Re: unix price compare

From: Donn Miller (dmmiller_at_cvzoom.net)
Date: 07/06/04 

Date: Tue, 06 Jul 2004 04:12:34 -0400

GreyCloud wrote:
>
>
> Linønut wrote:
>
>> Error BR-549: MS DRM 1.0 rejects the following post from Richard S.
>> Shuford:
>>
>>
>>> Something like--oh, yeah--Solaris.
>>
>>
>>
>> Cool! A Slowlaris troll!
>>
>
> Now you don't see one of those very often. :-))

Well, biggest problem with Solaris is HW support on x86, I haven't yet
checked the license terms, but I'm afraid I might not be eligible for
the free, personal edition of Solaris for a web server I might want to
run on my Ultra. So but, with NetBSD, there is no doubt as to whether
or not I have to pay a license fee, because I know I don't.

I just installed NetBSD, and I liked the installer. Interactivity
doesn't seem very fantasically great, but maybe that's because it's an
older and slower Sun. Now, if I had a dual-cpu config, I wouldn't be
able to use both CPUs with NetBSD, and my choices would be restricted to
Solaris or Linux. FreeBSD would also work, but the installer needs
further work, or so I've read on the mailing lists.

I did have Gentoo chugging on the U2, and it was going quite well. I
decided to axe Gentoo, but it had nothing to do with Gentoo itself as it
did with X configuration. First, xorgconf refused to run, because I've
got a cgsix, an 8-bit framebuffer, and xorgconf wants 16 bits in order
to work. I tried xorgconfig, and nowhere did I see a mention of a Sun
keyboard or mouse. So, the Gentoo is gone until I get a bigger HD, AND
a 24-bit framebuffer. Hopefully, xorgconf will detect Sun keyboards and
mice.

A downside to using *BSD the Sun is that X isn't supported, and on
NetBSD, I'm restricted to using Xsun, Sun's X server. Turns out the Sun
Framebuffer cards are supported under Xorg and XFree86 only on Linux.
When/if my bigger scsi HD gets here, I'll have a shot at Solaris,
because I need to be running Solaris in order to upgrade my boot prom.
AFter that, I don't know what I'll do.

I probably would've been better off bidding on a Sun Blade 100, but that
probably wouldn't be a speed demon either. Sadly, looks like the PC
platform gives the best speed/buck performance.

For example, check out this auction on ebay:

Sun Blade 2000, 1.2ghz CPU, Brand New, NR
  Starting bid: US $6,400.00
"Buy it now" Price: US $6,700.00

The specs:
Sun Blade 2000 Workstation
1 1.2-GHz UltraSPARC III Cu Processor
(add a second CPU for $2350.00)
8-MB External Cache per Processor
Sun XVR-100 Graphics Accelerator
(upgrade to a XVR-600 for $795.00)
1-GB Memory (4 x 256mb)
(upgrade to 2GB 4 x 512MB for $995.00)
1 73-GB 10000 RPM FC-AL Disk Drive
(add a second Drive for $445.00)
1 10/100BASE-T Self-Sensing Ethernet Port
4 USB Ports
2 IEEE 1394 Ports
2 Serial Ports
1 Parallel Port
3 64 Bit/33 MHz PCI I/O Slots
1 64 Bit/66 MHz PCI I/O Slot
StarOffice 6.0 Office Suite Pre-Installed
Solaris 8 & 9 Operating Environments Pre-Installed
Solaris Media Kit Available for $90.00
Country Kit Available for $40.00

Now, I know the UltraSparc is probably a more elegant and
better-designed processor than the Pentium IV, but the bottom line is
that one could get a P4 2.8GHz machine for around $698.00. Sure, the PC
HW might be a little crappier in reliability, but hey, it costs 1/10 of
what the Blade costs. But I suppose Sun is a lower-volume producer, and
hence their costs are pretty high. I do remember seeing prices in the
$5000-$20000 range for unix workstations (DECs, Suns) back in 1994 at
the Microcomputer Order Center at Penn State, so unix machines were
always whoppers when it came to price. But people who buy used Suns are
pretty faithful to their platform of choice, and the machines are pretty
nice. It's just that crappy commodity PC HW gives the highest
performance/dollar. I still like my Ultra 2, though, so there's more to
choice of computing platform than raw speed.

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