32-bit python on Opteron, Solaris 10?

[Gary Robinson]

I'm in the market for a server to run some python code which is
optimized via psyco.

Sun T2100 servers come with Solaris 10, which comes with python
pre-installed.

Since those servers use the 64-bit Opteron box, I would assume that the
Python is a 64-bit version. (Does anyone know whether this is
true/false?)

The Psyco documentation says that for psyco to work, Python needs to be
compiled in "32-bit compatibility mode". I've never compiled Python, or
tried having multiple versions running on Solaris. I looked at the
README for the Python source and didn't see anything about "32-bit
compatibility mode", though I may have missed it. Or is it a matter of
choosing a 32 bit compiler to compile against? Any info would be
appreciated.

Finally, I'm wondering if anyone could give any feedback about
problems/roadblocks in compiling Python in "32-bit compatibility mode"
and running it alongside the pre-installed Python that comes with
Solaris 10.

Any input or tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Gary
--

Gary Robinson
VP/Innovation
Emergent Music, LLC
gr*******@goombah.com
207-942-3463
Company: http://www.goombah.com
Blog: http://www.garyrobinson.net

[ross lazarus]

The answers depend entirely on the cpu in my experience. I'm staring
at http://www.sun.com/servers/index.jsp and I can't see anything
called a T2100. I have 3 X2100 servers which are opterons. Psyco only
runs on x86 cpu hardware. Python cannot use psyco on opterons at all -
32 bit mode or otherwise. Pypy may fix this soon. The T2000 has a new
cpu for which I have no data about python performance. I am sure it
will run, but it may or may not be super fast if that's important to
you. On the ultrasparcs I have had an opportunity to fool with, python
runs "fast enough" for computationally intensive tasks (ie it's
useable) but relatively slowly compared to the x86 hardware I have
access to - particularly if psyco is available. I was once told that
python was more at home on CISC than on RISC CPU architecture and
being a trusting soul, accept this since it's consistent my own
limited experiments.

If you can benchmark your own code on a target machine, on solaris,
linux or windows, you can quickly figure out if it's "fast enough".
Exactly what means depends on the throughput you require and a stopwatch.

Your mileage may vary and there may be sun mavens on the list with
more reliable information than mine.

Gary Robinson wrote:

I'm in the market for a server to run some python code which is
optimized via psyco.

Sun T2100 servers come with Solaris 10, which comes with python
pre-installed.

Since those servers use the 64-bit Opteron box, I would assume that the
Python is a 64-bit version. (Does anyone know whether this is
true/false?)

The Psyco documentation says that for psyco to work, Python needs to be
compiled in "32-bit compatibility mode". I've never compiled Python, or
tried having multiple versions running on Solaris. I looked at the
README for the Python source and didn't see anything about "32-bit
compatibility mode", though I may have missed it. Or is it a matter of
choosing a 32 bit compiler to compile against? Any info would be
appreciated.

Finally, I'm wondering if anyone could give any feedback about
problems/roadblocks in compiling Python in "32-bit compatibility mode"
and running it alongside the pre-installed Python that comes with
Solaris 10.

Any input or tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Gary

[Olivier P]

Gary Robinson wrote:

I'm in the market for a server to run some python code which is
optimized via psyco.

Sun T2100 servers come with Solaris 10, which comes with python
pre-installed.

You can always install a 32bits version of Linux or Solaris on the X2100
yourself. The X2100 is even certified to run on it .
cf http://www.sun.com/servers/entry/x2100/os.jsp