[rescue] J90 on epay

[Dave McGuire]

On Friday, February 28, 2003, at 11:35 AM, Joshua D. Boyd wrote:
> It is my understanding that 16 proc J90s are rather rare.  That said,
> the paper work indicates that this is only an 8 proc machine, so I'm 
> not
> sure why they are saying it is J916/16-2048, which makes it sound like 
> a
> 16 proc model.

   16 processor J90s aren't that rare...32 processor J90s are the rare 
ones.  Any J90 can support up to 16 processors with the right 
backplane, but more than 16 requires a different chassis.

> First, I believe that Cray scsi boards in the J90 are some sort of
> normal off the self VME SCSI board.  Dave McGuire would know more about
> this.  However, my understanding is that the first cabinet, the one 
> with
> the grey stripe, is the one with the major Cray mojo in it.  The second
> cabinet consists of disks and one or more VME cages.  The VME cages 
> have
> things like HIPPI cards, and SPARC based IO processors (reportedly off
> the shelf parts, all), and reportedly the only thing special in the VME
> cages are the cards that connect the VME cages to the backplanes that
> interconnects the two cabinets.

   Correct on all counts.  The rack with the big badge on the front 
contains the processors, memory, and their power supplies and 
environmental monitoring hardware.  Any SCSI interfaces, FDDI, or IPI 
interfaces (IPI is found only on older machines) are unmodified cards 
made by Interphase.  Each IOS processor is a VME SPARC5.

> Also, the Sparc 5 machine, requires no special hardware, so if there is
> anything broken on it, no big deal.

   Also correct.

> Also, getting an OS and compilers for the cray is going to be a major
> PIA, if it isn't somehow installed already.

   Not a pain, just expensive. ;)

> Again, Dave McGuire is the guy to talk to about specifics, if ones
> serious about getting such a machine.

   I'm trying to figure out a way to afford the machine.  If anyone else 
is thinking of going for it, I'll step aside, but please contact me 
off-list.

           -Dave

--
Dave McGuire             "I've grown hair again, just
St. Petersburg, FL           for the occasion."       -Doc Shipley