RE: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] VR3

["Ross, Matt" <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

> > C) Figuring out that two processors are better than one is 
> simple logic, 
> 
> No, it's not simple logic, it's actually a common misconception.

Its only a misconception if its wrong.  They wouldn't still be wasting two
processors on a motherboard if it had proven to be wrong.

> > for
> > proving it, do a simple web search:
> > http://www.apple.com/powermac/server/ - How it works on a mac
> > http://physics.indiana.edu/~sg/CSE2001/singlenode.html - 
> some benchmarking
> > results involving both single and dual
> 
> Correct me if I'm wrong, but in this experiment the higher the number,
> the better the performance. Shows that dual Athlons are consistently
> behind the same single processor machines on the tested tasks.

Read the page, some of them say "higher number = faster" some say "lower
number = faster".  Not one of them showed that a dual athlon was behind a
single.

> Here are some select quotes form Tom's hardware, which is not just any
> website off of your random websearch:

Which also means its the opinion of one group rather than several.

> "This comparison between the two workstation platforms from AMD and
> Intel clearly shows that dual operation does not necessarily mean
> increased speed for all applications. Rather, you need 
> software that has
> been specially adapted to multiprocessor operation, so that 
> the load is
> equally distributed between the two CPUs." 

Which, as I pointed out, means you have to plan your applications, big
surprise there.

> "Our selected benchmarks, chosen specifically for 
> dual-processing, show
> that using two CPUs makes sense only with 3D rendering and 
> MPEG encoding
> (MPEG-4, Divx)."

Thats a rather interesting, and incomplete analysis.  I think any server
administrator will tell you he's leaving out a whole spectrum of
applications, including database management systems, which we were told the
box in question pertains to.  

> I'll leave it at that - don't really have the time for a quote war. As
> far as evidence to support my claims - it can be found in any
> distributed computing textbook.

I think we've all read our fair share of them, but get real, if there
weren't a distinct advantage to having two processors, why would there even
be such a beast after so many years?
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