MicrosoftWindows NT Server 4.0 is 2.5 times faster than Linux as a file server and 3.7 times faster as a Web server, says independent research.
The debate surrounding Linux and Microsoft Window NT 4.0 is over - for now. In a survey recently conducted by international independent research company Mindcraft, Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 was significantly faster and delivered better performance as a file and Web server than Linux.
The full report is available on http://www.mindcraft.com/whitepapers/nts4rhlinux.html.
File server performance According to the survey, Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 is a high-performance file server that helps users be more productive than a Linux/Samba file server. The findings included:
The peak performance for Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 was 286.7 Mbits/second at 112 test systems while Linux/Samba reached a peak of 114.6 Mbits/second at 48 test systems. Microsoft Windows NT Server therefore reached a peak performance level that was 2.5 times that of Linux/Samba. The test results conclude that Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 is 43.5 percent faster than Linux/Samba at 48 test systems.
The shapes of the performance curves for both Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 and Linux/Samba indicate that test systems reached peak performance and went beyond it. Performance for both Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 and Linux/Samba degrades slowly as the load is increased past the peak performance load. Both systems should deliver predictable performance even under overload conditions.
The peak performance for Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 occurs at 112 test systems while that for Linux/Samba occurs at 48 test systems. This means that the Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 can handle over 2.3 times the load of Linux/Samba while delivering significantly better performance.
Web server performance
Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0/Internet Information Server 4 significantly outperforms Linux/Apache 1.3.4 and provides much more predictable and robust performance under heavy load. On a given large workgroup or enterprise-class computer, Microsoft Windows NT Server/IIS will satisfy a much larger Web server workload than Linux/Apache will. These conclusions are based on the following analysis:
The peak performance for Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0/IIS 4 was 3 771 requests per second at 288 threads while Linux/Apache 1.3.4 reached a peak of 1 000 requests per second at 160 threads. Thus, Windows NT Server/IIS reached a peak performance level that was almost 3,8 times that of Linux/Apache. Based on the increasing performance for Microsoft Windows NT Server/IIS from 256 to 288 threads, the researchers believe that peak performance would have increased if they had more test systems available to them .
The peak performance measured for Microsoft Windows NT Server/IIS occurred at 288 threads, while that for Linux/Apache occurred at 160 threads. This means that the Microsoft Windows NT Server/IIS can handle over 1.8 times the load of Linux/Apache. In addition, the test results show that Windows NT Server/IIS is 140 percent faster than Linux/Apache at 160 threads, the peak for Linux/Apache. * The Linux 2.2.x kernel is not well supported and is still changing rapidly. The following observations led the researchers to this conclusion:
The test began using Red Hat Linux 5.2 but it had to be upgraded to the Linux 2.2.2 kernel because its Linux 2.0.36 kernel does not support hardware RAID controllers and SMP at the same time. In addition, there are comments in the Red Hat Linux 5.2 source code noting that the SMP code is effectively Beta-level code and should not be used at the same time as the RAID driver. For this reason, the researchers upgraded to the Linux 2.2.2 kernel, which has full support for both hardware RAID controllers and SMP to be used simultaneously. When this report was released, Red Hat did not ship or support a product based on the Linux 2.2.x kernel.
The instructions on how to update Red Hat Linux 5.2 to the Linux 2.2.x kernel at the Red Hat Web site were complete but require care from the user. It is quite possible to put the system in a state where it must reload all software from scratch since one needs to recompile and reinstall the kernel.
Red Hat was contacted for technical support after it was noticed that Linux was getting such poor performance. Response was that they only provided installation support and that they did not provide any support for the Linux 2.2.2 kernel.
Mindcraft posted notices on various Linux and Apache newsgroups and received no relevant responses. The various Linux and Apache knowledge bases on the Web were also searched but nothing was found that could be used to improve the performance being observed.
Linux performance tuning tips and tricks must be learned from documentation on the Net, newsgroups, and trial-and-error. Some tunes require one to recompile the kernel. This conclusion was reached from the following observations:
The documentation on how to configure the latest Linux kernel for the best performance is very difficult to find.
Researchers were unable to obtain help from various Linux community newsgroups and from Red Hat.
There were no books or web sites that addressed performance tuning in a clear and concise manner. At best only bits and pieces of information from dozens of sites.
The kernel source code contains comments regarding tuning and configuration were found.
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