Re: speed improvements for a low end system
On Thu, 25 Jun 1998, Paul Miller wrote:
>
> I'm in the process of replacing my computer's role with an old computer,
> to give my system more freedom (I don't have to be up all the time!).
>
> Anyone have any software suggestions on how I can improve the speed on my
> old 486DX/33 (8 ram, 1 ide, 2 old scsi drives, PS/1 w/ 8k i-cache!)?
First, I have one hardware suggestion: add more RAM if at all possible.
Even a couple more megs will make a noticeable difference.
Running all this stuff means you will be using swap. Put your swap on the
fastest drive you have. Better yet, put a swap partition on each drive,
and give priority to the fastest drive. This will make your swap as fast
as possible.
But swap is still a couple orders of magnitude slower than RAM, so the
very best thing you can do for this system is to put in more RAM if at all
possible. Linux is very efficient with RAM, but the more the better.
The next best thing is to set up your software to use less RAM. This will
reduce swapping. Make the smallest possible kernel you can - only include
support for what you need. If possible, don't use modules, compile
everything in. The RAM savings is tiny, but every little bit helps.
> This computer is only used for the following services:
> * telnet (only for password changes, all shells are /usr/bin/passwd)
> * html (running apache)
Do you really need to do this? See if you can limit the amount of memory
Apache takes up. Or look at boa or some other, smaller webserver. Or use a
port redirector and run the service on another computer.
> * pop3 (also running qmail, running from inetd)
> * smtp (currently running qmail, running as a daemon)
Are there any mailservers that are smaller?
> * dns (running bind)
Check the man page for bind, and limit the amount of memory it uses.
> * ip masquerading (local -> internet, both 10mbit ethernet connections)
>
> I listed the services in order of how fast they run (first being the
> slowest, and last the fastest) -- this isn't a heavly used system, but
> when multiple events occur at the same time, it becomes extremely slow.
That really sounds like swapping. Putting in RAM is the very best thing.
> I want to remove all processes that take lots of cpu time and memory.
I think the main problem is memory. A 486/33 is a decent CPU for these
kinds of things - you're not doing math or compiling or anything.
Sincerely,
Ray Ingles (248) 377-7735 ray.ingles@fanucrobotics.com
"One of the main reasons for the downfall of the Roman Empire was that,
lacking zero, they had no way to indicate successful termination of
their C programs." - Robert Firth
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