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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.
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Message-ID: <MICHAELV.94Nov13020816@MindBender.HeadCandy.com>
References: <1994Nov11.071053.26169@slate.mines.colorado.edu>
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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).
--
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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
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