[Asterisk-Users] high-capacity systems / trouble with Tyan

[Joe Greco]

> Hello,
> 
> I've had a Tyan dual Athlon MP(2800) machine for a year now and have had
> several lockups for strange reasons on stock redhat kernel and on custom
> compiled kernel off of Slackware. I've tried every combination of BIOS
> settings and changed out all assiciated hardware and found the problem: It's
> the Tyan. I've also had issues with a couple of SCSI RAID cards when I tried
> using them with the Tyan card.
> 
> This all would have really upset me if the Athlon MP platform performed
> better than the Intel platform, but it doesn't. This Dual Athlon MP system
> actually handles LESS total Asterisk load than a single P4 3.2 GHz, and the
> P4 has a lot more Motherboard options and cost much less.

Of course your single Intel CPU machine is a lot cheaper than a dual CPU
AMD machine.  That's like saying your Ford Tempo is a lot cheaper than a 
Lexus.  If you look at AMD single-processor systems, you'll probably find
that the AMD systems are a fair bit cheaper than the Intel - a much fairer
comparison.

> This is just my experience, I'm sure I am using Asterisk a little
> differently than you, I don't have 3 Quad T1 cards in any of my machines,
> but if that's what you're looking for, I'd suggest the PowerPC(Mac)
> platform. Asterisk installs just fine right on top of Yellow Dog Linux and
> the bus speed of a Mac mops the floor with most x86 motherboards, meaning
> more bandwidth for those bus-hungry Digium boards.

The AMD platforms excel at kicking an equivalent Intel platform around the
machine room floor for many applications.  We've been using AMD dual boards
since the early days, and have consistently seen much better performance
at a lower price than equivalent Intel gear.

However, that's with FreeBSD...  I am told that some Linux versions do not
show off the AMD's powerhouse capabilities so well.

The main thing I'd be concerned about is the use of a dual CPU system for
something that is interrupt-sensitive.  There's a lot of stuff going on in
a SMP system which probably isn't going to be optimal for that task.  You
are probably better off buying a single motherboard and splurging on a fast
CPU, at least for this application.

... JG
-- 
Joe Greco - sol.net Network Services - Milwaukee, WI - http://www.sol.net
"We call it the 'one bite at the apple' rule. Give me one chance [and] then I
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