file descriptor limit for processes too low/too high

Hi,
I am a UNIX veteran (>25yrs of using and teaching it) and the number of open files per process has increased a lot and is a tuning parameter.

in the 80s the limit was around 20 file descriptors per process and around 1K – 4K for the whole system.

today both parameters are configurable. ulimit -n shows 256 on my mac lion.

I suggest that Jesse adds either a footnote or some text on how to adjust the number of open files within a process. For example, a high-load multi-threaded single-process server might not have enough open file descriptors available (each connection takes 1).

Just my CHF0.02

Peter.

Thanks for your feedback Peter!

I had a feeling that that information was outdated. I’ll make sure to add something, I think a footnote is in order here.

FYI I ended up a whole chapter on rlimit rather than a footnote here. It’s part of the P1.1 release here on pragprog.