Benchmarking input/output multiplexing facilities of the Linux kernel

Abstract

[en] In the last few decades, concurrent connection processing needs have increased, and will continue to do so – both server-side and client-side. There has been a big push in the industry towards solutions that improve the efficiency of all the pieces involved in this task. This Bachelor’s Thesis focuses in a foundational feature for many programs: how to handle more than one connection at the same time. It is an apparently simple task –whether you ask a computer engineer or a computer user. However, it can be done in different ways, each of which has different efficiency consequences. This document will explore the main ways to be able to handle concurrent connections in Linux computer systems. In addition, we will be experimentally analysing the efficiency of the main methods for accomplishing multiple concurrent connections: using different threads or using one of the three I/O multiplexing tools (select, poll and epoll) provided by the Linux kernel.