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Where to start

Where to start

  • Total voters
    19
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Patriot

[H]ard|DCer of the Month - March 2011/June 2013/De
Joined
Dec 15, 2010
Messages
2,502
What distro should I start with...

I use Rhel and Suse... they would have opensource versions

centOS and opensuse

suggestions on versions...

ubuntu... I am guessing we should stay away from 10.10...
but I could put it on a machine and see what the diff in tpf is... between that and rhel...
 
wheres the your speaking jibberish option?

i'd say any of them except ubuntu just because i friggin despise ubuntu,

gentoo would be interesting though, been a long time since i've used gentoo but i definitely liked it back in the day.


all those colors look so purdy.. :p
 
Ubuntu distros past 10.4 (or is it 9.4) has issues when you give it 8 or more threads and ask it to fold. Like not using all the threads.
 
I would say to go with what you know. If RHEL/CentOS is where you spend most of your time, go with that. I don't think it matters to most/any of us who would use it.

Put a beta team together to test install method, set-up, and performance. We need as many platforms as possible, so maybe me for the SR--2s, APOLLO if he is interested for older dual socket hardware, maybe Ax or Tiger for single socket X58 machines, nitro for newer standard server hardware if he has any dual socket 1366 machines left, etc. Keep it to a small number for a week or so to keep yourself from spending too many hours trying to support the distro. I am sure getting volunteers won't be a problem.

Consider use cases:
- dedicated single OS box - probably the easiest case
- dual boot w/ Windows - this will probably be the most common case
- USB stick boot - this would be extremely useful for testing - boot to USB, mount your HDD, and go
- Wireless support - a lot of dedicated boxen rely on wireless for a network connection

Just some thoughts. Let me know how I can help.
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
wheres the your speaking jibberish option?

i'd say any of them except ubuntu just because i friggin despise ubuntu,

gentoo would be interesting though, been a long time since i've used gentoo but i definitely liked it back in the day.


all those colors look so purdy.. :p
Click to expand...

gibberish? that would probably be gentoo as I may have touched it once... don't remember... at one point I was going to distro watch daily and picking out a new distro... would try all 7 pm the weekend... pick one to use on my laptop for the week and do it all again on the weekend...

I think I will try gentoo on my sandy rig... I have a few data points from rhel and different wu... on rhel5u6
 
I'm using CentOS 5.5 as it's free and enterprise stable, has full 10 gig ethernet support, etc...

I have full license access to RHEL as well but I chose to use CentOS 5.5 instead and I've been very happy with it for all my other projects.
 
I can write up a linux command line install guide if you guys want. It's pretty quick and easy
 
Mtnduey said:
I can write up a linux command line install guide if you guys want. It's pretty quick and easy
Click to expand...

I drop my stuff in /usr/local/lib/fah but thats a personal preference... you can stick it anywhere...

and I am lazy... I log on to the main gui so that I don't have to mount my usb key by hand...

cd /usr/local/lib

cp -r /media/Patriot/fah .

I have everything already extracted on my jumpdrive but for those of you setting this up...

tar -xzf fah6.34.tar.gz

./fah6 -configonly

add the options in there for whatever flags you normally use...

then ./fah6

if fah6 doesnt wan't to excecute ... chmod 777 fah6
and try again

no install... just extracting
 
and poof.... there goes my experience....

I been tricked...gentoo is freebsd....
for those running it... does the linux f@h work on gentoo without any extra tricks?
 
if you can get any good info on Ubuntu 10.10, or 10.04, i would be very happy :D i cannot test big adv on it for a bit....need to get a SB for that

that and i'm going to be messing with GenToo
 
If I can unbreak 10.10 I will let you know... but whatever kernel it uses doesn't currently play nice with f@h... gentoo is first on my list to learn and try...
 
Patriot said:
If I can unbreak 10.10 I will let you know... but whatever kernel it uses doesn't currently play nice with f@h... gentoo is first on my list to learn and try...
Click to expand...

thats my plan once i get my SB system, need a big adv machine to play with it on lol, going to be using Mythbuntu for it :D so thats why Ubuntu is my main concern
 
I wouldnt mind seeing a CentOS setup.

I have an SR-2 we could try this on.

Sorry guys my standard server hardware is staying on Windows Server 2008 :)
 
Last edited:
nitrobass24 said:
I wouldnt mind seeing a CentOS setup.

