241 lines
11 KiB
Text
241 lines
11 KiB
Text
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" [
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<!ENTITY base CDATA "../..">
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<!ENTITY date "$FreeBSD: www/en/projects/netperf/cluster.sgml,v 1.4 2005/02/04 02:10:05 rwatson Exp $">
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<!ENTITY title "FreeBSD Network Performance Project (netperf)">
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<!ENTITY email 'mux'>
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<!ENTITY % includes SYSTEM "../../includes.sgml"> %includes;
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<!ENTITY % developers SYSTEM "../../developers.sgml"> %developers;
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]>
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<html>
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&header;
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<h2>Contents</h2>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#introduction">Introduction</a></li>
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<li><a href="#donors">Donors</a></li>
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<li><a href="#admins">Netperf Cluster Admins</a></li>
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<li><a href="#resources">Netperf Cluster Resources</a></li>
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<li><a href="#procedures">Netperf Cluster Procedures</a></li>
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<li><a href="#notes">Current Configuration Notes and News</a></li>
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<li><a href="#reservations">Reservations</a></li>
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</ul>
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<a name="introduction"></a>
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<h2>Introduction</h2>
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<p>The netperf cluster provides a multi-node, SMP-capable, network
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functionality and performance test capability for the <a
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href="../../">FreeBSD Project</a>, supporting a variety of on-going
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sub-projects including the <a href="./index.html">netperf project</a>,
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<a href="../dingo/index.html">Dingo project</a>, and on-going work on
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high performance threading. The cluster is available on a check out
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basis for developers, who must request accounts be created by
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contacting one of the <a href="#admins">netperf cluster admins</a>.</p>
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<a name="donors"></a>
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<h2>Donors</h2>
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<p>The netperf cluster was made possible through the generous donation
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of a number of organizations, including:</p>
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<ul>
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<li><p><a href="http://www.sentex.ca/">Sentex Data Communications</a>,
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who not only host the complete cluster, provide front-end build
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system, and the management infrastructure (remote power, serial
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console, network switch, etc), but also appear to be endlessly
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willing to help configure, reconfigure, and troubleshoot at almost
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any time of day or night.</p></li>
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<li><p><a href="http://www.freebsdsystems.com/">FreeBSD Systems</a>,
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who through a generous matching grant with the FreeBSD Foundation,
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provide the majority of testing hardware used in the cluster,
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including three dual-Xeon test systems.</p></li>
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<li><p>The <a href="http://www.FreeBSDFoundation.org/">FreeBSD
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Foundation</a>, who provided a matching grant for the purposes of
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purchasing testing hardware, as well as taking ownership of hardware,
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offering tax receipts to donors in its role as a non-profit, and
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participating in cluster planning.</p></li>
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<li><p><a href="http://www.ironport.com">IronPort Systems</a>, who have
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generously donated additional test hardware for use in the netperf
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cluster.</p></li>
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</ul>
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<p>Donations to support the netperf cluster have an immediate and
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substantial impact on the success of a number of on-going performance
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projects, providing access to high-end hardware to a large number of
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developers. If you or your company are interested in helping to
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support continued development of the netperf cluster as a resource for
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FreeBSD development, please contact the <a href="#admins">netperf
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cluster admins</a>.</p>
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<a name="admins"></a>
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<h2>Netperf Cluster Admins</h2>
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<p>The FreeBSD netperf cluster is managed by a small team of
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developer/administrators to support SMP development and performance
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testing on high-end hardware. If you have any questions, including
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questions about access to the cluster as a developer, or about possible
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future donations of testing hardware, please feel free to contact the
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following:</p>
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<ul>
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<li><p>&a.rwatson;</p></li>
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<li><p>&a.bmilekic;</p></li>
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</ul>
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<a name="resources"></a>
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<h2>Netperf Cluster Resources</h2>
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<p>The Netperf cluster consists of several systems interconnected using a
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management network, as well as individual back-to-back gigabit ethernet
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links for a test network. The following systems are available as
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testing resources on a check-out basis:</p>
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<ul>
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<li><p><b>zoo.FreeBSD.org</b> is the front-end build and management
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system. All netperf cluster users are provided with accounts on this
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box, typically using the same account name and SSH keys as used to
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access the FreeBSD.org central cluster. Connected to zoo's second
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network interface is a gigabit link to the internal management
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network. Zoo provides DHCP, tftp, and NFS services to boxes in the
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cluster, as well as having serial access to the remote power system
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and serial console access to the test boxes. Test kernels and
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software will typically be built and configured on zoo, then exported
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to the cluster via NFS. Zoo exports its /zoo file system to the
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cluster, and cluster users will have a directory, /zoo/username, in
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which they can place any files to export. Each machine has a
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/zoo/hostname directory, which consists of the root of an NFS root
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file system, as well as the tree from which tftp exports pxeboot
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loaders. By substituting kernels and configuration files in these
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trees, most aspects of the test systems may be directly managed.</p>
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</li>
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<li><p><b>elephant</b> is a dual-PIII 800MHz system with ATA disk
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subsystem. Currently, the ATA disk holds two partitions, one with
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FreeBSD 4.x, and one with FreeBSD 5.x user space configuration
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on.</p></li>
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<li><p><b>orangutan</b> is a dual-Xeon 2GHz system equipped with an
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Adaptec SCSI RAID array. Currently, the RAID array is configured to
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expose a single volume holding FreeBSD 6.x.</p></li>
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<li><p><b>tiger-1</b>, <b>tiger-2</b>, and <b>tiger-3</b> are a set of
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interconnected, matching dual-Xeon 3GHz systems with ATA disk
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subsystems. Each has four if_em network interfaces, and these are
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interconnected so that various topologies can be created. Two ATA
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disks are connected, one with a FreeBSD 4.x and one with a FreeBSD
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5.x user space configuration on.</p></li>
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<li><p><b>apc2</b> is the remote power console for the test
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network.</p></li>
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</ul>
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<p>The current serial port and network configuration of test systems, as
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well as password information, can be found in /etc/motd on zoo. We
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are currently interested in adding amd64 and em64t hardware to the
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cluster.</p>
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<a name="procedures"></a>
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<h2>Netperf Cluster Procedures</h2>
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<p>As the netperf cluster is a centrally managed and shared resource,
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understanding and consistent following of its procedures is important.
