[squid-users] Re: Hardware spec.

spivkid wrote:

> I have a network with 8,000 users. I look to purchase
> two boxes to put on the for high aviablity. But I
> wanted to know how to determain what type a box to
> get, dual p4?, 1gig mem, 80gig, etc.

The two biggest considerations for Squid boxes are RAM and disks, because
Squid will generally bottleneck there first.

1) Size your RAM based on the guidelines in the this FAQ

http://www.squid-cache.org/Doc/FAQ/FAQ-8.html#ss8.11

2) Get the fastest disks you can afford - SCSI preferred over IDE. Ideally,
dedicate a physical disk to just the Squid cache. Squid's cache does not
benefit from RAID, and some types (RAID 5 in particular) will kill disk
performance.

> I read on squid site that squid does not benefit from
> a dual box. What have you guys notice in the field.

Squid itself does not benefit from a dual-CPU setup. However, one CPU can be
running Squid while the other CPU runs the async-IO programs, Squid
helpers, and processes from other parts of the system, so there is some
benefit to a multi-CPU system.

However, RAM and fast SCSI disks will give you the most benefit for cost.

Adam
Received on Tue Jul 27 2004 - 12:04:21 MDT