“An update on the current status of OpenBSD Symmetric Multiprocessor support was recently posted to the OpenBSD smp mailing list. At this time, it still looks to be quite a ways off in the future, with currently only i386-specific code that will detect and spinup a 2’nd processor, but not yet actually use it.” Read the report at KernelTrap.
OpenBSD’s SMP Status
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That’s quite strange, since FreeBSD achieved some considerable improvements in the SMP field, and already brought them to the general public with release 5.0.
I’d expect (and auspicate) more synergy among the BSD’s…
It’s not really that strange at all.
Considering OpenBSD is more focussed on other things at the moment — Such as PF — and other neat network/security related things.
Although I’m interested to know how the Spinlocks SMP for OpenBSD project is comming along?
I don’t really think FreeBSD 5.0 can be thought of as having _that_ many improvements to SMP support just yet.
In the near future — yes — but right now they are still mucking around with a lot of the nitty gritty.
Hopefully by 5.2 they’ll have some really neat stuff ready for us to play with.
I thought apple was using some of bsd in it ? Why is there no cooperation?
Considering OpenBSD is more focussed on other things at the moment — Such as PF — and other neat network/security related things.
Just let people know that Pyun YongHyeon has ported PF to FreeBSD 5.0. Not whole features have been tested, but he is working on. 🙂
http://www.bsdforums.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8090 (Here’s info..)
or at least the occasional using of each others’ code…
but the kernels have been under seperate source trees for so long it isnt always dead-easy to import complex things… especially at a really low, technichal level which i expect smp would be (no experience with it tho so i could be dead wrong)
im assuming putting it in a “different” bsd is a little more involved than firing up cvs…..
Mac os X uses the Mach messaging mechanism.
—
http://homepage.mac.com/softkid
James,
FreeBSD 5.0 *does* have many changes in the SMP dept.
Most of them are so deep they don’t even show up (for now), but the underlying structure of the kernel is much different from what it was in the 4.x series. For one, SMP granularity is now much better.
I wasn’t expecting ‘cut&paste’ of the kernel SMP code from FreeBSD to OpenBSD, but the problems already solved by the FreeBSD team should be taken as an example by the OpenBSD developers.
I was thinking from a performance/feature perspective — at the moment there isn’t really much difference between 4.x & 5.0 — seeing as how: 1. the performance isn’t tweaked yet, and 2. the features aren’t complete.
I completely agree with you that the underlying structure is quite different.