[tlinux-users:08260] Re: Choosing right platform / notebook and NS2

Aco,

I've had a couple students who've used NS2 (although I have not
directly).  From what I understand, there is enough parallelism in the
simulator that it can effectively use multiple CPUs.  The Toshiba
laptop that I have (P15-S409) has two.  And the Fedora downloads that I
used to get a couple editions ago would sense that there were two and
ask which kernel I wanted to run (single or multi).  Now the kernels
have been merged and Fedora installs don't bother to ask any more ...
they just run.
     (I'm running SuSE 10 on a different machine, with satisfactory
results.  Same kernel as in Fedora, of course).  

My guess is that of the specs you've quoted below on your older
machine, that RAM is the limiting one for your simulations.  (One of my
students was simulating MANET protocols using NS2 and you're right,
they're computationally intensive).  

- buy a current generation CPU (no, I can't keep up with all of Intel's
naming stuff either).
- look for >1 CPU if you're going to run simulations, like you're
saying you plan to.
- don't scrimp on RAM.  

I can't imagine how you'd stress an 80G hard drive for simulation
work.  And NS2 doesn't have much in way of graphics unless you get some
of the add-on stuff so you're unlikely to stress what comes in the box
there either.  

From what I understand of the chipbuilding industry, Intel has been
building faster and hotter CPUs for several years.  And 'hotter' in a
literal sense.  Meanwhile AMD was building CPUs that ran the same
instruction set but didn't push the speed envelope quite so hard.  And
therefore didn't push the thermometer quite so hard either.  So Intel
at least claims that the stuff they're building now runs cooler.  

Help?


On Wed, 22 Nov 2006 11:19:40 +0100
"Aco" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> I have desktop PC and use it as dual-boot machine. WinXP and SUSE 10
> Linux. Now, I want to move to notebook computer but have some
> questions about it since I have a software under SUSE 10 Linux that I
> use for simulation - NS2 Network simulator. 
> 
> NS2 - network simulator
> This software, that runs under linux, I use for simulation of new
> versions of TCP protocol. Just to mention those simulations, in its
> essense, are mathematical operations, and it lasts from an hour to
> few days. So, I need a notebook that works fine with mathematical
> operations. My opinion is that the most important thing is choosing
> right processor and RAM.
> 
> At the moment my simulation platform for NS2 is:
> 
> Desktop PC with configuration:
> P4 2.4GHz (512 cache)
> 512MB RAM (333 MHz bus)
> 80 IDE HDD 7200 rpm
> ATI Radeon 9000 Pro 128 MB 
> Windows XP - SUSE 10 Linux - dualboot ( only 20GB for Linux)
> 
> Now, my questions for you, that have some expirience with Linux on
> notebook :
> 
> What configuration of Toshiba notebook I should buy  to have at least
> the same simulation performance as on desktop I have described
> above???
> 
> I am a little confused with huge number of processors that are
> supplied with notebooks these days ....(Celeron M, Centrino Pentium
> M, Pentium M, Intel Core 2 duo, Intel Core Duo, Intel Core
> Solo.......) How to rank them comparing with classical desktop
> processors .... I supose they use less power.... but what with their
> performance ???
> 
> Just to mention, I am budget-limited... but I don't want to buy
> something that will give longer "simulation time" or be unstable
> platform.
> 
> What to think about this configuration (comparing it to my desktop):
> 
> Toshiba Tecra A4-108: Intel® CentrinoT mobile technology including
> Intel® Pentium® M processor 740/ XP Pro/ 15.4" W-TFT/ 60 GB/ 512 MB/
> DVD-S-MULTI/ Wi-Fi/ i.LINK Intel® Pentium® M Processorr 740, Intel®
> PRO/Wireless 2200BG network connection and Intel® 915PM chipset
> * clock speed : 1.73 GHz
> * Front Side Bus : 533 MHz
> * 2nd level cache : 2 MB
> 
> Any ideas ?
> 
> Thank you.
> 


-- 
b