[geeks] FYI - Low cost Dell Opteron Servers

[Shannon Hendrix]

On Mar 26, 2008, at 21:58 , Lionel Peterson wrote:

>> From: Shannon Hendrix <shannon at widomaker.com>
>> Date: 2008/03/26 Wed PM 05:06:03 CDT
>> To: The Geeks List <geeks at sunhelp.org>
>> Subject: Re: [geeks] FYI - Low cost Dell Opteron Servers
>
>
> <snip>
>
>> If this machine will run 24/7, like every other PC I've built myself,
>> I'll be happy.
>
> I wouldn't anticipate a problem, IIRC Mr. Bill was happy with his  
> Dell SC440 (Correct model? it was one of their low-end servers, much  
> like the T105 you and I ordered), and I've been very happy with the  
> few "baby servers" I have at home (I have a Dell PowerEdge 750 (1U  
> P4 server) that has run 24x7 for about three years +/-, without a  
> hiccup (behind a UPS). I recently upgraded the CPU to a 2.8 GHz P4  
> with Hyperthreading from a Celeron 2.4 GHz, and it made a big  
> difference ;^)
>
> Bottom line, if the environment is not hostile, I think these units  
> perform just fine, esp. considering their price...

My last two Sun's, an Ultra 1 and an Ultra 2 have been less than  
reliable, and I expect this little PC server will do better than both  
of them,  plus it is several times more powerful than both of them  
together.

Not sure what the deal is, but I've never had great luck with the Sun  
Ultra series unless they were in a very low dust and cold environment.

I know what one problem is: their internal airflow sucks.  Convoluted,  
bad hot spots, and interrupts that cause dust to collect.

My most reliable Sun ever was a 68020 machine.  I happen to know it  
hit 20 years of service before being retired.

Second to that was probably an SS1+ and an SS2, both of which I  
believe are still running.

-- 
Shannon Hendrix
shannon at widomaker.com