[K12OSN] Client RAM question

[Rita Gibson]

Terrell Prude', Jr. wrote:

> Julius Szelagiewicz wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 26 Mar 2004, mella wrote:
>>  
>>
>>>> From: "Terrell Prude', Jr." <microman at cmosnetworks.com>
>>>> No, it shouldn't.  None of the apps are actually running on the client
>>>> at all; they're all running on the server and merely are displayed on
>>>> the client.  The only "large" app running on the client is the X11
>>>> server itself, and that fits nicely into 32MB.  Most of my clients 
>>>> have
>>>>     
>>>
>>> <32MB DRAM, and they run just as fast as if they have 48MB or 64MB.
>>>   
>>>
>>>> Matter of fact, I've actually pulled DRAM out of a client so that 
>>>> it'll
>>>> boot faster (less DRAM to go through during POST).
>>>>     
>>>
>>> Wrong answer!
>>> I use k12LTSP4.0.1 , 30 clients with Dual Xeon + 4G RAM.
>>> My clients use many memory-wasting programs like Mozilla, OOO and 
>>> Evolution.
>>> I noticed strange restarts on clients with 32MB RAM. Even with 64MB. 
>>> But clients with 128MB RAM never restarted.
>>> So, I added NFS swap up to 96MB per client and now all is ok. No 
>>> more restarts.
>>> So, amount of client RAM IS important!
>>>
>>>   
>>
>> Mella is right - the amount of client memory matters, because the X 
>> server
>> got "smart" and uses more memory to reduce network traffic. 128MB 
>> seems to
>> be the magic number. julius
>>
>>  
>>
>
> Hey, I can only relate my experience, and that says, "no difference."
>
> Julius, I hadn't heard about the X11 server getting "smart."  I'd of 
> course like to know more.  Given that the apps are running on the 
> server, not the client itself, how does this "smart" bit work?  We're 
> just displaying stuff, aren't we, or are we somehow migrating apps 
> over to the client under the hood, a'la OpenMosix?
>
> Please enlighten me; you've got me curious!
>
> --TP

I am very interested in this discussion as I am trying to figure out how 
to get a little better performance in our lab. I have been trying to 
decide whether to try to migrate all the boxes I have that would hand 
128MB into the lab -- performance is always an issue when you have a lab 
full of excited students trying to get their work done. If the client 
has more memory, then does the server do less swapping for that client 
(thus less processor time and bandwidth?).

Thanks for this discussion.

Rita Gibson
RMSEL