[geeks] Sun-HOWTO

[Peter L. Wargo]

On Thu, 18 Oct 2001, Joshua D Boyd wrote:

> site, so I made a guess.  Anyway, since I'm at there site, let me put
> together some real numbers.
> 
> $4,100,000 for the server.
> $650 for a Sun Ray 100.

On their site, they fail to mention disk.  Let's see, a few T3's in a
rack...  Not to mention site prep costs, install costs, etc.  This is, of
course, assuming your datacenter has 12 30-amp lines available, as well as
the ability to cool over 60Kbtu/hr of system...

> Now, 2,304 clients seems reasonable for a maxed Sunfire.  That leaves
> 128megs for terminal, and 32 terminals per processor, which shouldn't be
> bad since they are 900mhz USIIIs, and most terminals would be idle most of
> the time anyway.

True.  A lot depends on the application.  Obvoiusly, a bunch of engineers
picking apart monster core files is a bit more intense than StarOffice...

> That means an initial cash outlay of $5,597,600, not including networking
> gear, which probably needs to be better than average for the SunRays, but
> shouldn't be a problem with how many network interfaces can be stuffed in
> a SunFire.  That comes to $2,430 per seat.  About the same as for a PC,
> except the network needs to be a bit better, but there should be great
> savings on support staff.  

I agree with the support savings (or we wouldn't be doing it @SUn, not
than I'm complaing, as I type this on my work-at-home 440MHZ U10...).
However, the Sunrays need their own network, so you might have some costs
there.

> Maybe the Sunfires aren't good enough for that number of clients.  In
> which case we perhaps should consider the heresy of saying that Sun should
> be thwapped, rather than someone who considers doing such a thing with a
> SunFire.

No, I could imagine they could do it, but if you were really
mission-critical, you'd have a pair of 'em clustered, to avoid a SPOF.

I will say this, though - none of us miss our U10's, the Sunrays are
quiet, fast, and it is so cool to snag your card on the way to another
office, then just plug it in and keep working.  Handy as all hell for
meetings.

-Pete