Advance in Ubuntu based distro bootup times

[Fox]

Having just updated VirtualBox to the latest version (3.1.4), I examined bootup times of several Ubuntu and Ubuntu-based distro bootup times. This enabled me to get a sense of how the newer kernels have improved this feature and also, how the X-window manager affects responsiveness. The test was done on my 20" iMac 2.66ghz with 4gb RAM installed, running SnowLeopard 10.6.2. In each case, I first updated the distro in the vm to the latest version, installed the latest version of Virtualbox tools, increased the vm RAM to at least 768mb and restarted the vm twice. Here are the vms and the results from slowest to fastest:

gOS 3.1 (Gnome, based on Ubuntu 8.04) - 48 sec
Ubuntu 9.10 (Gnome) - 44 sec
CrunchBang 9.04.1 (Openbox, based on Ubuntu 9.04) - 37 sec
Mint 8 Fluxbox CE (Fluxbox, based on Ubuntu 9.10) - 31 sec
Ubuntu Netbook Remix 10.04 alpha 2 (Gnome) - 29 sec

While I didn't test the startup time of specific applications, I did start up openOffice writer and Firefox in each. Qualitatively, I would say that differences in the startup time of applications corresponded with those of the distro bootup itself, except perhaps in UNR 10.04, which wasn't very different than Ubuntu 9.10 in app responsiveness.

While not perfectly standardized, the results clearly show that newer kernels boot up faster than older ones, and that distros based on Ubuntu 10.04 are going to show a substantial improvement in startup times over those based on the previous version (an older kernel). The effect of a light X-window manager is also apparent when you compare Mint 8 Fluxbox to Ubuntu 9.10 (same kernel), as Mint 8 Flux starts up a whopping 13 seconds faster than Ubuntu 9.10! The saving in startup time with CrunchBang is more moderate, but the kernel in CB is older.

I'm sorry I don't have an KDE comparisons to share (sorry Aqua!), but from what I have read, I would expect its performance to be comparable to that of the same distro running Gnome.
_________________
Mini 1: 2.3 ghz Core i5; 8 gb RAM, Corsair 240gb SSD, 500 gb Seagate XT
Mini 2: 2.26 ghz Core 2 duo, 8 gb RAM, 500 gb Seagate
Also a Cube, 13" MacBook Air, 20" 2.66 ghz iMac & 11.6" Acer 1810TZ running Ubuntu, Mint & openSuse

[Aquafire]

Good set of comparisons.

Your right about KDE. I expect there to be only the smallest of differences in time.

While on the topic of bootspeed...

Have you been following Mandriva's approach...?

http://wiki.mandriva.com/en/2009.1-speedboot

Cheers

Aqua
_________________
Of the four X systems in the world.

Which would you choose?

OS X : LinuX : UniX or MS-BolloX.

[Fox]

No, I hadn't heard of speedboot before. Looks interesting, but according to the url, it appears not to work on many systems. Also, it disables readahead, which is what Ubuntu is using to advance boot times. There is no indication which is better when speedboot works, but I'll keep my eye on this development.

Speaking of Mandriva, they have a paid product called InstantOn, which is supposed to boot in less than 10 seconds. I would have paid for this had I not read some very negative feedback from buyers, including that it only supports 1024x768 resolution.
_________________
Mini 1: 2.3 ghz Core i5; 8 gb RAM, Corsair 240gb SSD, 500 gb Seagate XT
Mini 2: 2.26 ghz Core 2 duo, 8 gb RAM, 500 gb Seagate
Also a Cube, 13" MacBook Air, 20" 2.66 ghz iMac & 11.6" Acer 1810TZ running Ubuntu, Mint & openSuse

[Aquafire]

Re InstantOn.

Yes I read of similar stories.

Poor olde Mandriva...

No doubt there will be more fallout..as a result

Head for the underground bunker...lol...

Aqua
_________________
Of the four X systems in the world.

Which would you choose?

OS X : LinuX : UniX or MS-BolloX.