On Thu, 2009-01-01 at 11:51 +0100, Per Jessen wrote: > Robert Cummings wrote: > > >> > >> It's not easy in any language, but if your key concern is the > >> performance of PHP (as a language), hardware is what you need. You > >> can design your software to run on a single box with lots of CPU > >> cores, or > >> you can go for a distributed (and more easily scalable) approach. If > >> you don't need/want straight scalability, go for the 32 cores all > >> ticking at 3GHz. Once that is saturated, buy another one. > > > > If you go multi core then you need to go with a threaded approach... > > which makes the development a bit complex for newbies to MUD > > development. > > 'ceo@xxxxxxxxx' doesn't seem like a newbie to me, but you're right, it > would be a complex job for a newbie. 'ceo@xxxxxxxxx' isn't the original poster, I was speaking generally... with a possibly nod towards the OP who may be a newbie. > Nevertheless, given todays > machines where even laptops have multiple cores, I would certainly > design any new performance-critical application for multi-threading. > (Multi-threading in PHP is a challenge in itself, and I wouldn't choose > PHP for such a job, but that's a different story). > > > I don't think I'd go distributed since people whine about > > lag that takes a 1/4 second... distributed would inherently require > > more time while messages are passed to and fro. > > That is perhaps a valid consideration, but isn't it easily dealt with by > using gigabit ethernet or infiniband or something similar? We're talking about a text-based MUD here... it's unlikely the user has the will to spring for such resources for this endeavour. > The distributed vs. one big monolith discussion is also a matter of > space, cooling, electricity etc. The big monolith is easier to deal > with, but also carries a different pricetag. The many machines can be > gradually expanded at a lower cost, but need much more in terms of > infrastructure. Yes, I agree with all your points, just think perhaps you've shot past the target a little ;) Cheers, Rob. -- http://www.interjinn.com Application and Templating Framework for PHP -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
