Red Hat will release version 9 of its Linux OS early next month. The most significant technical feature in RH 9 is the inclusion of the Native Posix Threading Library (NTPL), essentially an enhanced threading technology that has been called the key to good Java support for Linux, particularly for thread-heavy apps like J2EE appservers.
Read Red Hat Linux 9 Adds Threading Library.
Has anyone had a chance to benchmark this claim on application servers?
It would also be interesting to know if one needs to re-write a Linux JVM to take advantage on this capability.
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Red Hat Linux 9 Native Posix Threads Key to Good Java Support? (4 messages)
- Posted by: Thomas Schaefer
- Posted on: March 26 2003 11:17 EST
Threaded Messages (4)
- Red Hat Linux 9 Native Posix Threads Key to Good Java Support? by Alex Roytman on March 27 2003 18:19 EST
- Red Hat Linux 9 Native Posix Threads Key to Good Java Support? by Martin N. on March 27 2003 20:05 EST
- re:Red Hat Linux 9 Native Posix Threads Key to Good Java Support by Steven Goldsmith on March 27 2003 21:02 EST
- Curious about FreeBSD 5.0 by J Donald on April 02 2003 10:08 EST
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Red Hat Linux 9 Native Posix Threads Key to Good Java Support?[ Go to top ]
- Posted by: Alex Roytman
- Posted on: March 27 2003 18:19 EST
- in response to Thomas Schaefer
Hello,
Does anyone knows if Sun's Jdk 1.4.1 will be able to take advantage of it?
Will it be transparent or has to be configured?
Thank you very much
Alex -
Red Hat Linux 9 Native Posix Threads Key to Good Java Support?[ Go to top ]
- Posted by: Martin N.
- Posted on: March 27 2003 20:05 EST
- in response to Alex Roytman
Being that 1.4.1 is already out, maybe they would take advantage of it in 1.5, along with the other new language features planned for 1.5. Just my $0.02. -
re:Red Hat Linux 9 Native Posix Threads Key to Good Java Support[ Go to top ]
- Posted by: Steven Goldsmith
- Posted on: March 27 2003 21:02 EST
- in response to Alex Roytman
From the readme included with the Pre-9.0 beta test (8.0.94, Phoebe):
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Red Hat Linux 8.0.94 includes the Native POSIX Thread Library, a new
implementation of POSIX threads for Linux. This library provides
performance improvements and increased scalability for i686 or better
processors. This thread library is designed to be binary compatible
with the old LinuxThreads implementation; however, applications that
rely on the places where the LinuxThreads implementation deviates from
the POSIX standard will need to be fixed. Notable differences include:
- Signal handling has changed from per-thread signal handling to
POSIX process signal handling.
- no manager thread
Applications that are known to have problems using NPTL include:
- IBM JRE prior to version 1.4.1
- Sun JRE prior to version 1.4.1
If an application does not work properly with NPTL, it can be run
using the old LinuxThreads implementation by setting the following
environment variable:
LD_ASSUME_KERNEL=2.2.5
------------------------------------------------------------------------
glibc-2.3.1-46.i686.rpm or newer
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Native POSIX threads will finally allow Linux to scale properly,
erasing yet another advantage that "enterprise" unix's have had over
Linux til now.
In fact, threads are so important to Java that the VM guys (Sun, IBM)
had to adapt (kludge) their code to the old Linux threading model to
port their VM's to Linux with half-decent performance. So it's ironic
that now that Linux is getting cleaned up (in part due to IBM's NGPT
prodding; see below), IBM & Sun have to go back and undo their
adaptations/kludges. But post 1.4.1 versions should be getting pretty
tuned for this (1.4.1_01 (some bugs reported), 1.4.1_02).
NPTL is good news for databases and other server-side apps, but it is
especially key to getting top-notch Java performance. Howard
Pearlmutter said to expect a noticeable increase in java-linux
synergy, enabled by such OS-level improvements as NPTL, and driven by
J2EE hosting and development/app platforms such as Eclipse. Redhat 9.0
paves the way. -
Curious about FreeBSD 5.0[ Go to top ]
- Posted by: J Donald
- Posted on: April 02 2003 10:08 EST
- in response to Steven Goldsmith
FreeBSD v.5.0 promises finer-grained locking in the kernel and lighter-weight processes.
As a FreeBSD fan, I'm very curious as to whether these changes will make FreeBSD a valid platform for enterprise Java deployments, competitive with Linux (once v.5.0 features stabilize and mature).