Re: rescue Digest, Vol 83, Issue 9

[Chris Brandstetter]

> Date: Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:42:45 +0100
> From: Peter Corlett <abuse@...>
> To: The Rescue List <rescue@...>
> Subject: Re: [rescue] Wanted: Old Sun Hardware
> Message-ID: <E3AC44CC-1636-49CC-AA51-A9375B553B33@...>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
>
> On 14 Oct 2009, at 10:46, Lionel Peterson wrote:
> > I think 'Old' has gone through several definitions - first anything  
> > 680x0-based, then anything Sun4(all flavors) or earlier, then  
> > anytimg that wouldn't run 64-bit Solaris. Soon (I fear) it will mean  
> > anything not x64-based.
>
> Ha. I have in front of me a slightly battered x64 Ultra 20, acquired  
> cheaply because the previous owner evidently decided it was too old.

I have 2 of those I consider my "Current" workstations.  Nothing wrong
with them and will have them for a couple years to come.  Got mine off
of eBay when a guy was unloading a few w/ no hdds.



--
Chris Brandstetter

-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.1
GCS/IT d+(-) s++:++ a C++++$ UBLISXC*++++$ P++++$ L+++$ E-- W+++ N+ o K-
w-- O M++$ V PS- PE Y+ PGP++ t++ 5+++ X+ R- tv-- b+>+++ DI D+ G+ e+ h++
r
y?
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

To Decode: http://www.ebb.org/ungeek/
_______________________________________________
rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue

[Lionel Peterson-2]

On Oct 15, 2009, at 10:52 PM, Chris Brandstetter  
<sirloxelroy@...> wrote:

>> Date: Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:42:45 +0100
>> From: Peter Corlett <abuse@...>
>> To: The Rescue List <rescue@...>
>> Subject: Re: [rescue] Wanted: Old Sun Hardware
>> Message-ID: <E3AC44CC-1636-49CC-AA51-A9375B553B33@...>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
>>
>> On 14 Oct 2009, at 10:46, Lionel Peterson wrote:
>>> I think 'Old' has gone through several definitions - first anything
>>> 680x0-based, then anything Sun4(all flavors) or earlier, then
>>> anytimg that wouldn't run 64-bit Solaris. Soon (I fear) it will mean
>>> anything not x64-based.
>>
>> Ha. I have in front of me a slightly battered x64 Ultra 20, acquired
>> cheaply because the previous owner evidently decided it was too old.
> I have 2 of those I consider my "Current" workstations.  Nothing wrong
> with them and will have them for a couple years to come.  Got mine off
> of eBay when a guy was unloading a few w/ no hdds.

They are reasonably expandable (friend using Mr. Bill's lightly  
upgraded unit as primary desktop running Vista w/o incident), but  
upgrades are expensive relative to newer machines (DDR vs. DDR2 RAM  
costs, only two SATA drive bays, etc). This is the intersection of  
'good enough' and 'not the latest'...

RAM upgrade to 4 Gigs is $125-150 (more for ECC), and CPU upgrades are  
overpriced for performance increase. Compare that to the $25-30 (AR) I  
can upgrade a DDR2 desktop to 4 Gigs for, and the option of a $100-125  
Quad Core CPU, and the U20 is less appealing than other desktops for  
most people.

Lionel
_______________________________________________
rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue

[Phil Stracchino-3]

Chris Brandstetter wrote:

>> Date: Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:42:45 +0100
>> From: Peter Corlett <abuse@...>
>> To: The Rescue List <rescue@...>
>> Subject: Re: [rescue] Wanted: Old Sun Hardware
>> Message-ID: <E3AC44CC-1636-49CC-AA51-A9375B553B33@...>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
>>
>> On 14 Oct 2009, at 10:46, Lionel Peterson wrote:
>>> I think 'Old' has gone through several definitions - first anything  
>>> 680x0-based, then anything Sun4(all flavors) or earlier, then  
>>> anytimg that wouldn't run 64-bit Solaris. Soon (I fear) it will mean  
>>> anything not x64-based.
>> Ha. I have in front of me a slightly battered x64 Ultra 20, acquired  
>> cheaply because the previous owner evidently decided it was too old.
> I have 2 of those I consider my "Current" workstations.  Nothing wrong
> with them and will have them for a couple years to come.  Got mine off
> of eBay when a guy was unloading a few w/ no hdds.

I wouldn't mind a couple of Ultra20s or newer myself, if budget
permitted.  It'd be nice to be able to replace one or two machines
around here, particularly the Windows boxen, with actual
current-generation gear instead of third-time-around hand-me-downs.

--
  Phil Stracchino, CDK#2     DoD#299792458     ICBM: 43.5607, -71.355
  alaric@...   alaric@...   phil@...
         Renaissance Man, Unix ronin, Perl hacker, Free Stater
                 It's not the years, it's the mileage.
_______________________________________________
rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue

[Phil Stracchino-3]

Phil Stracchino wrote:
> I wouldn't mind a couple of Ultra20s or newer myself, if budget
> permitted.  It'd be nice to be able to replace one or two machines
> around here, particularly the Windows boxen, with actual
> current-generation gear instead of third-time-around hand-me-downs.

Which probably sounds heretical, on further thought, until I explain my
intent of replacing babylon5 with, say, an Ultra24 or Ultra45 and
retasking the current babylon5 for Windows...

Not that, even if I had that kinda cash on hand, I could spare it for
machine upgrades right now.


--
  Phil Stracchino, CDK#2     DoD#299792458     ICBM: 43.5607, -71.355
  alaric@...   alaric@...   phil@...
         Renaissance Man, Unix ronin, Perl hacker, Free Stater
                 It's not the years, it's the mileage.
_______________________________________________
rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue