[TriLUG] Linux vs Windows comparison criteria?

[Ed Hill]

On Wed, 2005-11-09 at 10:28 -0500, Phillip Rhodes wrote:
> 
> Likewise, a lot of optimization work has been done to improve Linux
> TCP / networking performance (specifically latency) by people
> doing Beowulf cluster stuff. My understanding is that one of
> the main reasons Linux took off in the HPC world is exactly
> because it's open-source nature allowed the researchers to
> optimize the kernel and TCP stack to get the performance they
> needed.

Hi Phillip,

Speaking as someone very involved with building, maintaining, and using
Beowulf and other HPC systems, the above comment is just not true for
the vast majority of Beowulf users.  Its all the *other* Linux
advantages:

  + cheap
  + stable
  + readily maintained
  + actively developed at basically all levels
  + LOTS (and I mean *stacks*) of useful and often FOSS or
      free-as-in-beer software for HPC from the kernel driver  
      level right on up through the system and user-space levels

that make Linux a *big* win for HPC.  On many (especially the smaller)
Beowulf systems, tuning network performance is an afterthought.  The
focus is on getting it up and running in a stable, dependable, and
user-friendly fashion.

And please understand that I don't mean to be argumentative.  I just
want to make it clear that the reasons Linux is wonderful for HPC are to
a great extent the exact same reasons that make it a good choice for web
serving, file serving, INSERT_YOUR_FAVORITE_LINUX_USE_HERE, etc.

Ed

-- 
Edward H. Hill III, PhD
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