Re: ext3 filesystem / linux 7.3

In message <200304022133.44511.josh@agliodbs.com>, Josh Berkus writes:

    Chris,

    > ...there is waaay too much hearsay going on in this thread.  Let's come
    > up with an acceptable test battery and actually settle it once and for
    > all with good hard numbers.  It would be worth my while to spend some
    > time on this since the developers I support currently hate pgsql due to
    > performance complaints (on servers that predate my employment there).
    > So if I am going to move them to better servers it would be worth my
    > while to do some homework on what OS and FS is best.

    You're not going to be able to determine this for certain, but at
    least you should be able to debunk some myths.  Here's my
    suggested tests:

    [...]

    Also, we'll have to talk about .conf files ...

When I installed my postgres, I tried a test program I wrote with all
four values of wal_sync, and for my RedHat Linux 8.0 ext3 filesystem
(default mount options), and my toy test; open_sync performed the best
for me.  Thus, I would suggest adding the wal_sync_method as another
axis for your testing.

                                        -Seth Robertson
                                         seth@sysd.com