Re: Power supply efficiency on older model Sun equipment

The Netra T1 suggestion is a good one.  I've never
worked with that size of SCSI drive before and had assumed
they are very expensive.

At the start of the quest I might have taken that up,
but since I've learned more and thought about this
in the meantime, it has changed from simply
consolidating home servers to power savings.

Many of Robert's points are valid for the workplace,
but not my situation at home.  It is always OK if
I take perhaps 4-5 days to get my home server back up
following a hardware loss.  But I try to reduce the
chances of this by buying quality brand components,
just as you would with the Sun.  Surely there are brands
other than Sun which make good quality computing
equipment.  Painting all x86 land with one wide brush
isn't appropriate in my view.

I believe the Intel and AMD (not yet retail) ultra low power
CPUs (AMD also has a low power chipset) are the start
of something that will hit the server room.  Sun will
surely undertake the same initiative.  They may develop
blade systems based on these procs, or go multi core, or
somehow further improve on the original design.

The benefit is massive.  Power rates always go up, so the
savings just increase.  Any reduction in power used in
the server room results in heat reduction and
a double gain via A/C savings.

It is partly an interest in low power computing which has
helped to fuel my interest in the Intel solution.  The AMD
chipset+CPU is 8 watts leaner than Atom, but isn't available yet or
I would have gone that way.  Perhaps Sun will offer an AMD
based solution like this?  But I've never regarded
x86 Suns as true Suns.

I do like Sun servers, but brand loyality isn't as interesting
to me as other things, like exploring the future of
computing and saving my family some of the income for
other things in life.

Thanks for your comments, Robert.  Although there was
some confusion and misunderstandings in our communication,
I appreciate the efforts you put into making your points
and researching the sizing and budget problem I gave.

--Donald

On Sun, Aug 31, 2008 at 6:12 PM, Robert Chase <robert.b.chase <at> gmail.com> wrote:
> Donald,
>
> As I mentioned before in my e-mail it seems that your decision has already
> been made and there is no real need to discuss this.....  You seem to just
> be looking for validation for your decision and completely have ignored many
> good points raised..... I have wasted enough of my time discussing this
> already and won't be responding to any more threads about this.....
>
> I know someone with a Netra T1 with dual 300gb Ultra 320 drives in
> them.....  Ultra 320 drives will work in an Ultra 160 controller.....  You
> can pick up the drives on fleabay for $100 or so each and the Netra itself
> for $75......  Completely "unsupported" but it works quite well.....  I
> believe that qualifies under your $500 mark....... But its not a concept you
> explored again because you had already made your decision before posting
> here....... I'm not really sure what you meant to accomplish by letting a
> group of people who run sun hardware at the house know your buying a PC
> server......  We obviously have a Sun bias.....  Perhaps you might get more
> input from a group of people who tossed out their Sun hardware for PC
> hardware?
>
> Robert Chase
>
>
> D G Teed wrote:
>
> On Sun, Aug 31, 2008 at 1:48 AM, Robert Chase <robert.b.chase <at> gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>
> Hmmm,
>
> <sarcasm>
> I certainly hope it would beat the Ultra 60 considering its a 1998 vintage
> system.  Thats the part I always find amusing.  People comparing a ten year
> old Sun with a brand new PC.
>  I wonder how the PC would fair against a
> Sunfire V445 with raided SAS disks?  Would be more fair than comparing 10
>
>
> What they are comparing is what they can afford.
> Its logical.  If given the choice of buying a 10 year
> old Lexus or a 5 year old Toyota I'll take the Toyota.
> People only find themselves making those comparisons
> because they are concerned with cost and family budget.
>
> When you find a V445 with 320GB SAS for $500 let me know.
> I can't afford the "quality" and capacities both.
>
> In my perspective it is a choice of saving money,
> not the glory of building a dynasty of computing
> or building a mission critical solution to run at home.
>
> I'm making a choice to run with the lowest total cost
> for a home server.  That choice was once to use
> the free Sun hardware that is no longer suited for
> my workplace, or to locate deals on Sun equipment
> on eBay.  On second thoughts I'm abandoning
> that.  It goes for IBM hardware they discard too.
>
> I'm sorry if my priorities have rained on your
> luxurious (from my budget viewpoint) standards.
>
> --Donald
>
>
>