Re: [PATCH 00/31 v2] PTI support for x86_32

[James Bottomley]

On Sun, 2018-02-11 at 14:30 -0800, Andy Lutomirski wrote:
> 
> > 
> > On Feb 11, 2018, at 2:12 PM, James Bottomley <James.Bottomley@Hanse
> > nPartnership.com> wrote:
> > 
> > > 
> > > On Sun, 2018-02-11 at 11:42 -0800, Andy Lutomirski wrote:
> > > 
> > > > 
> > > > On Feb 11, 2018, at 9:40 AM, Mark D Rustad <mrustad@xxxxxxxxx>
> > > > wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > On Feb 11, 2018, at 2:59 AM, Adam Borowski <kilobyte@angband.
> > > > > pl>
> > > > > wrote:
> > > > > 
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > Does Debian make it easy to upgrade to a 64-bit kernel if
> > > > > > you
> > > > > > have a
> > > > > > 32-bit install?
> > > > > 
> > > > > Quite easy, yeah.ÂÂCrossgrading userspace is not for the
> > > > > faint of the heart, but changing just the kernel is fine.
> > > > 
> > > > ISTR that iscsi doesn't work when running a 64-bit kernel with
> > > > a 32-bit userspace. I remember someone offered kernel patches
> > > > to fix it, but I think they were rejected. I haven't messed
> > > > with that stuff in many years, so perhaps the userspace side
> > > > now has accommodation for it. It might be something to check
> > > > on.
> > > > 
> > > 
> > > At the risk of suggesting heresy, should we consider removing
> > > x86_32 support at some point?
> > 
> > Hey, my cloud server is 32 bit:
> > 
> > bedivere:~# cat /proc/cpuinfoÂ
> > processorÂÂÂÂ: 0
> > vendor_idÂÂÂÂ: GenuineIntel
> > cpu familyÂÂÂÂ: 15
> > modelÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ: 2
> > model nameÂÂÂÂ: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz
> > steppingÂÂÂÂ: 9
> > microcodeÂÂÂÂ: 0x2e
> > cpu MHzÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ: 2813.464
> > [...]
> > 
> > I suspect a lot of people are in the same position: grandfathered
> > in on an old hosting plan, but not really willing to switch to a
> > new 64 bit box because the monthly cost about doubles and nothing
> > it does is currently anywhere up to (let alone over) the capacity
> > of the single 686 processor.
> > 
> > The thing which is making me consider it is actually getting a TPM
> > to protect the private keys, but doubling the monthly cost is still
> > a huge disincentive.
> 
> Where are they hosting this?ÂÂLast I checked, replacing a P4 and
> motherboard with something new paid for itself in about a year in
> power savings.

It's a rented server not a co-lo cage. ÂI don't doubt it's costing the
hosting provider, but they're keeping my rates low.

James