Dual processor and dual NIC ??

Hi, I've recently rebuilt our college proxy (Squid) server and moved it
from an old version of Red Hat to version 8.x of SuSE and moved it on to
a dual processor Compaq server with dual NIC's.

Is it possible to get SuSE to utilise both processors? If so, how?

Also, can SuSE do load balancing between the network cards, or can I
configure Squid to listen for requests on one card, and reply on the
other? I'm at my limit here with my Linux knowledge, so any pointers
would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Nick
--
Nick at noslow.org.uk

Nick wrote:
>
> Hi, I've recently rebuilt our college proxy (Squid) server and moved it
> from an old version of Red Hat to version 8.x of SuSE and moved it on to
> a dual processor Compaq server with dual NIC's.
>
> Is it possible to get SuSE to utilise both processors? If so, how?

Yes. Install an SMP kernel. I'm surprised SuSE didn't install one by
default if it detected an SMP machine. 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' will show
two CPUs when an SMP-enabled kernel is installed on an dual CPU machine.

> Also, can SuSE do load balancing between the network cards, or can I
> configure Squid to listen for requests on one card, and reply on the
> other? I'm at my limit here with my Linux knowledge, so any pointers
> would be appreciated.

What you can do with two network cards depends upon what is at the other
end of the network cable.

You can use the "bonding" module in the kernel to treat them both as a
single pipe. This requires suitable hardware on the other end: another
Linux machine or a high-end Cisco switch configured for this purpose,
for example.

Accepting requests on one card and replying on the other doesn't make
much sense, IMHO. Any current network card and any reasonably good
switch should support full duplex operation: each card can transmit and
receive simultaneously already. You'd see little benefit (and plenty of
hassle) by trying to configure one card as send-only and one as receive
only.

Nick <Nick@dev.null> wrote:
> Is it possible to get SuSE to utilise both processors? If so, how?

Use an SMP kernel.

> Also, can SuSE do load balancing between the network cards, or can I

Load some sort of ethernet bonding driver.

Peter

"Nick" <Nick@dev.null> wrote in message
news:WQfrgGAHkEJ$EwPe@noslow.org.uk...
> Hi, I've recently rebuilt our college proxy (Squid) server and moved it
> from an old version of Red Hat to version 8.x of SuSE and moved it on to
> a dual processor Compaq server with dual NIC's.
>
> Is it possible to get SuSE to utilise both processors? If so, how?
>
> Also, can SuSE do load balancing between the network cards, or can I
> configure Squid to listen for requests on one card, and reply on the
> other? I'm at my limit here with my Linux knowledge, so any pointers
> would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Nick
> --
> Nick at noslow.org.uk

Nick;

Beware of old servers. I have a dual processor DEC that Red hat 7.3 won't
see both processors. The BIOS doesn't get supported, so the smp function
doesn't even get seen by the O/S.

The NIC's should be fine.

Try 6.2 with the 2.2 kernel if you really want smp for the older server.

Doug

On Sun, 27 Jul 2003 22:49:59 +0100, Nick wrote:

> Hi, I've recently rebuilt our college proxy (Squid) server and moved it
> from an old version of Red Hat to version 8.x of SuSE and moved it on to
> a dual processor Compaq server with dual NIC's.
>
> Is it possible to get SuSE to utilise both processors? If so, how?
Enable SMP in the kernel.
>
> Also, can SuSE do load balancing between the network cards, or can I
> configure Squid to listen for requests on one card, and reply on the
> other? I'm at my limit here with my Linux knowledge, so any pointers
> would be appreciated.

Load balancing with both nics makes only sence if the other end supports
it. As this is generally difficult to set up, I'd consider two other
options:
1. use one nic for the connection to the Internet and the other for the
connection to your clients
2. split your network into two subnets. One nic can be connected to each
subnet.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Nick

Peter T. Breuer <ptb@oboe.it.uc3m.es> wrote:
> Nick <Nick@dev.null> wrote:
> > Is it possible to get SuSE to utilise both processors? If so, how?

> Use an SMP kernel.

> > Also, can SuSE do load balancing between the network cards, or can I

> Load some sort of ethernet bonding driver.

Yep and read, /usr/src/linux-*/Documentation/networking/bonding.txt
from the kernel source for the full story how to configure bonding.
Works like a charm.
;)

--
Michael Heiming

Remove +SIGNS and www. if you expect an answer, sorry for
inconvenience, but I get tons of SPAM

According to Nick <Nick@dev.null>:
>Is it possible to get SuSE to utilise both processors? If so, how?

I haven't used SuSE myself, but I'm sure it can do it with an SMP
kernel.

>Also, can SuSE do load balancing between the network cards,

Possibly, see other replies. Otherwise, check out the Linux
virtual server project.

>or can I configure Squid to listen for requests on one card,
>and reply on the other?

That's easy. Both interfaces have different IP addresses, and you
can tell squid to bind to just one of them, and then have your
browsers send their proxy requests to that one.

Outbound connections to web servers will be made by squid using
the other interface simply by virtue of routing. Make the default
gateway device the other interface.

Cheers
Steffen.