[rt-users] RT 3.2.2 very slow

[Rich West]

I would have to echo Carl Makin's input that more memory and better 
disks would provide a greater benefit than a processor increase.

>>So I'm assuing that it's the underpowered hardware: (dual P3-700's 512MB 
>>RAM 5400 RPM IDE drive)
>>Current Build: FreeBSD 4.11 (originally 4.8)  / RT 3.2.2 / Perl 5.8.4 / 
>>Apache 1.33 Modssl 2.8.22  / Mod_Perl
>>1.29 / Sendmail 8.13.1/
>>    
>>
>>I'm getting a new Dell PowerEdge (P4 3.2Ghz,  4 GB Ram, 10K RPM SCSI) 
>>soon :-) .
>>    
>>
>
>I think the memory and faster scsi disk will help more than the faster
>processor.
>

I think that the biggest hit your are experiencing is due to the fact 
that you are running on a 5400 RPM IDE drive.  A 5400 RPM drive is 
horrifically slow.  In fact, 5400RPM drives were what used to hold back 
the idea of companies adopting anything IDE based (going back about 8 
years or so)..  Their seek time is awful, the speed is pitiful, and the 
overall performance is completely dogged.  I'd personally chuck that 
drive and pick up an Ultra ATA 7200RPM drive wth 8MB cache (you can get 
them cheap now-a-days, especially with a rebate).

You will notice, from a user perspective, the difference between a 
5400RPM drive and a 7200RPM drive.

If you did that, I think you would be pleased with the performance 
difference. :)

Memory would help, too, but 512MB for the size of the environment you 
are running on, is probably fine.. it's closer to the lower end of the 
memory scale, but it should be ok.  You'd see a performance boost if you 
went to 786 or 1024, but not as big of a boost as you would see by 
upgrading the drive.

And, finally, I have personally seen a large boost in performance by 
running under mod_fastcgi with 3 or 5 instances running vs mod_perl in 
the three locations that I have either installed, maintained, or (in one 
instance) consulted on.

-Rich