Kernel 2.6 Real-Time Benchmarks

An anonymous reader writes "This whitepaper at LinuxDevices.com includes benchmarks comparing the real-time performance of the vers. 2.4 and 2.6 linux kernels, based on LynuxWorks' BlueCat Linux 5.0 beta. The graphs compare the results for average and worst-case measurements of both interrupt response and task switch performance for the two kernels, running on a 1GHz Pentium III under relatively heavy load. Check it out -- there's an enormous improvement. The article also includes a rundown of other features of the new kernel that seem likely to be welcomed by embedded developers."

Comments

Beware TCQ on 2.6.0

[tzanger]

LKML verified it and I've experienced it personally -- TCQ on IBM Deathstar drives (mine were 60G, the LKML was 120G IIRC) can cause massive fs corruption.

Apparently a queue depth of 8 (the default it seems) is the specific culprit. LKML seems to say that TCQ of 32 works but I've turned it off entirely now.

It's marked experimental for a reason. :-)

Re:Linux 2.6 != operating system

[CentrX]

It schedules tasks, handles input/output with hardware, allocates storage and memory, manages processes... it's an operating system. Now, it may be more precise to say "Red Hat Linux" or "GNU/Linux", but that doesn't mean that Linux isn't an operating system.