We're running a dual Xeon machine with hyperthreading enabled and
PostgreSQL 8.0.3. Below is the type of CPUs:
processor : 3
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 15
model : 4
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 3.20GHz
stepping : 1
cpu MHz : 3200.274
cache size : 1024 KB
...
We've been tuning the kernel (2.4 SMP flavor) and have improved
performance quite a bit. I'm now wondering if turning off HT will
improve performance even more. Based on the vmstat output below, is
the context switching typical or too high? And what is the latest on
the state of PostgreSQL running on Xeon processors with HT turned on?
I searched the archives, but couldn't discern anything definitive.
r b swpd free buff cache si so bi bo in cs us sy wa id
1 0 135944 64612 17136 3756816 0 0 0 210 154 178 2 0 4 94
1 0 135940 46600 17204 3754496 0 0 1 1231 442 3658 7 3 10 80
1 3 135940 51228 17240 3754680 0 0 0 1268 255 2659 4 1 14 81
1 0 135940 58512 17300 3754684 0 0 0 1818 335 1526 2 1 32 65
1 1 135940 18104 17328 3806516 0 0 17670 476 1314 1962 2 2 41 56
0 1 135940 17776 17232 3811620 0 0 23193 394 1600 2097 2 2 53 44
0 1 135940 17944 17188 3809636 0 0 25459 349 1547 2013 2 2 50 46
0 3 135940 18816 15184 3798312 0 0 24284 1328 1529 4730 6 5 53 36
0 6 135940 23536 6060 3817088 0 0 27376 1332 1350 2628 2 3 56 39
0 5 135940 18008 6036 3827132 0 0 18806 1539 1410 1416 1 2 61 36
0 5 135940 18492 5708 3826660 0 0 3540 10354 736 955 2 2 76 20
0 3 135940 18940 5788 3829864 0 0 2308 7506 707 519 2 1 81 15
1 4 135940 18980 5820 3828836 0 0 138 3503 556 261 1 0 74 24
0 10 135940 39332 5896 3777724 0 0 579 2805 621 4104 7 4 54 35
0 4 135936 37816 5952 3791404 0 0 260 1887 384 1574 2 1 40 57
0 5 135936 29552 5996 3802260 0 0 290 1642 434 1944 3 1 38 58
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Brandon