site_archiver@lists.apple.com Delivered-To: darwin-kernel@lists.apple.com Dkim-signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:mime-version:received:in-reply-to:references :date:message-id:subject:from:to:cc:content-type :content-transfer-encoding; bh=3OocaQgGoaGeYvDWZnJUoNmVhjPhgIILkDysRd1Q4N0=; b=OUzclb6IczBYzY0ng9RbyHc479w8oqcPMNj8YNDJMM4s6mH9CzKqIaXCd2icJ7J8BW qLRGCINvZu9rudsiJtfPebBPrDprODLs/aNOMaBR3VpKUsp4e0EyKMX6klbsRyMyfSKs dSuqP3JIVHxWOnhuJSEi91h50ty/TBGsFn70w= Domainkey-signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to :cc:content-type:content-transfer-encoding; b=tt/3GlhLS//wWCefMU7B0rUMQrheemUWUl3vMaAGyNvfVaPRD5x9+O4qYPd41ynpja lIu62qSpVczHW8d11JyZFP3CF8l5jVvJVHiN0pJ+w+N2BxCair6wXni9UCGU0hfwezV5 MPCvn6O54WgnhrO6wk9Tcyqo2S8Pf2WDqCdM8= On Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 7:36 PM, Terry Lambert <tlambert@apple.com> wrote:
On Jan 29, 2009, at 11:15 AM, Nathan <nathan.stocks@gmail.com> wrote:
After a frustrating and long search for the root of the various problems I was having with my new Xserve serving email via IMAP, I was tipped off by...
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1659
...that the kernel has insanely low defaults (for a server) for kern.maxproc (532), which controls the maximum amount of processes allowed to run on the system. While trying to raise the default to a reasonable value (Linux defaults to 32,768 for example), I discovered that I couldn't raise it above 2500. Peter O'Gorman tells me off that this is a hard-coded limit in Xnu:
./bsd/conf/param.c:#define HNPROC 2500 /* based on thread_max */
I've already filed rdar://6536876 asking that this be raised, but as I've had very poor returns with my filed bugs that I spent a long time researching, and very good returns on Apple mailing lists (go apple-x11!), I thought I'd post here too. :-)
Is there any reason the hard limit couldn't be raised an order of magnitude or two?
Yes. Fragility under resource starvation conditions. This has already been asked and answered in this mailing list previously (search the archives for "resource limits"), but the tuning values you specify for a general purpose system have to be lower than those for a role based system, since a general system has to be able to handle all the resources if every type being consumed. Role based systems use a set of resources whose type is constrained by the role. In trade for tuning down (or simply not using), and administrator may safely tune up the resources used in that role, making the system a better fit for the role.
Terry, I understand the intent you are trying to express (the default settings need to work well for the general case) but I disagree with your assertion that having such extremely low limits (max processes in particular, but I suspect other settings as well) serves that goal. I'm running out of political and motivational steam to pursue this issue, as I've worked around the most pressing problems we were experiencing internally. I've canceled most of our plans regarding the Xserve and OS X server, as I no longer have any confidence in Apple's ability to deliver on their marketed server features or capacity. The problem seems to run deeper than just bugs. I will continue to keep an eye out for shifts in the landscape for OS X server. I hope to be proven wrong in the future, and find that OS X Server delivers on its promises. ~ Nathan _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Darwin-kernel mailing list (Darwin-kernel@lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/darwin-kernel/site_archiver%40lists.a... This email sent to site_archiver@lists.apple.com