Subject: Re: netatalk vs ASIP 6.3 for speed
From: Marcus Radich (marcus@darena.co.nz)
Date: Sat Jun 17 2000 - 19:51:58 EDT
Hi, how are you?
Can't say that i'm an expert with LinuxPPC, but what I can tell you
is the pros and cons of netatalk vs ASIP in a production environment
(my company builds Linux servers specifically for serving
Quark/Photoshop/Freehand etc users).
We have a few ASIP servers out there, but these will be replaced soon
with Linux Servers.
***** Pros:
1. Speed.
Netatalk can run faster than ASIP if it is running on the right
hardware and is set up correctly. We have proven this time and time
again. Example: New netatalk server installed last week, we had to
copy 1.4GB of work off a Mac to the new server (Beige G3 with 100BT
card through a switch to 100BT Server): Just over 2 minutes.
Don't get me wrong here, ASIP and MOSX are fast, but we can set up
machines which are faster :->
2. Remote admin.
Yes, I know you can run those pretty GUI admin tools for ASIP, and
there is Timbuktu, but there is nothing like having FULL command line
control over a system - from any machine, anywhere.
Example: I was out at a friends house for lunch when I got a call
that a client needed to add another user to their server. Fine.
Walked over to my friends Windows PC (yuck yuck), logged in and set
it up. Quick and easy.
3. Stability.
Errrr, no question here! Our Mac servers are stable, but we are
running a maintainence schedule on them every 2 weeks. We have some
netatalk servers that have uptimes now being counted in years. Great.
4. Hardware and software 'additions'
With the use of Intel gear, we are able to put together really
complete systems for much less $$ than a Mac system. Proper hardware
RAID cards, fast snapshot backups (which don't slow the server down
while they are going), proper multiple network card support etc
***** Cons:
1. Alias support.
Yes, this is a problem, but I personally think that file management
can help here. We set up out production servers with the following
folders:
Incoming - for work that is not quite ready for production
In Progress - for work that needs to be done (main work folder)
On Hold - for when the customers put it on hold
To Archive - When it is finished
Jobs just move from one folder to another depending on their status.
Simple, fast and effective.
2. Permissions and setup
If you only kinda know what you are doing, you can make a real mess.
The key to all unix style stuff (in my opinion) is know permissions
inside out. This will save you time in the long run. Setup time and
configuration takes much longer with Linux/netatalk.
3. Trash and multiple trashs.
The occasional network trash problem with not being able to remove
files etc. Not a major, crond and a few little scripts can fix this
nightly. This is really rare.
Just my experience and 2c...
mrad01
At 5:41 pm -0500 17/6/2000, Joe Rhodes wrote:
>Hello all-
>
> I'm considering implementing a LinuxPPC + netatalk server in
>place of an ASIP 6.3 (MacOS 9.04) server. I'd like to use the same
>hardware.
>
> My question is this: Would the choice of LinuxPPC + Netatalk
>offer any increase/decrease in speed?
>
> The primary push here is for more stability. ASIP has been
>getting a little creaky. (it crashes once a week or so, and doesn't
>shut down properly, forcing about three reboots for the machine to
>be happy) I have LinuxPPC running at home with
>netatalk-1.4b2+asun2.1.3-7 and it seems to be fine (using an iBook
>to connect. My question is what happens when I put this in a
>production environment? (The art dept, using QXP and Photoshop)
>Are there any other little "gottcha"'s I should be warned about?
>(Besides not manipulating the QXP doc directly off the server)
>
> The machine has 256 MB of RAM and is an 8500/180 with two
>internal disks and three external disks (all SCSI).
> The network is a 100Mb switched network, with three appletalk
>zones. There are about 20 Macs all connected in the same zone.
>
> All I want (for now anyways) is fast, stable file services in
>one zone, and ssh running for remote admin. Later I might start
>talking about samba, apache, mailservers, etc.
>
> Will I gain much by moving to Linux/netatalk? Or should I
>look at a new server? (Running ASIP? MacOS X Server? Windo...naw,
>never mind that one)
>
>
>Thanks so much in advance!
>-Joe Rhodes
>
>
>________________________________________________________________________
>Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
========================================================
"Always ask the question, never assume the answer."
Marcus Radich 1999
========================================================
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Wed Jan 17 2001 - 14:31:16 EST