Communications of the ACM
New Linux Kernel Gets a Speed Boost
Linus Torvalds
Shoe the Linux Librarian
Linux has announced an update to the Linux operating system kernel just 10 weeks after releasing version 2.6.37. Linux creator and manager Linus Torvalds says kernel 2.6.38 includes deep changes that will enhance performance, especially for running databases and other programs that demand maximum resources from servers.
Linux 2.6.38 features automatic process grouping, in which the process scheduler groups all processes with the same session ID as a single entity. The new approach will enable programs to divide processor time more equitably, which should improve overall performance.
Transparent huge pages is a new technology that increases the cache size for storing frequently consulted memory addresses, which will enable heavier workloads to cache more often and reduce their execution times.
Linux 2.6.38 also offers revamped directory cache and path lookup mechanisms that should make multithreaded workloads more scalable and single-threaded workloads execute faster for the virtual file system. Other new features include support for Better Approach To Mobile Ad-hoc Networking, the ad-hoc mesh protocol that can relay packets before a networking path has been fully established.
From IDG News Service
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