New Low-Latency Ubuntu Server Build Proposed

Canonical's Tim Gardner is seeking comments regarding a new build of Ubuntu Server that he is proposing. Canonical is considering another build of Ubuntu Server (there is already Ubuntu Server 32-bit and 64-bit along with specialized builds for cloud computing with Amazon EC2 and UEC), but this one would be specialized for just 64-bit platforms that have low-latency requirements and on power consumptive systems. This new build would be tuned for tasks like Asterisk that have low-latency requirements and where the current Ubuntu Server builds may not be sufficient. Though from the initial RFC, it may just end up being an alternate kernel that can be selected during the installation process of Ubuntu Server.

This kernel would differ from the mainline Ubuntu Linux kernel in that it would set the CONFIG_HZ frequency to 1000Hz, disable CPU frequency scaling within the kernel, and disabling the CPU idle governor. Tim is also seeking feedback regarding other optimizations that could be made to improve the performance for latency sensitive workloads.

The thread regarding low-latency improvements for Ubuntu Server and this new build can be found on the ubuntu-devel mailing list.