[comp.databases] Oracle Server on OS/2 versus UNIX: DBMS magazines Conclusion

mark@drd.com (Mark Lawrence) (04/15/91)

ajayshah%alhena.usc.edu@usc.edu (Ajay Shah) wrote:
> 
> You carefully avoided putting any spoilers in your preview... now
> could you just do a short summary?

"Conclusion

As you can see from Figure 1 [:-)], our tuned run of UNIX Oracle for
the batch transactions ran roughly twice as fast as it had under OS/2.
While there was an anomaly during the run -- transaction 30 overflowed
temp table space, which is why it does not appear in the graph -- we
think this general range of performance improvement will hold up when
we resolve that problem.

Things are far muddier with the accounting mix performance (Figure 2).
[...]
So what's the cause of this muddiness and the partial reversal of the
general trend of better performance under UNIX?  In a phrase: We needed
more time to tune, but we had to ship it.  [...] 

Finally, we're quite sure that adding 16 more megabytes of memory,
which UNIX could make good use of while OS/2 could not, would not only
eliminate the anomaly but greatly widen the performance gap between
UNIX and OS/2 versions of Oracle Server."

(don't yell at me -- I'm just the messenger.  DBMS plans an extensive
survey/benchmarking of rdbms on several server kinds of platforms over
the next few issues.  DBMS is published by M & T Publishing, 501
Galveston Dr, Redwood City, CA 94063.  subscription inquiries to
(800)456-1859.  I've no relationship to this periodical.  I just read
it)

-- 
mark@drd.com
mark@jnoc.go.jp

-- 
mark@drd.com
mark@jnoc.go.jp

gupta@cai.com (04/20/91)

In article <1991Apr15.135105.4759@drd.com>, mark@drd.com (Mark Lawrence) writes:
> ajayshah%alhena.usc.edu@usc.edu (Ajay Shah) wrote:
>> 
>> You carefully avoided putting any spoilers in your preview... now
>> could you just do a short summary?
> 
> "Conclusion
> 
> As you can see from Figure 1 [:-)], our tuned run of UNIX Oracle for
> the batch transactions ran roughly twice as fast as it had under OS/2.
> [...]

A point that some might find of significance in this "benchmark" is that
the machine used was a dual CPU multiprocessor.  The operating system
OS/2 does not support symmetric multi-processing.  The SCO UNIX does.
Now the people at DBMS wonder why UNIX is faster...

mark@drd.com (Mark Lawrence) (04/22/91)

In article <378.280f6241@cai.com> gupta@cai.com writes:
>A point that some might find of significance in this "benchmark" is that
>the machine used was a dual CPU multiprocessor.  The operating system
>OS/2 does not support symmetric multi-processing.  The SCO UNIX does.
>Now the people at DBMS wonder why UNIX is faster...

That's just the point, isn't it?  UNIX _can_ make use of more than 16 MB of
ram, OS/2 _can't_.  UNIX _can_ make use of more than one processor, OS/2
_can't_ (ad nauseum).  So why does any MIS shop worth it's salt even
consider moving to a dead-end closed solution like OS/2?  The only
advantage I can see is cost:  Microsoft is really pushing SQL Server on
OS/2 at the moment.  The same engine (essentially) on a SparcStation
class machine will set you back roughly five times the cost as OS/2.

Also, to set the record straight, they did get OS/2 to make some use of 
both processors:

"SCO UNIX also has the advantage of symmetrical multiprocessing. LAN
Mangers 2.0's multiprocessing option allowed the LAN I/O and file system
code to be dedicated to one processor while the rest of OS/2 and the
database server ran on the other.  Santa Cruz Operation's MPX option for
UNIX 3.2.2 was not nearly so lopsided.  While all IRQ handling would sit
on processor 1 because of a SystemPro quirk, all other processes would be
assigned to the less busy of the SystemPro's two 33 MHz 486 processors."
-- 
mark@drd.com
mark@jnoc.go.jp  $B!J%^!<%/!&%i%l%s%9!K(B  Nihil novum sub solem