Been using WAMP for development, need advice on setting up server for benchmarking.

Hi folks,

Soon I plan to release a web platform (Let's say a CMS) to DigitalPoint, however I wish to benchmark my code before releasing it. All development has been on a speedy Windows box running WAMP, but my intention is to set up an old PC with a decent Linux distribution so I can perform some benchmarks and whatnot.

My questions are:

> Do you believe a ~600MHz machine with 512MB ram would reflect the resources of a "typical" shared hosting environment? I realize this is probably too broader question to answer, but if you could give me a rough idea that would be great.

> What distribution would you recommend for someone with only a small exposure to Linux? I'll require Apache and MySQL.

> Can you suggest a benchmarking tool? Points of interest are mostly MySQL query speed, however I'd also like to test out PHP execution time and general performance under simulated high traffic situations.

In case it wasn't clear, I'm very new to setting up a server and benchmarking. Up until now I've been fine with using WAMP and a live, paid host. My main reason for this is to set up an environment where I can poke and prod my programming efforts to work out bottlenecks and improve performance. If anyone wants to share their two cents on this general subject, I'm all ears

Thanks.

 

Hey there,

Actually, if you like I would be willing to donate some server space on our brand new quad core/Woodcrest servers.

Lemme know

 

I appreciate the offer cyanide, however a secondary objective with all this (which I didn't mention) is to learn a little more about server administration and whatnot - so I'd like to get a server running myself just within my network for benchmarking purposes. In particular I want to learn more about installing libraries, server variable compatibility, mySQL database types and similar topics that are still a little hazy to me despite having programmed thousands of lines of code to interact with them.

Your offer is of course very tempting but I want to do this the hard way

 

Ahh, gotcha.. no problem

As for your questions:
CentOS has quickly become one of the more popular linux distros that hosts use.

You're right, it's a bit difficult to say with that machine, because when it comes to queries, mysql, you want to use a server with dual cpu, raid and caching, to really give your script the boost.

So, ultimately, regardless of what kind of machine you use, as a developer you want to optimize your code, queries as much as possible, because you don't really have much control over what server environment your users will end up using.

 

Thanks for the tip on CentOS - I've seen it mentioned a few times in my current episode of Google Fu, so it's good that DP can vouch for it.

I agree that I'll have no control over clients' environment, but I am trying to establish what performance levels my current code runs at, and optimize it to something relatively more appealing through the use of a dedicated server and benchmarking tools. For this reason I am looking to set up a server on the slowest machine I can find (In fact I'm considering a 233MHz laptop with 64MB ram, which falls very short of MySQL requirements) to naturally simulate a bogged down system.

Being lazy, I'm tempted to give This a try, on a Libretto 100CT laptop. Not sure whether this is too extreme but I'll continue on searching. Any input is appreciated.

 

Google Fu?

Well, if you can get your script zipping along on a sh*t box like that, then giddyup

Here is a few mysql tools you may consider:
Note that i haven't tried them, as a host - we use different utilities to optimize mysql

Super Smack
SysBench
mybench
mysqlslap
Benchmark Factory

 

Just hunting around on Google (Define: Google Fu)

Haha... the 233MHz laptop would definitely be used as a "worst case scenario" tester, actually I'm about to grab a laptop drive interface and check that CentOS will fit on it. Based on a little searching and your useful contributions here, I've decided to go with CentOS and XAMPP.

The benchmarking links are a great help. I came across Super Smack an hour or so ago but I'll look into your list further if / when I' get CentOS up and running.


On an unrelated note I just read your article on Dreamhost blocking Googlebot IP addresses (here)... Glad I've stayed away from their tempting but obviously oversold hosting plans. That's intolerable.