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In particular, following of the procedures makes it easier for
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developers to have reasonable expectations about the configuration of
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systems in the cluster, as well as to avoid treading on each others
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toes.</p>
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<ul>
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<li><p><b>Reserving a system</b> is currently done on an ad hoc basis.
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A wiki used to system reservation will shortly be introduced. In
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general, it is recommended that reservations of systems occur for
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periods of 8 hours or shorter, in order to facilitate shared use,
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although longer tests or experiments are certainly possible.</p></li>
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<li><p><b>Power cycling a system</b> is currently performed by
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connecting to apc2, the remote power system, using a serial port on
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zoo. Because there is a single serial connection to the power
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system, it is requested that developers minimize the amount of time
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spent connected to it, so that parallel use of the system can occur
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more readily. In particular, please do not leave a cu/tip session
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to the power system open for extended periods of time.</p></li>
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<li><p><b>Booting a specific configuration</b> is currently performed
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by interrupting the boot of a system using the serial console, or
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modifying the /zoo/hostname/boot/loader.conf file to point at a new
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kernel. Please do not replace the kernel in the NFS boot tree for a
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host; instead, install kernels in your /zoo/username tree, and
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explicitly configure hosts to use that kernel. Please restore the
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defaults for a system, including removing any non-standard entries
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from loader.conf, when you are done with a test or
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experiment.</p></li>
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<li><p><b>Reconfiguring on-disk installs</b> should be done only in
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coordination with the cluster admins. If you change configuration
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settings for hosts during an experiment, please restore them. If
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you install packages on the file systems of tests, please remove
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them when done. A useful technique is to store required packages for
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experiments in NFS, and to add the packages for the duration of a
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development session. While data can be left on systems between test
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runs, developers who are using data sets for common applications,
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such as MySQL, may wish to store that data in a personal directory
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as other testing on the host could interfere with it. Developers
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are advised to check the configuration of systems before using them
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to make sure all is as expected.</p></li>
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<li><p><b>Reconfiguring system BIOSes</b> should be avoided if at all
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possible. Please restore any settings as soon as a test or
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experiment is complete. <b>Please do not turn off BIOS serial console
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redirection, or modify any settings associated with console
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redirection!</b></p></li>
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<li><p><b>Check software configurations before testing</b> --
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specifically, use uname to confirm that the right kernel is running,
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that it's not configured for WITNESS or INVARIANTS if that's not
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needed, and that /etc/malloc.conf is set to "aj" if no debugging is
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desired. Use 'ps' and 'pkg_info' to make sure only the software you
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expect is running, and that the version of the software you expect is
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installed.</p></li>
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</ul>
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<a name="notes"></a>
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<h2>Current Configuration Notes and News</h2>
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<p>A few hopefully up-to-date configuration notes that may be relevant
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to users of the netperf cluster:</p>
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<ul>
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<li><p><b>20050204</b> - <b>orangutan</b> is now configured to use
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PXEboot, thanks to help from Sentex.</p></li>
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<li><p><b>20050203</b> - system upgrades to <b>tiger-1</b>,
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<b>tiger-2</b>, and <b>tiger-3</b> have been completed -- the latest
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versions of 4.x (ar0s1) and 6.x (ar0s2) are now installed.</p></li>
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<li><p><b>20050203</b> - <b>zoo.FreeBSD.org</b> has been updated to
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the most recent version of 5-STABLE.</p></li>
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</ul>
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<a name="reservations"></a>
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<h2>Reservations</h2>
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<p>Currently, no automated reservation system is in place for the netperf
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cluster, but we hope to introduce some system for reservation shortly.
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In the meantime, the following standing reservations are in place for
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the netperf cluster:</p>
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<table border=1>
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<tr><th>System</th><th>Developer(s)</th><th>Project</th></tr>
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<tr><td>elephant</td><td>&a.gnn;</td><td>KAME IPv6/IPSEC locking</td></tr>
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<tr><td>orangutan</td><td>&a.davidxu;</td><td>libthread development,
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testing, and performance measurement</td></tr>
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</table>
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&footer;
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</body>
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</html>
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