perform builds on a different drive

[Dominic Fandrey]

On 09/09/2010 23:22, Ion-Mihai Tetcu wrote:
> On Thu, 09 Sep 2010 22:08:50 +0200
> olli hauer <ohauer at gmx.de> wrote:
> 
>> On 2010-09-09 16:02, Dominic Fandrey wrote:
>>> I intend to perform builds on a different drive similar to
>>> setting WRKDIRPREFIX on a regular system. I have a drive I want
>>> to dedicate to the task and which is mounted async, this is why
>>> I don't want the more permanent files stored there.
>>>
>>> On this list I found the suggestion to just make ${tb}/<BUILD>
>>> a symlink. However whenever I start a new build the symlink is
>>> removed and the directory recreated.
>>>
>>> Is there any /working/ way to perform the builds somewhere else?
>>>
>>
>> If you have enough RAM try the following (my actual layout)
>>
>> drive 1:
>>  /usr/ports
>>  /data/distfiles
>>
>> drive 2:
>>  /tinderbox
>>    /jails
>>      /8.1        => md10 (200MB swap)
>>      /8.1.bin    => copy of relX will be copied back to relX in
>> ramdisk /8.1-FreeBSD  => md11 (1400MB swap), buildspace_relX
>>
>>
>> With this layout and the help of the ramdisks I need in duration
>> ~50-60% the time for a build with my ~400 favorite ports.
>> I build all my ports used in prod. regularly and it is quit a
>> difference if the build needs 4 hours instead 8-10 hours without
>> ramdisks.
>>
>> On my wish list is to mark a port build done if the port is build
>> as decency for another port and have a higher queue id. I guess
>> this can bring complete build time to 2 hours instead of 4.
>>
>> PS:
>> In all my builds I never hit the 1400MB limit for md11.
> 
> A 2GB for the build md is usually safe. But the biggest port needs
> about 10 times as much.

The machine has 8GB of RAM, but my impression is that the hard disk
load is not very great. Shouldn't async be close to a memory disk in
performance?

Next question, wouldn't tmpfs be a more obvious choice, because it
expands as needed? I know it's supposed to be experimental, but I
tried to put one under massive load and wasn't able to panic the
system.

I might benchmark this memory disk thing, but I remember I did
some buildworld buildkernel tests in memory disks and the difference
was very small (way below 5%).

Also, I'm considering building OpenOffice in there ... my 8GB RAM
wouldn't suffice in that case.

Thanks for the suggestions. I might test the alternatives once
more pressing problems are resolved.

-- 
A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail?