> I think your hardware is overkill. Any low end
> box would work for you. But if you have MANY users trying
> to query this data all at once the hardware may be needed.
> I don't think you need that Second CPU _unless_ you plan
> for many concurent client conections or if the server will
> be performing other services (apache, mail, NFS....) at the
> same time.
Adding a second CPU to a machine you're building yourself costs a
(relatively) very small amount of money, but nearly doubles the capacity
of the machine, and greatly extends it's useful lifetime. I think that
the benefits far outweigh the cost - adding a second CPU may add 20% (or
less) to the cost of the machine, but get you an 80% increase in capacity.
As an example, I have an old dual Pentium-133 that I picked up for $40.
Comparing it to using a machine with a single 650 MHz P3, the little
machine is usually MORE responsive, and always at least nearly as
responsive. Very CPU-intensive apps do take longer, but overall the
machine is extremely pleasant to work on. When you compare the
significant performance difference between a Pentium 133 and a P3/650, I
think that says a LOT about the merits of multi-processor systems. For
production servers, it's a pretty rare day when I wouldn't fork over $40
more for a dual CPU board, and buy a second processor. Or, if money was
tight, I'd buy the board, and get the second CPU in a month or two. : )
(And, hey, the first time you see a PCI device using IRQ 27, it makes
you take a double-take!)
steve
