Re: which dual-CPU hardware/OS is fastest for PostgreSQL?

Chris,

> I don't know so much about FreeBSD's handling of this, but on Linux,
> there's pretty strong indication that _SOFTWARE_ RAID is faster than
> hardware RAID.

Certainly better than an Adaptec.  But not necessarily better than a
medium-end RAID card, like an LSI.  It really depends on the quality of the
controller.

Also, expected concurrent activity should influence you.   On  a dedicated
database server, you'll seldom max out the CPU but will often max of the
disk, so the CPU required by software RAID is "free".   However, if you have
a Web/PG/E-mail box which frequently hits 100% CPU, then even a lower-end
RAID card can be beneficial simply by taking load off the CPU.

--
Josh Berkus
Aglio Database Solutions
San Francisco