$Id: README,v 1.10 2003/04/20 16:49:22 marvin Exp $

 Pipebench

    By Thomas Habets <thomas@habets.pp.se>


Introduction
------------
Measures the speed of stdin/stdout communication.


Example uses
------------
Benchmark and show progress of backup:
# (cd /home/; tar cf - .) | pipebench | (cd /mnt/backup/; tar xf -)

A number to brag to your friends about:
$ dd if=/dev/zero bs=80k count=60k 2> /dev/null | ./pipebench -q > /dev/null


Compiling
---------
Just type 'make' to compile.

Type 'make install' to have pipebench be installed in /usr/local/bin

 
FAQ
---
Q: It doesn't compile!

A: If you can fix it youself, do so and send me a patch.

   If you can't, mail me and say what kind of system you have and I'll fix it.
   I'll probably port it to anything anyone might want... except windows
   of course. But hey, maybe it works on windows out of the box.


License
-------
It's GPL, see the LICENSE file.

Tested by me personally on
--------------------------
x86      Debian GNU/Linux 3.0
x86      FreeBSD 4.7
sparc    Debian GNU/Linux 3.0
sparc    Solaris 9
sparc64  OpenBSD 3.2
alpha    Debian GNU/Linux 3.0
alpha    NetBSD 1.5.2

Some benchmarks
---------------
The same command run on a few different systems. No tweaking has been done
on any of the boxen, except for custom kernel compiles on the Linux boxen.

Command run:
$ dd if=/dev/zero bs=80k count=[*]k 2>/dev/null | ./pipebench -q > /dev/null

[*] Number suitable for the benchmark to take 30-60 seconds.

Arch     Box              Mhz   OS                                   Speed
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
x86      Dual Athlon     1800   Slackware Linux 8.1 (2.4.19)        249.98 MBps
x86      P-II             400   Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 (2.4.19)       146.97 MBps
alpha    EV45             266   Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 (2.4.20)        53.05 MBps
x86      K6-2             500   FreeBSD 4.7                          37.29 MBps
sparc64  UltraSparc 5     270   OpenBSD 3.2                          27.47 MBps
sparc    SparcStation 4   110   Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 (2.4.18)        17.51 MBps
sparc    SparcStation 4   110   Solaris 9                             5.93 MBps
alpha    DEC 3000/300LX   125   NetBSD 1.5.2                          4.67 Mbps

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Send questions/suggestions/patches/rants/money/alphas to thomas@habets.pp.se
