Re: PostgreSQL on 64 bit Linux

On Sun, Aug 20, 2006 at 04:46:30PM -0400, Douglas McNaught wrote:
> Naz Gassiep <naz(at)mira(dot)net> writes:
> > I have a PostgreSQL installation on a Debian box that had the 64bit
> > SMP kernel installed before PostgreSQL was compiled and installed on
> > it. Does PostgreSQL take any advantage of the 64 bit environment or
> > have we not done anything to move into the 64 bit world yet?
> Depends on whether PG was compiled as 64-bit or 32-bit--is your
> toolchain 64-bit all the way, or is it just the kernel?

I think he means - have benchmarks, or profiling been done with the
goal of specifically improving performance on 64-bit platforms.

For most applications available today, the answer is no. Compiling an
application designed for 32-bit, on a 64-bit architecture, does not
automatically improve performance. Too frequently, it can actually
reduce performance. Pointers are large, which means that any
application that is heavily pointer based can be forced to deal with
twice as many copies of memory, which reduces the effectiveness of
the various cache levels, and RAM itself.

Hopefully GLIBC counts here, in that it should contain 64-bit specific
code where it might count, so libc calls should be able to take
advantage of the 64-bit machine instructions.

Is there an interest, or any active project to examine PostgreSQL in
the area of 64-bit processors? Has it already been done? I don't recall
seeing a reference to it in my travels. I'm also not sure on what to
expect for results, as the territory is still new. 64-bit processors
have existed for a while, but 32-bit processors have been the popular
choice, making 64-bit support an after thought?

Cheers,
mark

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