[ale] NT vs LINUX can it be true?

[Nick Lucent]

On Wed, 14 Apr 1999, Eric Z. Ayers wrote:

> > From:	nt-list-admin at lyris.sunbelt-software.com
> > [SMTP:nt-list-admin at lyris.sunbelt-software.com]
> > Sent:	Wednesday, April 14, 1999 4:16 AM
> > To:	Latest Win NT News
> > Subject:	NTools ENewsFlash -- Report: NT 3.5x Faster Than Linux
> > 

You think they posted the last two benchmarks that showed linux pouncing
nt? =)

> > 
> > I quickly read through the report and could not find
> > anything wrong with it at first observation. The numbers
> > seem to be correct, as they are using an industry standard
> > benchmark that I have used myself as well, the ZD bench.

read http://slashdot.org/articles/99/04/14/0042212.shtml for all the
problems w/ the report

> > But here comes today's bomb in the NT vs Linux battle.
> > One wonders who pays for these tests but I will ask the
> > CEO of MindCraft and report on that in the next coming
> > newsletter. Here goes!
> > 

Microsoft did. Read the above link



I started deleting the rest of it, but my finger got tired, so ignore all
this =)
 
Nick

> > Using benchmarks from Ziff-Davis Benchmark Operation (ZDBOp), the 
> > report compares the peak performance levels of both Windows NT 
> > Server and Linux configured both as a file server and a Web server.   
> > 
> > All tests were performed on a standard Dell PowerEdge 6300/400 server 
> > with four 400-MHz Xeon CPUs, 1GB RAM (960MB for Linux -- this is the
> > default maximum amount of RAM that Linux supports).  To simulate a 
> > client load, Mindcraft used 144 physical client test systems; half 
> > were running Windows 95 and the other half were running Windows 98.  
> > 
> > Both Linux and Windows NT Server were tuned to perform optimally under
> > each of the two workloads.  "We started the tests using standard Red Hat
> > Linux 5.2 but had to update it because it does not support hardware RAID
> > controllers and SMP at the same time," said Mindcraft's president, Bruce
> > Weiner.  "Linux definitely takes more time and resources to tune and to
> > configure than Windows NT Server.  You have to search the Net to find the
> > latest kernel and driver versions to get the highest performance and most
> > reliable modules. Then when you're done, Linux fails to deliver the same
> > level of performance as Windows NT Server on enterprise-class servers."
> > 
> > Mindcraft's report shows that using ZDBOp's WebBench 2.0 Web server
> > benchmark, Windows NT Server and Internet Information Server (IIS) 4.0
> > reach a peak of 3,771 requests/second and 22.4 Megabits/second(Mbps) of
> > throughput. The report goes on to show that Linux and the Apache 1.3.4 
> > Web server reach a peak of 1,000 request/second and 5.9 Mbps of
> > throughput.  The WebBench 2.0 tests also revealed that there are problems
> > with Linux/Apache at high client loads. "The Linux/Apache Web server
> > performance collapsed with a WebBench load above 160 client test threads,
> > while Windows NT Server/IIS continued to increase performance up through
> > 288 client test threads without reaching their peak performance," adds 
> > Mindcraft's Bruce Weiner.
> > 
> > To simulate a file server workload, Mindcraft used ZDBOp's NetBench 
> > 5.01 benchmark.  The testing revealed that Windows NT Server performance
> > peaked at 286.7 Mbps with 112 clients, while Linux running Samba 2.0.1
> > peaked at 114.6 Mbps with only 48 clients.  "The integration of the SMB
> > file sharing protocol with the multi-processor kernel is a key performance
> > win for Windows NT Server," said Weiner. "Customers benefit every day from
> > the superior scalability of Windows NT Server, which delivers vital file
> > and web services at two to three times the performance of Linux as shown
> > in these benchmarks," said Edmund Muth, Group Product Manager, Microsoft
> > Corporation. "Empirical data like this helps customers and planners make
> > informed decisions, and showcases the industrial strength technology and
> > mature engineering of the Windows NT Server operating system."
> > 
> > About Mindcraft
> > 
> > Mindcraft is a service-oriented, independent test lab. The company was
> > founded in 1985 to provide high quality services and products to vendors
> > and end users who want to test software, system, and network products.
> > Mindcraft is committed to work to promote standards in our industry.
> > Mindcraft is the only test lab to be a member of the Standard Performance
> > Evaluation Corporation (SPEC).
> > --------------------------------------
>