Performance/Library and directory structure

Optimizing the placement of libraries for a better cold start up

This part wants to concentrate on

Main idea

According to an article from Microsoft the placement of shared libraries is crucial for a good start up performance. The article states that the load time of a library can be reduced by about 20% if it's located at the first search position (next to the binary).

It must be clarified if the findings can also have positive effects on the other platforms.

Windows

• Windows Vista Ultimate 32-Bit
• Opteron 175 (Dual core) 2,2Ghz
• 4 GB RAM
• Deskstar 7K250 160GB 8MB Cache
• (Super Fetch and Prefetch disabled)

Performance test with DEV300m45

The following performance test wants to clarify how much performance can be gained with an optimized library placement.

Optimization method	Test run 1	Test run 2	Test run 3	Mean time
OOO310m9	16,1s	16,1s	16,4s	16,2s	16,2s	16,2s (100%)
DEV300m45 (standard)	15,8s	15,8s	14,9s	15,9s	14,8s	15,4s (95%)
DEV300m45 (flat*)	13,7s	14,1s	14,3s	13,7s	13,3s	13,8s (85%)
DEV300m45 (not rebased/flat*)	9,9s	11,5s	11,3s	11,6s	10,7s	11s (68%)

flat = All libraries are located next to the application binaries. Means that all libraries are within the "OpenOffice.org 3\program" folder.