[geeks] Shrinking the Sun Farm

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 @ 23:53 +0100, Mark said:

> On 20 Apr 2007, at 20:33, Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:
> 
> > I'm always looking for ways to save space, and I wanted to ask  
> > something
> > about Sun's Netra systems.
> >
> > I have Sun Ultra systems, and I like them, but they are hot and thick.
> > Right now I'm running two, and was thinking of getting more, but
> > the space is a problem.
> >
> > I know that rackmount Suns and other servers are thinner, but most of
> > them are too deep for my server table. I only have enough depth for
> > something like an Ultra 2.
> >
> > However, I had never really looked at the Netra X1, and just noticed
> > that it is no deeper than the Ultra systems.
> 
> The Netra X1 is a particularly small example. It's a lot stubbier  
> than my T1 105. The X1 uses a 'flapjack' board (which are tiny small  
> for a server) and a single IDE hard drive, I dunno how that effects  
> the performance?

Someone said it is basically the same thing as a Blade 100.

However, the 500MHz version is SCSI, not IDE.  That's probably what I'd
look at.

It's just speculation right now.

> The T1 105 is all SCSI which has obvious benefits for disk transfers,  
> and it holds 2 drives. I'd say the footprint is approx. the same as a  
> U60 laid on it's side, but without the height (obviously).

That might work.

> the biggest overiding concern I'd have is if you have to work in the  
> same room as the servers for any period of time. 1U rack gear is  
> frickin' loud because of all the small, fast running 40mm fans they  

Yeah, that's something I'm thinking about.  80mm fans are loud enough.

> U2s would be a lot cheaper than Netras. In the UK T1 105s are still  
> fetching more than I paid a year after I bought mine. Add to that you  
> can use SMP on Ultras, which improves any Solaris machine's  
> performance greatly for load distribution.

After spending some time on this, that's pretty much what I'm thinking.
The problem is that I end up with more heat, and the U2 isn't exactly
silent.

I'm thinking I might not be able to get a Sun solution to really tackle
this.

Mostly I'm just working on ideas to plan ahead.

> Crazy idea - buy a smaller desk and a 20U rack. You could fit it with  
> rack shelves and sit a lot of U2s in it. Sun workstations are all  
> equipped to fit racks anyway so there'd be no problems width-wise.

Yes, that would be ideal.

However, there are things keeping the table here. It is made of wood,
and incredibly heavy. It has a hutch and that I make heavy use of above
the computers. There are computers sitting on the top too. The cabinets
built into the bottom are used to house the UPS system, and various
supplies.

So it stays partly because of money, and also because it would be hell
to move it out and the stuff it supports.

Still, I'm always thinking about it. I'm sure I'll toss it some day.

Just... not... right... now...

I know, keep backing off and it will never happen.

> Just my 2 penneth...

Good ideas, appreciated.


-- 
shannon           | We are all of us in the gutter, some of us looking at the 
                  | stars.  
                  |         -- Oscar Wilde