SecureXL between IBM 3650 and Sun X4200-M2 (Intel vs. AMD)

[cciesec2006]

Hi all,

I am trying to understand the difference between running Checkpoint NGx R65
on IBM 3650 (Intel platform) versuses Sun X4200-M2 (AMD opteron) platform.
IBM 3650 is dual quad-core processors and Sun X4200-M2 is dual dual-core
AMD.

WITHOUT Performance Pack (SecureXL) installed, the cpu work load on the IBM
3650 is even distributed between 8 core. However, the CPU on the X4200-M2
is 99% utilized on a particular core while the other core is at 100% idle.

If I enable Checkpoint SecureXL on the X4200-M2, then I will see the CPU
work load is distributed evenly among all the core.

In other words, SecureXL must be installed and enable on the X4200-M2
in order for the work load to be distributed among the CPU cores. SecureXL
is NOT needed on the IBM 3650 for this to happen.

Is it normal? I am at a lost here.

Thanks.

[cciesec2006]

I am 100% positive that I do not use the CoreXL install CD. I actually installed

NGx R65 from mounting an ISO image via the Remote Superviory Acess (RSA)

slim card on the IBM 3650 and Integrated Light-Out Manager (ILOM) on the Sun

X4200-M2 hardware. I am not using any CoreXL ISO image that I know of.


I used "top" in expert mode on both the IBM 3650 and Sun X4200-M2 and I see

that the work load is evenly distributed across 8 cores. For example, I see that

that the CPU is 80% idle on all 8 cores on the IBM. During the Checkpoint

installation, I did not install Performace Pack on both the IBM and Sun.

When I run 'top' on the X4200-M2, I see one core is running at 99% while the other

core is sitting idle.


Here is the output on the IBM:

23:57:08 up 2:06, 1 user, load average: 1.40, 1.46, 1.52
67 processes: 66 sleeping, 1 running, 0 zombie, 0 stopped
CPU states: cpu user nice system irq softirq iowait idle
total 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 136.0% 5.6% 657.6%
cpu00 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 3.0% 0.0% 97.0%
cpu01 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 10.0% 0.0% 90.0%
cpu02 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 10.0% 0.0% 90.0%
cpu03 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 50.0% 0.0% 80.0%
cpu04 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 18.0% 3.0% 79.0%
cpu05 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 20.0% 3.0% 77.0%
cpu06 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 15.0% 0.0% 85.0%
cpu07 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 10.0% 0.0% 90.0%
Mem: 4083668k av, 807140k used, 3276528k free, 0k shrd, 44512k buff
216144k active, 31756k inactive


Here is the "top" output on the Sun X4200-M2:

23:06:06 up 10:47, 1 user, load average: 0.41, 0.48, 0.40
71 processes: 70 sleeping, 1 running, 0 zombie, 0 stopped
CPU states: cpu user nice system irq softirq iowait idle
total 0.0% 0.0% 15.6% 0.8% 23.6% 0.0% 359.2%
cpu00 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%
cpu01 0.9% 0.0% 13.8% 1.9% 22.7% 0.0% 60.3%
cpu02 0.0% 0.0% 1.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 99.0%
cpu03 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%
Mem: 4150760k av, 133560k used, 4017200k free, 0k shrd, 37268k buff
38476k active, 53208k inactive
Swap: 9462276k av, 0k used, 9462276k free 47308k cached


As you can see, that's where I get my suspicion from.

[ccie16798]

Hello,

It may be that your NIC share the same IRQ on your SUN server
how many interfaces do you use? how are the irq routed to cpu?
(On linux its cat /proc/interrupts, /proc/irq/XX/affinity )

thanks
Etienne

Originally Posted by cciesec2006

Hi all,

I am trying to understand the difference between running Checkpoint NGx R65
on IBM 3650 (Intel platform) versuses Sun X4200-M2 (AMD opteron) platform.
IBM 3650 is dual quad-core processors and Sun X4200-M2 is dual dual-core
AMD.

WITHOUT Performance Pack (SecureXL) installed, the cpu work load on the IBM
3650 is even distributed between 8 core. However, the CPU on the X4200-M2
is 99% utilized on a particular core while the other core is at 100% idle.

If I enable Checkpoint SecureXL on the X4200-M2, then I will see the CPU
work load is distributed evenly among all the core.

In other words, SecureXL must be installed and enable on the X4200-M2
in order for the work load to be distributed among the CPU cores. SecureXL
is NOT needed on the IBM 3650 for this to happen.

Is it normal? I am at a lost here.

Thanks.