I have an SR-2 we could try this on.

Sorry guys my standard server hardware is staying on Windows 08 :)
Click to expand...

centOS works just fine... uses same kernel as Rhel which is what I have been folding on all along...

Machine TPF

dual quad 2.16ghz 4gb 27:37 6901
sandy 3.2ghz 35:40 2685
hexacore 2.66ghz 2:53 6053
dual quad 2.93ghz 27:30 2685
dual hexa 2.3ghz 16gb 23:53 2685
 
CentOS it is...will download it when I get home. If my Linux SR-2 finishes it unit before I go to bed, I'll give it a try this evening.

Is the Live CD a viable option here for testing?
 
musky said:
CentOS it is...will download it when I get home. If my Linux SR-2 finishes it unit before I go to bed, I'll give it a try this evening.

Is the Live CD a viable option here for testing?
Click to expand...

I don't know... usb I think would be more so... you will be using up part of your ram...

I mean there is no install... I would give it a shot... just extract and run
 
musky said:
CentOS it is...will download it when I get home. If my Linux SR-2 finishes it unit before I go to bed, I'll give it a try this evening.

Is the Live CD a viable option here for testing?
Click to expand...

to see if F@H works on it, yes. to actually use to fold on, i'd say no. the live CD's ram based so it would constantly be writing between the ram and reading the from the cd which will probably hurt performance. just create a throw away partition on a hard drive so you can go through different linux versions and not worry about screwing anything else up. should only take a few minutes to install off the live cd.
 
Yea, im slightly retarded (when i say slight, i mean i dont have the first clue) when it comes to linux. So if someone wants to write step by step instructions for CentOS that would be cool...just sayin :)
 
Patriot said:
and poof.... there goes my experience....

I been tricked...gentoo is freebsd....
for those running it... does the linux f@h work on gentoo without any extra tricks?
Click to expand...

There is a Freebsd version of Gentoo, but normal gentoo is linux. There is a f@h client in portage, but I don't know how old it is. Gentoo is hair pulling fun. I actually really like working on it, as it tends to help me work on creative trouble-shooting, but if you run into the usual dependency messes, can be a real pain in the ass; but the really nice thing is if you know your stuff, you will end up with a system that is completely optimized for your machine, and what you are doing with it. There isn't really anything you have to rip out to reduce overhead, etc.
 
Syran said:
There is a Freebsd version of Gentoo, but normal gentoo is linux. There is a f@h client in portage, but I don't know how old it is. Gentoo is hair pulling fun. I actually really like working on it, as it tends to help me work on creative trouble-shooting, but if you run into the usual dependency messes, can be a real pain in the ass; but the really nice thing is if you know your stuff, you will end up with a system that is completely optimized for your machine, and what you are doing with it. There isn't really anything you have to rip out to reduce overhead, etc.
Click to expand...

I will save that for this weekend... I have gotten into dependency hell before...
 
I'll tell you in a few minutes. Got home from work to my server off. My UPS crapped out. I've already lost 8ish hours of production, so I might as well swap drives and see if theres a tpf difference vs ubuntu.
 
Either the WU didn't like being moved, or I lost it when the machine lost power. My Ubuntu TPF settled in at 37:02, I'll have gentoo tpfs in a few hours after they get a chance to settle down.


My 0.02 on distros, a base Arch install is going to be nice and minimal, like a base Gentoo install would. So I'd probably go with one of those 2. I'd skip Ubuntu for now, since musky can't get all his cores loaded with it. Maybe someone could give Fedora or Debian a go? They aren't going to be as intimidating as Arch or Gentoo can be.
 
Last edited:
I've got a Debian download running now - can test it out on the dual hex Opterons.

H.
 
hspeirs said:
I've got a Debian download running now - can test it out on the dual hex Opterons.

H.
Click to expand...

sweet... with 16 boxes the forced move from a3 to a5 put me in a bind to do anything else...
 
Patriot said:
sweet... with 16 boxes the forced move from a3 to a5 put me in a bind to do anything else...
Click to expand...

No problem - if anyone has any particular distro they want me to try out, I'm happy to throw it on for a few frames. I'm no Linux expert, but can get most distros running.

H.
 
