| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Guest
|
 Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 9:05 am Post subject: multi core kernel module dev difficulty on unix |
 |
|
Hi,
I want to get one computer where I wish to use it for device driver
development (mostly for learning) and as usual desktop .
OS will be Linux and Solaris.
CPU will be AMD.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ (Dual core)
or
AMD Phenom X4 9750 (QuadCore)
Shall I go for multicore as X2 or X4 or should take single processor
single core if it may ease developing device drivers. But another side
is that anyway nowadays multi core systems are becoming common so even
if it is difficult to debug on multi core it is better to go for multi
core.
As for my technical skills, I am comfortable with unix/c development
and have done some (very little) dev on vxworks at device level. I am
reasonably good with Multi threaded programming applications with unix/
posix/c.
It just depends on the magnitude of difference and wether it is too
much.
I want to avoid getting two computers one with single and another
multicore.
Thanks
&S |
|
| |
|
 Back to top |
Aragorn
Guest
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 4:24 pm Post subject: Re: multi core kernel module dev difficulty on unix |
|
|
On Friday 14 November 2008 10:05, someone identifying as
*deadelephan7@gmail.com* wrote in /comp.os.linux.hardware:/
| Quote: | Hi,
I want to get one computer where I wish to use it for device driver
development (mostly for learning) and as usual desktop .
OS will be Linux and Solaris.
CPU will be AMD.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ (Dual core)
or
AMD Phenom X4 9750 (QuadCore)
Shall I go for multicore as X2 or X4 or should take single processor
single core if it may ease developing device drivers. But another side
is that anyway nowadays multi core systems are becoming common so even
if it is difficult to debug on multi core it is better to go for multi
core.
|
If you want to develop device drivers, then I would suggest that you
familiarize yourself with symmetric multiprocessing, although - depending
on what exactly you will be developing device drivers for - your drivers
may not require supporting this.
Still, it's a good idea to think in terms of symmetric multiprocessing when
doing software development due to the fact that this particular technology
will become far more prevalent and is much more geared towards the future
than single-threaded code.
Also - and again, I do not know what kind of drivers you will be developing
- it might be interesting for you to read up on the different types of
multiprocessing currently being used. Within the current batch of x86-64
processors, there is a difference between Intel's approach and AMD's
approach - although Intel will be adopting the AMD approach for their newer
generation of x86-64 processors - namely in the fact that an AMD processor
has an on-die memory controller.
In itself, this may seem less important, but in computers that have multiple
processor sockets, this leads to a different memory addressing model
between the current Intel and AMD architectures. Since the current
Intel-based machines with multiple sockets share a common Northbridge, all
processor sockets access the memory in a "flat" way through this common
memory controller, while AMD-based multisocket machines will use a ccNUMA
approach, where each processor socket has its own local memory (although
all sockets will be able to access all memory in the machine). The
upcoming generation of Intel processors will also feature an on-die memory
controller and will thus also use ccNUMA memory access.
I don't think the above is important for what you have in mind, but it never
hurts to look into this kind of things when you decide that you want to
start developing stuff that runs in kernel mode, as you will need to
understand how the kernel works. ;-)
Hope this was helpful... :-)
--
*Aragorn*
(registered GNU/Linux user #223157) |
|
| |
|
| Back to top |
Clemens Ladisch
Guest
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 9:33 pm Post subject: Re: multi core kernel module dev difficulty on unix |
|
|
deadelephan7@gmail.com wrote:
| Quote: | Shall I go for multicore as X2 or X4 or should take single processor
single core if it may ease developing device drivers.
|
Get a multicore. If you need a computer that behaves like a single
core, just run a kernel that was compiled with CONFIG_SMP disabled.
Best regards,
Clemens |
|
| |
|
| Back to top |
Hactar
Guest
|
| Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 6:01 am Post subject: Re: multi core kernel module dev difficulty on unix |
|
|
In article <e0ceffd6-455a-4b0f-ad88-9be2551a01bd@a26g2000prf.googlegroups.com>,
<deadelephan7@gmail.com> wrote:
| Quote: | Hi,
I want to get one computer where I wish to use it for device driver
development (mostly for learning) and as usual desktop .
OS will be Linux and Solaris.
CPU will be AMD.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ (Dual core)
or
AMD Phenom X4 9750 (QuadCore)
Shall I go for multicore as X2 or X4 or should take single processor
single core if it may ease developing device drivers. But another side
is that anyway nowadays multi core systems are becoming common so even
if it is difficult to debug on multi core it is better to go for multi
core.
|
Just because your kernel supports n CPUs doesn't mean your code has to
be multithreaded. You'll see benefits in the rest of your computing
even if you don't have to write SMP-aware code.
| Quote: | I want to avoid getting two computers one with single and another
multicore.
|
You can always run Linux in a single-CPU VMware if you want the
honest-to-goodness single CPU experience.
--
-eben QebWenE01R@vTerYizUonI.nOetP http://royalty.mine.nu:81
AQUARIUS: There's travel in your future when your tongue freezes to the
back of a speeding bus. Fill the void in your pathetic life by playing
Whack-a-Mole 17 hours a day. -- Weird Al, _Your Horoscope for Today_ |
|
| |
|
| Back to top |
|
