Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uunet!spock!mcneild
From: mcneild@spock (Doug McNeil)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.i386
Subject: Re: Memory requirements for 386/ix
Summary: 2MB probably not enough
Message-ID: <1629@mcneild>
Date: 10 Dec 89 15:53:11 GMT
References: <710@ncs.dnd.ca>
Reply-To: mcneild@mcneild (Doug McNeil)
Organization: Mitel. Kanata (Ontario). Canada.
Lines: 35

In article <710@ncs.dnd.ca> marwood@ncs.dnd.ca (Gordon Marwood) writes:
>We will shortly be installing 386/ix for the first time (on a
>Honeywell-Bull 386).  The recommended minimum memory is 2MB.  I would be
>interested to hear about recommendations for memory size, and its
>practical effect on performance of 386/ix.  I realize that this depends
>a lot on the way in which the machine is used.  All I can say about our
>projected use is that it will be used for mail by a group of, perhaps 20
>people, though I suspect no more than 6 at a time.  We also expect to
>use it as a file server for the same group, using NFS.  I suppose that
>the closest comparison might be with someone who has used 386/ix on a
>similar machine (20 MHz) for a similar group size.


We have been using 386/ix for approximately a year. We are a developement shop
but I believe our experience is germain. We run a number of 386 systems which
range from a 16MHZ machine with an 80MB ST506 and 4MB to a 25MHZ machine with
a 360MB ESDI and 8MB. We run TCP/IP and NFS on all of them. I can catagorically
state that you wouldn't want to run NFS on a machine with 2MB even if it were
possible. _Size_ gives the following for our kernel:

	590184 + 101012 + 585136 = 1276332

Our 16MHZ machine is used in a test environment. Some of the software we test on
it is large enough to lead to significant swapping even though it is used in
_single_user_ mode.

If you just want to use your system for mail it is possible that 2MB might
suffice. For any significant NFS work 4MB would be required and 8MB plus would
be nice.

-- 
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"Smokin" Doug McNeil			| uunet!mitel!spock!mcneild
Mitel Corporation, Kanata, Ontario	| (613)592-2122
"Got any dragons you need slain?" RAH	|