running on multiple CPU's

ddamron · Post by **ddamron** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 6:52 pm

ok, I'm a linux semi-newbie, but a professional in the field. I've read the documentation, and have some questions. Please bear with me.

I have 3 GADSPOT GS1600H cameras and 1 IP Dome Camera.
All IP cameras connected to a dedicated 100M switch which is connected to a 1GB switch. (the zoneminder box is off the 1G switch)

I have zoneminder working wonderfully, usage hovers around 3

usage goes way up when remoting in.

I've done optimization as much as possible..

now here's the questions:

I have a few extra CPU's hangin around, and would like to split the load.
is it feasable (or possible) to set up a dedicated SQL/Apache box,
then set up another box to run the capture daemons?

I understand the software has to do double duty with IP cameras, so my reasoning is to split that onto another CPU accessing SQL from the other box.

Feasable? Possible? Anyone tried it? Comments would be most helpful!

Thanks again, love the software

ddamron · Post by **ddamron** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 6:57 pm

By the way, I'm using Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy and all is well

(maybe I can help others using ubuntu)

Post by **cordel** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 9:47 pm

You could but your would lose the possibility of live views as zms would have no way to access shared memory.

Regards,
Corey

ddamron · Post by **ddamron** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 9:06 am

I still think this may be possible...what I'd really like to know is how each module interacts with each other...
you said I would loose realtime as the ZMS wouldn't /couldn't find the shared memory... I take it the shared memory is allocated by the ZMC daemon...
so what if I kept all the daemons together, and just seperated out the SQL server and Apache to another box?
Apreciate the info though thanks alot!
ideally I'm looking for a way to distribute the threads in zoneminder to multiple (possibly clustered) machines

ddamron · Post by **ddamron** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 9:21 am

Ok, I just took a quick look at the source...
it seems as if what I want isn't quite implemented..
I was thinking of clustering, but how to share the memory via clusters... etc.

it seems as this "shared memory" seems to be an issue that could possibly hold back further development... (my 2 cents)

Most of the source (within reason) can be modified to run as a seperate thread on a seperate box, but i'm not aware (or familiar enough) with the shared memory issues.

Bummer.
I'm going to add some items to the wishlist to hopefully make this more thread portable across LANS/CLUSTER
Apreciate any further comments on this.. maybe someone can say something to strike a light under my a$$

Best to all

Dan

Flash_ · Post by **Flash_** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 11:00 am

ddamron wrote: it seems as this "shared memory" seems to be an issue that could possibly hold back further development... (my 2 cents)

But will it? Processors get more and more powerful and there are options around with 16 processors per box. Even if cameras also increase in resolution it won't be as fast to increase (lower demand) so what's impossible today will be possible tomorrow.

The other bottlenecks - disk, network bandwidth, PCI throughput etc are also being ramped up, albiet at a slower pace.

So 20-30 odd cameras per fast box, how many people will /need/ more than one box thus be contenders for clustering? I know there'll be a few, and to them the benefits of not having seperate boxes per zone or area might be interesting.

And if monitoring rather than recording, that doesn't need (unless it's analogue) to come via the zm box anyway, ip cameras can feed multiple monitoring points simultaneously, leaving zm to quietly record or modect in the corner.

Flash_ · Post by **Flash_** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 11:01 am

Rambled a bit, there.