[SunRescue] SS4/SS5/SS10 funzies.....(:+}}...

[James Lockwood]

On Tue, 3 Apr 2001, User Bobkeys BSD Bob the old greybeard BSD freak wrote:

> Well, the interdepartmental transfer came through, and although the
> machines are not mine, I now have some better sunhorsepower to run
> in the office, here, for a workstation and a teaching webserver use.
> Us MooU aggie types get some better computin' hoersepwr, today.....
>
> The SS4:   1 ram simm  501-2471-456764  (what size?)

32MB

> The SS5:   1 ram simms 501-2471-78001688 (what size?)

32MB

>            2 ram simms 501-2470-xxxxxxxx (what size?)

8MB

>            1 cdrom and some sort of card Sun Video?

What's the p/n of the card?

>            1 floppy
>            1 video card GWVS24?

Probably the AFX bus S24 card.  Reasonably nice if a bit slot 24bpp.

> Can the ram from the SS4 be moved to the SS5 (YES), and how should
> it be organized?

Yes.  First slot must be filled.  80MB of RAM would make for quite a
usable system.  Check out the CPU speeds of the SS4 and SS5, a SS4/110
might be worth using over a SS5/70.

> I would probably use the SS5 as a workstation and the SS10 as a server.

Probably makes sense especially with the S24 card.

> The SS10:  4 ram simm 501-1785  (what size?)
>            4 ram simm 501-2273  (what size?)

8 16MB SIMMs, 128MB total.

>            1 hd       C2490A    (HP?)
>            (cables for 2 HD but no drive sleds)

The SS10 doesn't use "sleds".  Get a bag of rubber grommets and screws at
any hardware store and use those.  Total cost to mount each drive will be
well under a dollar.

>            1 cpu      501-2239 TMS390

SM30.  36MHz, no cache.  A cheap SM41 or SM51 would provide a huge boost.

>            1 video card SunGX
>            1 floppy
>
> My expectation is to hang a storageworks shelf off the SS10 for HD space.
>
> What sort of use is the SunGX video card on the SS10, and what is the
> processor speed?  Can the SS10 be used as a reasonable workstation in
> its own right, or should it be run off a terminal or headless?

It will be a bit pokey but ok.  It should perform reasonably as a server
due to the RAM.

> The only thing looking like a processor in the SS5 was a fan covered
> chip?  The SS4 had a normal microsparc with hat chip.

Aha!  If the SS5 had a fan covered chip it is probably a 160/170MHz
TurboSPARC.  Definitely the fastest of the bunch and still a nice machine
in its own right.  If the CPU it sitting slightly above the mainboard on
its own little daughterboard you probably have a SS5 upgraded with a
Fujitsu 160 module.

The GX will probably be faster than the S24 for 8bpp stuff.  My
recommendation (assuming you only need to have one "user") is to make the
SS10 a server, stick both the framebuffers (GX and S24) into the SS5 and
run it as a dual-headed workstation.

Check the p/n on the SS4 to determine what speed it is, there is also
usually a little sticker on the CPU.  They came in 70, 85 and 110MHz
flavors.

-James