Re: MySQL IBMDB2I Storage Engine - Where is ha_ibmdb2i.soplugin ?

[Timothy P Clark <timclark@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Mike,

For the most reliable answer, you'll want to check with the PASE guys, 
since it really comes down to details of the PASE runtime. Here's my take, 
though.

The 32-bit build has a smaller memory footprint and may therefore give 
better performance on a system where main-store is constrained. Prior to 
IBM i 6.1, there was an additional performance advantage provided by 
32-bit apps; but my understanding is that in 6.1 and later, 64-bit has 
caught up to 32-bit. The primary advantage of a 64-bit binary is that the 
virtually unlimited address space means that much larger data sets can be 
used.

Theoretically, then, for most shops with small or medium-sized data sets 
and a reasonable number of concurrent users, there shouldn't be much 
practical difference between the 32-bit and 64-bit builds. However! As it 
so happens, I was doing some performance comparisons on 32-bit vs 64-bit 
builds of MySQL several weeks ago (5.1.41, I believe). My own very limited 
and *very informal* testing indicated that (all else being equal) the 
64-bit build ran measurably faster than the 32-bit build. This was a 
surprise to me. I don't know if MySQL uses different optimization settings 
for the different builds or why this would be the case. I would suggest 
that users concerned about performance download both binaries and do some 
basic comparisons themselves. Since multiple servers can be installed 
side-by-side and can point to the same data set, this is relatively easy 
to do.

Did you say 50 words or 500 words...?

Tim


> Tim,
>
> Thank you for the follow up.
>
> I am curious if there is a significant difference in performance, power,
> function of the 64-bit version over the 32-bit version. My gut would
> say yes but my head is saying "why should I care unless I am using a lot
> of data and more memory addresses, etc." Might there be a small
> advantage in running the 32-bit for smaller installations with less data
> requirements, etc.
>
> In 50 words or less please :-)
>
> Regards,
>
> Mike
>
> mike.p@xxxxxxxx Cell: (408)679-1011 Office: (815)722-3454
>
> Zend Server for IBM i Beta avilable at
> http://www.zend.com/en/products/server/zend-server-5-new-ibmi