19 Aug
2011
19 Aug
'11
1:13 p.m.
On Fri, Aug 19, 2011 at 3:48 PM, Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> wrote:
On 08/19/2011 12:04 PM, Ethan Dicks wrote:
Yes. I know they are not as sturdy or as elegant. OTOH, I used to
use a U5 everyday for Solaris software development. I remember
appreciating my $100 SPARC5-70 I used at home at the time. It was
fine for what I did, as long as I didn't need to do any serious web
browsing - limited memory was my most serious problem, IIRC.
This thread is timely - I have been offered an
Ultra 5 to pick up this
weekend.
?First, be aware that the Ultra5 and Ultra10 systems are garbage. They are
essentially PCs with low-end UltraSPARC CPUs in them. ?This system will NOT
be up to the standard of quality that you've come to expect from Sun based
on your SPARCstation-5. ?There is one processor module that I consider
"useful" on those systems;
it's a 440MHz CPU with 2MB of cache. ?The others (all of them I think) have
tiny-to-the-point-of-being-useless caches and are very, very slow.
I will look for that when I look at the box. Thanks.
?You'll definitely want to put a SCSI host adapter
in there. ?The onboard
IDE controller is slower than pissing tar.
I don't recall feeling the OS was sluggish in the U5 I used 8-9 hrs a
day, but I didn't ask more of it than to run a fistful of xterm
windows and sometimes a browser.
?The right SCSI host adapter is a
Symbios sym22801; they are supported by OBP for booting and are good
performers.
Good to know. Thanks.
?If you're serious about replacing your
SPARCstation-5 with a new(er) 64-bit
Sun system, I strongly recommend against the Ultra5, even if it is free. ?Be
aware that the Ultra10 is essentially the same machine in a different
chassis.
I did know the U5 and U10 were essentially the same machine in different boxes.
?I'd point you in the direction of something like
an Ultra60, which
is (IMO) one of the finest workstation-class systems Sun has ever built.
?They can easily be found as freebies nowadays, will run rings around an
Ultra5 of any configuration, and are built like tanks.
I have a Netra T1125 - it's a rack-mount U60 with the keyboard and
mouse and UPA ports blocked off.
Fine for a server; not so fine for a server+X-workstation.
There are lots of Suns and Sun owners around here (Central Ohio). I
get offered lesser machines (SS10s and SS20s seem to be popular to
ditch right now) several times a year. Nobody local has yet asked to
have hauled away anything in the U30 and up range.
-ethan