[hendrik@topoi.pooq.com: Is the AMD-64 ready for reliable use? (possibly on K8V-MX moptherboard)]

[hendrik@topoi.pooq.com]

I'm considering buying a box and putting the AMD64 port of sarge
on it.

I can see lots of problems with the AMD64 port on the mailing
list, but that doesn't make it clear whether troubles are normal
or unusual.  Very few happy users ever write in to say how happy
they are,

I have had it proposed to me that I might set up a server for
my LAN (not the internet gateway) as a Sempron system running
Linux.  Specifically, an Asus K8V-MX Athlon 64 motherboard,
an AMD Sempron64 2600, 512 meg DDR PC-3200 w/o ECC.
to quote from the quotation.

My question is, is the Debian AMD64 platform ready for such use?
Presumably I'd be using the unofficial sarge release ... or has it
become official in the meantime?  Or is etch actually more reliable right now?

The server will initially be running an NFS server that serves from a
software RAID (hard disks presumably partitioned using LVM).  I'm
considering putting everybody's home directory on it so that they will
have their bookmarks, configurations, etc. available whatever machine
in the house they are actually sitting at.  But if the are running on
one of the substantially less powerful machines, they will use the
Sempron remotely using XDMCP or VNC.  Oh, yes.  One or two of my users
are collecting video files (mostly .mpg). Would accessing them from
another machine using NFS (100 MHz ethernet) be fast enough for them to
view them?  Even if two users did it at the same time?  (not from the
legacy 100MHz pentium, though, of course).

Any comments on whether this plan is feasible?  Do others have good
experiences with that motherboard?  Or should I backtrack and specify an
old reliable 32-bit Pentium instead?

-- hendrik

Please CC: me as I am not subscribed to this list -- although I will
eventually see replies in the archives anyway, and will probably
subscribe if I go ahead with the project.