[geeks] argh

[Dave McGuire]

On April 7, jkunz at unixag-kl.fh-kl.de wrote:
> >   *bzzzt*  McGuire's Big Red Button alert.
> >   FDDI and SCSI are "gone"? 
> FDDI: Is this still used for new installations? E.g. the local
> university has thrown out all remaining FDDI stuf and replaced it by
> GBit/s Ethernet. (Some years ago they replaced much of it with ATM.)

  Not much, no.  I only know of two recently-installed networks that use
FDDI, that weren't built by me.  That, however, doesn't negate its
technical advantages, and it won't prevent me from installing it if I
determine it's the right tool for the job.

> Using existing hardware is one thing. (Hey, we are still using VAXen and
> SMD drives! At least I do.) Still active on the market is an other
> thing and that is what I am talking about. 

  Ahh, ok.  Well, I'm an engineer, not a marketing guy, so that's the
perspective from which my comments come.  The networks that I build
*work*, and they work well...this has nothing to do with what some
marketroid feels like selling this week.

> OK. SCSI isn't dead, but it will be daed soon. When I look at the

  Don't bet on it.

> prices for SCSI components, and at the price of there IDE counterparts,
> I want wo \begin{whine}. At least here in good old Germany the ratio
> SCSI / IDE is about 4..5!!! 

  Yes, and the Yugo was the cheapest car available...did it take over
the world?  IDE is rarely used in *serious* data center applications.
It's just not good enough.

     -Dave

-- 
Dave McGuire                    "I thought it would go quickly,
St. Petersburg, FL                 that rubberized bottom..." -Sridhar