Its looking like my TPF has stabilized at 35:50. Thats a pretty nice boost vs the 37:02 I was getting with Ubuntu. I can lighten the kernel a bit more still, but I doubt I would gain much if anything.
 
Well, CentOS is no picnic to install, either. I gave up after an hour or so - guess I need to read up on it more. i was hoping for a GUI installer or something that would idiot-proof the partioning and where to install questions. I think that the live CD is GUI, but my monitor won't display it for some reason.

OpenSuSE next, I suppose.
 
musky said:
Well, CentOS is no picnic to install, either. I gave up after an hour or so - guess I need to read up on it more. i was hoping for a GUI installer or something that would idiot-proof the partioning and where to install questions. I think that the live CD is GUI, but my monitor won't display it for some reason.
Click to expand...
CentOS was one of the few distros that my systems refused to complete installing for some reason. That was back in '08 and I never reattempted it. Yes, it was a headache to install but I have tried so many distros and some had a similar curve yet they completed without a hitch.

Regarding the vote, I am partial to Ubuntu variants but understand that a well built custom gentoo distro should outperform most Ubuntu installs, so I voted for that one.
 
Apollo,

Got any tips on optimizations that can be applied to the kernel for folding ?

H.
 
hspeirs said:
Apollo,

Got any tips on optimizations that can be applied to the kernel for folding ?
Click to expand...
Wish I did, my info is based on what the Linux gurus told me here, namely Tobit. If someone can bring him posting again the collective Linux knowledge on this team will be greatly improved, trust me on that. Alan popping in here for a few threads would also be greatly appreciated and Smokerngs has SUSE experience...
 
APOLLO said:
Wish I did, my info is based on what the Linux gurus told me here, namely Tobit. If someone can bring him posting again the collective Linux knowledge on this team will be greatly improved, trust me on that. Alan popping in here for a few threads would also be greatly appreciated and Smokerngs has SUSE experience...
Click to expand...

Sounds like we need to put out a beacon to past folders.
 
I have suse experience...I just don't like the os...
 
hspeirs said:
Patriot,

It's not like it's going to be your day to day desktop ;-)

H.
Click to expand...

lol... but I don't want to look at it lol...
If there is a problem to be had testing drivers...
suse finds them... and I end up testing 3 OS's cause they didn't feel like naming Sles11sp1 sles12...but they are so radically different I now have to test base and sp1...

repeats.... don't like sles...
 
Patriot,

I've found the OpenSuSE community edition better with drivers than SLES, but yeah, drivers can be an issue. Still running Windows on my SB machine because I can't be bothered/don't have the patience, to make it recognize my USB wireless adapter.

( And the only thing I see when I look at it is the TPF of the last frame ... ;) )

H.
 
hspeirs said:
Patriot,

I've found the OpenSuSE community edition better with drivers than SLES, but yeah, drivers can be an issue. Still running Windows on my SB machine because I can't be bothered/don't have the patience, to make it recognize my USB wireless adapter.

( And the only thing I see when I look at it is the TPF of the last frame ... ;) )

H.
Click to expand...

lol... fine I will give folding on sles a spin... and I was not referring finding drivers... I test drivers at my work...thats one of my responsibilities... my team makes the linux raid drivers for smart array controllers...
 
Patriot said:
lol... fine I will give folding on sles a spin... and I was not referring finding drivers... I test drivers at my work...thats one of my responsibilities... my team makes the linux raid drivers for smart array controllers...
Click to expand...

Very cool - I love the Smart Arrays - just wish you guys were still writing them for NetWare ;)

Which distros have you tried, and found to be problematic? My server isn't an SR-2, but I can test them out and see if I can reproduce the issues.

H.
 
hspeirs said:
Very cool - I love the Smart Arrays - just wish you guys were still writing them for NetWare ;)

Which distros have you tried, and found to be problematic? My server isn't an SR-2, but I can test them out and see if I can reproduce the issues.

H.
Click to expand...

our team supports quite enough lol...
when we spin A driver that means... 10 OS installs... for a base test...

sles just has a habit of not working more often than any other...more importantly... for 11... base will work and sp1 wont or there other way around....
 
Yeah, I can imagine that unit testing and regression testing keeps you damn busy .....

SLES has never given me any major grief, but I've generally just run on pretty vanilla hardware.
 
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