On Sat, Apr 19, 2003 at 09:03:07PM +0100, Shri Shrikumar wrote: > Hi, > > I have been working with i386 machines for a while now and wanted try > out some non-i386 hardware. > > Looking around in ebay, there are some hp-ux, sgi, etc. machines for a > few hundred pounds. They dont seem to be very powerful though, maybe > 200MHz or something. > > How do their speeds relate to 200MHz i386 machines, if they are about > the same, how come they are so expensive ? > > Is there any good site with introduction to non-i386 hardware. I tried > googling but came up with nothing. > > Also, what is best supported unix-based hardware with debian that is > easily obtainable. I have four sparc machines; an Ultra 30 with a 300 MHz processor that is my desktop, an Ultra 60 with dual 300 MHz processors and 2G of RAM that is supposed to be a server (but is mostly sitting around), and two older SparcStation 5s. The Ultra 30 is probably similar to a Pentium II in performance, the Ultra 60 is in the Pentium III department, and the SS 5s are at best in the 486 class. I paid about 350 USD for the U30, about 900 USD for the U60, and about 20 USD for each SS5. Many non-i386 platforms use RISC processors, thus they often sport lower CPU speeds. Since RISC instructions are smaller and require less latency than CISC, RISC processors tend to be "more efficient", at least as far as how many instructions are executed given some number of processor cycles. (I'm over-simplifying this _ a lot_, especially since the new i386 stuff (particularly AMD) is a RISC core emulating CISC). Some of the stuff on ebay is overpriced, either because the original seller paid a ton of money for the stuff and is trying to recoup some of his investment, or because bidders have gone crazy. Caveat emptor. Otherwise, much non-i386 gear is priced in a manner unfamiliar to those who come from an i386-centric world. Much non-i386 gear has SCSI disk subsystems (which are more expensive than their IDE counterparts), more esoteric hardware such as video and audio (like most SGI boxes). The processor speed emphasis that i386 users are familiar with just doesn't exist in this world. Many machines can hold an obscene amount of RAM. Many of these boxes are solidly constructed; the Sun Ultras have large heavy cases. Ditto just about anything HP makes. Sometimes non-i386 stuff is more expensive for the same reason that Apple Macs are more expensive than PC clones: there are no Mac clones! This holds true (with some exceptions :-) for Sun, SGI, HP, etc. If you are interested in running debian on non-i386 hardware I suggest you consider ppc, hppa, and sparc (not necessarily in that order). Mailing lists exist for each architecture; lurking on those lists would be a good idea IMO. -- Nathan Norman - Incanus Networking mailto:nnorman@incanus.net Exhilaration is that feeling you get just after a great idea hits you, and just before you realize what's wrong with it.
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