[rescue] best OS for SPARCserver 10

[Dave McGuire]

On Thursday, September 11, 2003, at 11:35 PM, simeon johnston wrote:
> I've got a SPARCserver 10.
> 128MB ram.
> 2x 1.8GB HD.  I'll probably upgrade one of them to a 10GB.  Possibly 
> upgrade both.
> Video card (Don't know what kind it is) w/ 13w3->DB15 adapter.
...
> I want to use it for a minimal Appletalk/Samba fileserver (5 users max 
> at any given time.  1 user most of the time if that) as well as 
> OpenAFP (just to test it out.  Play around a little).
> FrontBase (SQL database).
> PostgreSQL
> Possibly CVS.
> Some remote X stuff.
> Burning CD's (If possible).
> Playing some musice if I can find the adapter for the audio.  What is 
> that connector?

   An SS10 can do all these things reasonably well, depending on what 
processor module it has.  I'd suggest running NetBSD on it; it'll be 
quite usably fast running that, and can do all the things you mentioned 
above, except I'm not sure how friendly PostgreSQL is on non-x86-Linux 
platforms these days.  I'd recommend against Solaris on anything slower 
than an Ultra1 (which this is).

   It'd run Linux reasonably well, but what'd be the point?

   It could also run OpenBSD very well...but you may as well go with the 
original.

> This is a machine I traded Pete L. Wargo for a Quadra 840AV (where is 
> he anyway?  Haven't seen him for a LONG time).

   Pete is alive; I spoke with him a few days ago.

> I also found a box for Solaris Server 2.5.1.  It's pretty old.  I 
> think it came with the other Sparc 10 at work.  That or the Sparc 5 
> (both from Marner.  Not Sun cases.  There pretty ugly).  I'd rather 
> have something newer.

   2.5.1 is unusable in my book, unless you're coming from the Windows 
world and can tolerate instability.  7 is nice, 8 and 9 are 
bulletproof.  I beat the crap out of them every day and they never so 
much as burp.

   But, that said, I'd still run NetBSD on a sun4m-class machine.

           -Dave

--
Dave McGuire                 "You don't have Vaseline in Canada?"
St. Petersburg, FL                     -Bill Bradford