[cumbria_lug] Linux can't scale!?

[Ian Linwood]

Hello Russ,

Wednesday, July 28, 2004, 3:41:45 PM, you wrote:

RP> As anyone who read the report that Jen & I wrote [1] on the MS Get The
RP> Facts roadshow in Manchester knows, Meta Group and Microsoft both claim
RP> that "Linux can't scale".

RP> Strange, then, that NASA has just ordered [2][3] a new Linux-based
RP> supercomputer powered by 10,240 Intel Itanium 2 processors :-)

Cringe...

MS does a a *slight* point :-(

Linux _still_ does not do SMP very well IMHO.  When SMP is compiled in
lots of other things get sick. USB for one example...

Compare how Linux operates in a multi processor environment, then try
Solaris. There is a world of difference. Solaris does scale, very
well, and very gracefully.

The NASA example you quote isn't a good one, unfortunately. The
processors used are special, modified varients, and Linux itself will,
no doubt, be heavily modified for that specific job.
A plus side though, is, that is the benefit of open source software.
Try modifying Win2003 server!!

-- 
Best regards,
 Ian