32bit vs 64bit Linux

[Nathan England]

You and I have discussed this in the past. I have always been a proponent of 32-bit 
over 64-bit because 32 is a little faster.If you have one or two GB of ram, then that 
is true. But if the computer has more than 2 GB of ram it will get some benefits of 
being 64-bit. But if your system has 4 GB or more, you will likely notice a speed 
difference. About a year ago, when I moved back to linux from windows, I went all 
64-bit and I've not had any troubles. 

You may not notice a difference, but your kernel will be happier. The are three styles 
of kernels. 

(1) 32-bit kernels built for 1 or 2 GB of ram. These kernels do not have PAE enabled 
and are very fast. (PAE = Physical Address Extensions) meaning it allows to use more 
memory on a 32 bit system which really cannot use that memory otherwise. It's like 
fake 64-bit.

(2) 32-bit kernels built for more than 2 GB of ram. These kernels have PAE enabled. I 
have read several articles now from people who have done tests, as well as some 
reputable websites, that agree that PAE enabled kernels are the slowest of the 
bunch. Addressing 64-bit memory space while operating in a 32-bit environment 
takes a lot of tricks and creates some over-head.

(3) 64-bit kernels are the fastest in all tests performed. These do not play the PAE 
tricks as they are native and can address all memory space properly.

You as a user may not notice the difference in how any of the kernels work, so it 
may be moot to you. But in the end, I would recommend you go 64-bit anyway.










-- 



Regards,

Nathan England

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NME Computer Services http://www.nmecs.com
Nathan England (nathan at nmecs.com)
Systems Administration / Web Application Development
Information Security Consulting
(480) 559.9681

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