LAT_UNIX_CONNECT(8)

💅 lat_unix_connect — ok bestie, it's giving UNIX socket speedrun

so this is a page from the LMBENCH manual, section 8 (that's the sysadmin / maintenance girlies section, iykyk). it's called lat_unix_connect and it's literally about measuring how long it takes to connect to another process over a UNIX socket. tiny numbers, big drama. let's get into it 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

lat_unix_connect — measure interprocess connection latency via UNIX sockets 💖

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

lat_unix_connect -s
lat_unix_connect [ -P <parallelism> ] [ -W <warmups> ] [ -N <repetitions> ]
lat_unix_connect -S

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so lat_unix_connect is a client/server program that measures interprocess connection latencies. it's a whole two-person operation, main character energy on both sides. 🌈

what it actually times is the creation and connection of an AF_UNIX socket to a local server — so like, how long does it take to make a socket and slide into the server's DMs. 💌

and bestie, lat_connect has three forms of usage, not one, not two, three:

• as a server (-s) 👑
• as a client (lat_connect) ✨
• as a shutdown (lat_connect -S) 💀

pick your vibe, run it, get your number.

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🔥 OUTPUT 🔥

the reported time is in microseconds per connection. microseconds. that's the whole point — we're counting the tiny tiny slivers of time here, fr fr.

the output format is like so:

UNIX connection cost: 1006 microseconds

so yeah, 1006 microseconds, that's the connection cost. slay. 💅

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👀 SEE ALSO 👀

• lmbench(8).

go read that one too, it's the parent page, the mother of the whole fam. 🎀

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💜 AUTHOR 💜

Carl Staelin and Larry McVoy ✨

and the official word on feedback, copy-pasted straight from the source because I'm not about to paraphrase the authors:

Comments, suggestions, and bug reports are always welcome.

they literally want to hear from you. yes, even about the bugs. especially about the bugs. 🙈

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🌟 the sign-off 🌟

okay that's the whole page!! 🫶 this one lives in the LMBENCH manual, it's LAT_UNIX_CONNECT(8), and the copyright line says (c)1994 Larry McVoy, with the date field being $Date$. iconic behavior from 1994 honestly. 💖 now go forth and measure your sockets, bestie — no cap. 🦋⭐💜