Microkernel Performance: FreeBSD versus Darwin

[Robert Watson]

On Sat, 4 Sep 2004, Paul Smith wrote:

> Theoretically the microkernel of Darwin should create overheads harming
> the performance.  Has anybody seen an actual study comparing the
> performance of Darwin and FreeBSD? 

FYI, Darwin doesn't use a microkernel.  It includes code elements from
Mach, which did use a microkernel, but those elements are integrated into
the same address space as the remainder of the kernel (file system,
network stack, etc).  I'm not sure I've seen any performance studies,
regardless.

Robert N M Watson             FreeBSD Core Team, TrustedBSD Projects
robert at fledge.watson.org      Principal Research Scientist, McAfee Research