>> Even today, I see people selling "servers" which are really like
>> "desktops". (1.2 GHz Intel Celeron with 512 MB RAM? I don't think so...)
> 
> Depends on what the server is doing.  If it's just serving files up, 
> that's more than adequate; hell, I used to do file & print on an 80286 
> with 16 MB of memory.

Depends on how many files, of what size, to how many users.

Now the Domain Controller? *That* requires almost no hardware at all...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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Clarence1898 wrote:

> Reliability and redundancy is one of the strong points of IBMs last few
> generations of mainframes.  If any page of memory fails, the error can be
> corrected, if it is a hard error, that page of memory will be automatically
> taken offline. If a processor fails, there are spare processors that can take
> over and continue the operation if one fails.  Multiple paths to all i/o devices
> where possible.  Of course redundant power supplies. Much of the machines
> circuitry has redundant components. When a component fails, the machine phones
> home and reports the failure.  Many time operations is completely unaware of any
> problem until an IBM CE shows up at the door with a replacement part in hand.
> And many components can be replaced on the fly, with out any downtime. The
> latest machines are not totally fault tolerant, but each new generation is
> better than the last.  I think the latest z/9 and z/10 models have a MTBF of
> over 30 years.

That's pretty impressive, really...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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Orchid XP v8 wrote:
> (And then there's the
> fact that in the UK there is only one IP carrier. Unless you happen to 
> live in London.)

When you get up to this point, you're running your own personal wires 
(fibers) into other cities to connect to other ISPs. Or probably directly 
into the backbone, for that matter.

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
    Ada - the programming language trying to avoid
    you literally shooting yourself in the foot.

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On 19/05/2010 6:16 PM, Orchid XP v8 wrote:
>>>>> But hey, who gives a fig what *I* think?
>>>>
>>>> Well it is up to you to make suggestions that are worth listening to.
>>>
>>> I doubt that's going to work.
>>
>> That's your problem. ;-)
>
> As with so much in life, it seems...
>

<Sigh>

-- 

Best Regards,
	Stephen

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On Wed, 19 May 2010 18:16:27 +0100, Orchid XP v8 wrote:

>>>>> But hey, who gives a fig what *I* think?
>>>>
>>>> Well it is up to you to make suggestions that are worth listening to.
>>>
>>> I doubt that's going to work.
>> 
>> That's your problem. ;-)
> 
> As with so much in life, it seems...

Well, as I've said up here before, you can either let life happen to you, 
or you can do something about it.

Took me a long time to learn that lesson myself.

Jim

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On Wed, 19 May 2010 18:18:28 +0100, Orchid XP v8 wrote:

>>> Even today, I see people selling "servers" which are really like
>>> "desktops". (1.2 GHz Intel Celeron with 512 MB RAM? I don't think
>>> so...)
>> 
>> Depends on what the server is doing.  If it's just serving files up,
>> that's more than adequate; hell, I used to do file & print on an 80286
>> with 16 MB of memory.
> 
> Depends on how many files, of what size, to how many users.

Generally not, because file/print is I/O intensive, not CPU intensive.

Unless you start adding things like compression, encryption, block 
suballocation, and the like to the picture.

> Now the Domain Controller? *That* requires almost no hardware at all...

I can remember running 8 DCs (Windows 2000) on a Dual processor P2 
Proliant 6000.  Not for production, of course, but for testing an AD 
design.  VMware was pretty good for that setup. :-)

CPU becomes important when the server does actual processing tasks; 
memory when the server is doing other things as well - for example, 
running Apache, or using memory as a disk cache.

Jim

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On 19/05/2010 6:57 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
> On Wed, 19 May 2010 18:16:27 +0100, Orchid XP v8 wrote:
>
>>>>>> But hey, who gives a fig what *I* think?
>>>>>
>>>>> Well it is up to you to make suggestions that are worth listening to.
>>>>
>>>> I doubt that's going to work.
>>>
>>> That's your problem. ;-)
>>
>> As with so much in life, it seems...
>
> Well, as I've said up here before, you can either let life happen to you,
> or you can do something about it.
>
> Took me a long time to learn that lesson myself.
>
> Jim

Words of wisdom, James. Words of wisdom.

-- 

Best Regards,
	Stephen

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On 19/05/2010 6:17 PM, Orchid XP v8 wrote:
>
> Dealing with *one* ISP is quite hard enough... (And then there's the
> fact that in the UK there is only one IP carrier. Unless you happen to
> live in London.)

Or Hull, or Manchester, or Birmingham or Glasgow or Edinburgh or ...

-- 

Best Regards,
	Stephen

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On Wed, 19 May 2010 20:06:01 +0100, Stephen wrote:

>> Well, as I've said up here before, you can either let life happen to
>> you, or you can do something about it.
> 
> Words of wisdom, James. Words of wisdom.

One of these days I'll follow it more than I do now - I still have a lot 
of areas where I actively engage in avoidance where I shouldn't, and I 
just let things happen rather than directing them.

It's something I've been reading a lot about recently as I look at my own 
career development path.

Jim

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>>>> Even today, I see people selling "servers" which are really like
>>>> "desktops". (1.2 GHz Intel Celeron with 512 MB RAM? I don't think
>>>> so...)
>>> Depends on what the server is doing.  If it's just serving files up,
>>> that's more than adequate; hell, I used to do file & print on an 80286
>>> with 16 MB of memory.
>> Depends on how many files, of what size, to how many users.
> 
> Generally not, because file/print is I/O intensive, not CPU intensive.

I was thinking more that you'd need more RAM, not CPU power.

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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