[SunRescue] Re: NetApps?

[Björn Ramqvist]

Robert Novak wrote:
> 
> Actually, believe it or not, they're back to ia32/x86. The new machines
> are Coppermine/P3 to allow for multiprocessor controllers (I guess they
> couldn't hack the alpha smp on two floppies). The other big difference is
> they've gone from SCSI to FC, although even the F8x0 will handle a limited
> number of scsi drives.

Actually, I talked to ProAct, a Swedish distributor for Network
Appliance here, and he told me they went for Coppermines because of the
pricetag. There is a certain amount of power in those CPUs nowadays, and
it wasn't really justified to put an expensive 866 MHz EV68 Alpha in
those boxes. =)

Some months ago I saw one of those beasts in action (F820 something)
with a couple of FC-disks for demo-purpose. Cool thing, and fast
booting. And of course not to mention the throughput...
Although I couldn't see why they didn't bother to put in a GbE card.
Certainly FastEthernet must be a bottleneck sometime.

My customer went for a Compaq MA12000 instead, because of the pricetag.
But that ain't bad either... =)


/Bjorn