a couple of questions

From: Mark M. Van Overbeke <markvo_at_CAA.MRS.UMN.EDU>
Date: Thu, 04 Dec 1997 09:12:59 -0600 (CST)

Hello all!

I'll start with the system setup, then pose my questions.

System:

AlphaStation 500/500
1 GB memory
1.3 GB swap
DE500-BA 10/100 PCI ethernet card
KZPAA-AA PCI Fast SCSI-2 disk controller
2 internal FW SCSI-2 disks ( 2GB each )
2 external FW SCSI-2 disks ( 4GB each )
2 external FN SCSI-2 disks ( 2GB each )

Question 1:
While using the utility 'monitor' to monitor (duh) the system, the 'scall'
field has some ranges that I wonder about. It seems (need to check more
here) that when the system has just been rebooted and not heavily used yet,
the scall field will range from the hundreds to somewhere between 10,000 and
50,000. After the system has been used for a while and we get more users on
the system (I've seen up to 92), the scall field will range from the low
thousands to several hundred thousand. I don't seem to see and performance
degradration when this happens. Is this sort of thing normal? This system
has been having other problems with the kernel 'sys' time going 95+% and
staying there. This is probably related to a network interface problem
either with the system or the Cisco Cat 1900 it is connected to. This
problem is under investigation with Digital at this time. I really haven't
been able to determine if the scall numbers drop back down when the number
of users drops back down to 20 or 30.

Question 2:
The directory where the students have their home directories has over 2000
entries. Would this be better broken down to put the a's in an 'a'
directory, the b's in a 'b' directory, and so on?

Question 3:
Is anyone else abusing a system like we are?

Any ideas or pointers appreciated. Thanks.

    Mark
    

Mark Van Overbeke Sr. Systems Software Programmer
Computing Services
600 East 4th Street
University of Minnesota, Morris e-mail: markvo_at_cda.mrs.umn.edu
Morris, MN 56267 Phone: 1-320-589-6378
--
Success is the progressive realization of your worthwhile goal or dream!
Received on Thu Dec 04 1997 - 16:13:25 NZDT

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