Re: Is sendfile all that sexy?

[Jonathan Thackray]

> how would sendpath() construct the Content-Length in the HTTP header?

You'd still stat() the file to decide whether to use sendpath() to
send it or not, if it was Last-Modified: etc. Of course, you'd cache
stat() calls too for a few seconds. The main thing is that you save
a valuable fd and open() is expensive, even more so than stat().

> TCP_CORK is useful for FAR more than just sendfile() headers and
> footers.  it's arguably the most correct way to write server code.

Agreed -- the hard-coded Nagle algorithm makes no sense these days.

> imnsho if you want to optimise static file serving then it's pretty
> pointless to continue working in userland.  nobody is going to catch up
> with all the kernel-side implementations in linux, NT, and solaris.

Hmmm, there's a place for userland httpds that are within a few
percent of kernel ones (like Zeus is, when I last looked). But I
agree, hybrid approaches will become more common, although the trend
towards server-side dynamic pages negate this. A kernel approach is a
definite win if you're used to using a limited-scalability userland
httpd like Apache.

Jon.

-- 
Jonathan Thackray         Zeus House, Cowley Road, Cambridge CB4 OZT, UK
Software Engineer                   [phone], fax [phone]
Zeus Technology                                     http://www.zeus.com/