Hi,
CL-HTTP runs best in LispWorks. Generally the 64bit LispWorks is extremely fast (like twice compared to the 32bit version) and has excellent SMP support. Generally I think that LispWorks is the best CL implementation. Sorry, MCL users. ;-)
Note that you also need to tune the typical OS to accept enough concurrent connections, etc.
Note that one also might need to tune the GC settings of LispWorks for demanding production use a bit.
One drawback of all Lisp implementations (besides ABCL) is that they have no concurrent GC (one that runs concurrently to the other Lisp processes). Thus one might need to check the GC behavior under load.
The LispWorks port of CL-HTTP is also more capable and more optimized than the other variants.
There are other good choices for multi-core servers - I would usually recommend Clozure CL. I use CL-HTTP with Clozure CL on an ARM based quad-core computer. But the port of CL-HTTP to Clozure CL is a bit primitive: it lacks optimizations and capabilities. For a simple home server it can be enough, though. Clozure CL itself has SMP support, has a good GC, is widely ported and the developers know their job. Useless to say, I'm a fan of Clozure CL. ;-)
See: http://lispm.dyndns.org/ccl
If you look at the new Mac Pro, then something like LispWorks and CCL gives you support for the multi-core CPU. What they don't give you is direct support for computations on the GPUs (graphics cards). It might be useful/possible to run simulation code on the GPUs - not sure how you would best approach that from Lisp.
Regards,
Rainer Joswig
Post by Mark KleinId like to get the fastest lisp machine possible (within reason) for running the cl-http server as well as number-crunching-heavy simulations. Which hardware should I get? Are there are versions of common lisp that can take advantage of the multi-core multiprocessor architectures the new hardware (e.g. the new Apple desktop) is coming out with?
-------------------------------
Mark Klein
http://cci.mit.edu/klein
Principal Research Scientist
Center for Collective Intelligence
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Visiting Researcher
Dynamic and Distributed Information Systems Group
University of Zurich
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