD work around this?

        In either event, I bet the ListServ software is only licensed
for the platform for which it was purchased - that platform being NT.

dave