[geeks] Swapping Sparc boxes...

[David L Kindred (Dave)]

>>>>> "Kurt" == Kurt Mosiejczuk <kurt at csh.rit.edu> writes:

    Kurt> On Thu, 4 Dec 2003, Jonathan C. Patschke wrote:
    >> > on Solaris.  I can address the third partition on my second
    >> > disk as /dev/sdb3, or as
    >> > /dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target1/lun0/part3, or as

    >> Egad, but that is really, really fugly.

    Kurt> Yes.  Although is /devices/pci at 1f,4000/scsi at 3/sd at 0,0:a,raw
    Kurt> really much better?  I suspect the one below is more meant to
    Kurt> be used...

    >> > /dev/sd/c0b0t1u0p3.

Actually, I think all of the schemes are "best", it's just that at any
given moment the one you're using is the wrong one :)

It is nice for normal things when an all of the systems the first disk
is always "sd0" or some such, regardless of the details of the hardware.
But then things get f------ when you change things.

But the full-specification names are great when you really need to be
specific.  But damn, it's too much typing dealing with them otherwise.
The computer should be smart enough to figure all that crap out for you
when you refer to the "first disk" or whatever.  But then again this
format is good when some things change but not others.  You can remove a
tape drive without borking all the rest or whatever.

Perhaps some standardization on a fundamental system based on
full-specification with "aliasing" of some sort (like good old symbolic
links).  Somewhere let the system know that "/dev/dlt" is really
"/dev/rmt/c3t2d0BEST" so you can reference "/dev/dlt" when reading
tapes.



-- 
David L. Kindred