[rescue] FDDI card

[Kenneth Dunn]

On Mon, 25 Feb 2002, James Sharp wrote:

> You mean I have to explain myself instead of just mindlessly bashing
> things?  Darn it.  Okay...here goes.
> 
> They're just not designed for it.

Sure.... that is why the IBM x200 and no-name Pentium III at work 
has been up for months at a time, only coming down for software 
upgrades. 
 
> 1) There's always going to be a bottleneck in network IO as every byte
> that comes into the system has to be flipped around.  PC byteorder !=
> network byte order.

Does this make the Alpha an unsuitable CPU too ?
 
> 2) They don't handle loads very gracefully.  Sure, you can sort of make up
> for this by getting the latest & greatest 340982304983Thz processor...they
> can do 1 thing REALLY fast, but when you start making them task swap &
> context switch, they fall on their face.

Can't say I've noticed that happening much outside of Windows. Ok
Linux boxes with ATA hard drives too.
 
> 3) That whole keyboard & monitor thing.  Sun/Alpha/SGI/etc machines all
> have BUILT-IN serial consoles.  The closest thing you can get to a true
> serial console on a PeeCee is the PC Weasel, but all that really does is
> emulate the monitor & keyboard...turns it into a serial stream.

If you're not accustomed to serial consoles then it is a non-issue.
 
> 4) You can't standardize on anything for more than 2-3 months.  If you
> order a Sun E450 today and one 9 months from now, they're going to be
> almost identical...maybe a few board revision changes.  If you order a 1RU

That I can agree with.

 
> 5) Nothing pisses me off more than having a server fall off the network
> because it was "idle" for more than 15 minutes and went to sleep because
> of EnergyStar or whatever power conservation stuff there is because I
> forgot to disable it (okay, so my Ultra 1 did the same thing...but that I

That is such a trivial matter, why even bring it up ? 

> I'm sure theres more reasons...

For small businesses and small departments PeeCee servers make
perfect sense. 

	+ Inexpensive compared to serious server hardware

	+ more competition among vendors selling such equipment

	+ A much wider range of specialised hardware

	+ usually easy to get parts for within the 3 
	years they are good for

	+ easier to get staff/contractor to maintain them (*1)

	+ the is shit loads of specialised software for them

	+ that software is often significantly cheaper than the Unix 
	alternative

	+ almost anyone out of high school that can spell their name
	can be taught to operated one (*1)
 

*1 Getting someone that knows what they are doing is another story.