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Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!msuinfo!uwm.edu!spool.mu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!newsrelay.iastate.edu!news.iastate.edu!news.iastate.edu!michaelv From: michaelv@MindBender.HeadCandy.com (Michael L. VanLoon) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd Subject: Re: HELP: installing netbsd+64mb RAM+adaptec Date: 13 Nov 1994 08:08:16 GMT Organization: HeadCandy Associates... Sweets for the lobes. Lines: 91 Message-ID: <MICHAELV.94Nov13020816@MindBender.HeadCandy.com> References: <1994Nov11.071053.26169@slate.mines.colorado.edu> <MICHAELV.94Nov11143004@mindbender.headcandy.com> <3a1f98$pil@pdq.coe.montana.edu> <MICHAELV.94Nov12114859@mindbender.headcandy.com> <3a3594$977@pdq.coe.montana.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: mindbender.headcandy.iastate.edu In-reply-to: nate@bsd.coe.montana.edu's message of 12 Nov 1994 19:32:52 GMT In article <3a3594$977@pdq.coe.montana.edu> nate@bsd.coe.montana.edu (Nate Williams) writes: I don't have the $$ to buy today's technology, and neither does the user who posted this obviously. The DEC PC he has is an ISA machine, and not an EISA or PCI box. Then he has to take one of the other alternatives to buying a better SCSI card. >I've sat boxes down side-by-side and compared, so I know just how >pathetic the performance is compared to a PCI or EISA SCSI controller. I have a *very* strong feeling that the performance I get with 2-3 users is within 10% of the performance you get. However, my performance drops off steadily when the load gets high, which is where EISA/PCI shine. It really depends on what you do (as you're well aware). But the difference can be easily demonstrated. >I'm just recommending a logical hardware upgrade. Logical for whom? If I'm running a Internet access site, my money is best spent on RAM than on expensive disk hardware. Heck, IDE might even be the way to go there. (Boy, it'd be tough to justify that one though. :-) *Very* tough to justify. ;-) But I don't believe this was the situation at issue... >My 486/80 EISA box works VERY well, also. I'll bet it "works" better >than your box at out-running those DECstations. But, what does that >prove? Exactly. What does it prove? It proves that you spent more money on your hardware than I did. ;-) Well, yes, probably so... ;-) But I chose to do so because of the demonstratable difference the better hardware would give me. > The hardware is bad because it's very limited, and won't work in the > situation he wants it to work in. Sure it does. FreeBSD supports all 64MB of memory on that box. What situation doesn't it work in? It doesn't work in the situation where he wants to run NetBSD (which he specifically asked for). >You're welcome to continue using it, but I'm sure we all have plans > for upgrades to our systems. I don't plan on keeping mine the way it >is for the rest of my life -- I've already done some hefty upgrades >recently. So, I'm suggesting that this guy's next hardware upgrade be >his SCSI card. Is that so ludicrous? When his box is an ISA system, yes. He *can't* upgrade just his SCSI card w/out buying a brand-new system, and then implication I got was this was a brand-new system. Telling him that what he has is crap is not constructive. Telling him how to best use what he has now even though it might not be the 'best' is IMHO the best advice you can give. I didn't tell him his *only* option was a SCSI card upgrade. I said that was his best choice, if he could chose it. One of the reasons I stressed this so strongly is that almost every machine made these days comes with a VLB slot or three. So, even if EISA/PCI was out, VLB would, in most cases, still be a possibility. What you left out was, I went on to say that if he couldn't upgrade his hardware, his other option would be to run FreeBSD or Linux. This being an alternative option since he specifically asked about running his hardware with NetBSD. I wasn't trying to be snobbish. I was just trying to give him his options in the order of importance in which *I* felt they ranked. I sold computers for seven years. One of the things I always tried to do was enumerate for the customer every one of his/her options, then give them the suggestion I thought was best for them. Then leaving it up to them to pick whichever they chose as most desirable. I think you'll find I try to do the same thing here. My original post will show that I gave him all three options (new SCSI card; FreeBSD; Linux), then told him which I thought would be his best, in the long run, with the information I had. It appears that he is going to have to chose FreeBSD or Linux in this case (and/or wait for NetBSD-1.1). -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Michael L. VanLoon michaelv@HeadCandy.com michaelv@iastate.edu Free your mind and your machine -- NetBSD free un*x for PC/Mac/Amiga/etc. Working NetBSD ports: 386+PC, Mac, Amiga, HP300, Sun3, Sun4c, PC532 In progress: DEC pmax (MIPS R2k/3k), VAX, Sun4m - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -