Irfan’s Corner on the Web On Mac, Linux, Grid, Virtualization and Software Technology

Linux Rocks!

This is not another article where I'll go about saying why Linux is cool etc! I came to this conclusion when I was running simulations on a highperformance UltraSPARC IIIi system running Solaris 10. Sure its faster than any Linux workstation we have in the lab (UltraSPARC IIIi 1.5 Ghz beats Pentium4c 3.0 GHz hands down!). But when a Linux workstation is running the identical simulations as the SunBlade 1500 Workstation, the speed is obviously faster in the SunBlade station, HOWEVER more crucially in the Linux system the quality of service, in terms of the response to the user's actions like mouse moves or opening of some application is not at all affected whereas in the solaris machine the interface behaves as if the machine has jammed, its only through SSH I know that it is running!This is a failure of scheduling, the Solaris OS probably doesnt give higher priority to the user input than executing compute intensive tasks. I'll try to publish some results comparing the affects of compute intensive applications on the QoS of both systems. Maybe some geek can recommend me some tests to perform?