[Suns-at-Home] Raw Power

[n2vip@verizon.net]

>From: Andre van Eyssen <andre@purplecow.org>
>Date: 2007/07/15 Sun PM 07:34:00 CDT
>To: Ben Lewis <benjamin.lewis@belgacom.net>
>Cc: suns-at-home@net-kitchen.com
>Subject: Re: [Suns-at-Home] Raw Power

>On Sun, 15 Jul 2007, Ben Lewis wrote:
>
>
>> Having acquired a E3500 and an Ultra 1 in the last couple of months I find 
>> myself only really switching on my Ultra 5 to actually do anything useful.

Old habits die hard...

>> The E3500 has much more power and the Ultra 1 is much quieter than the Ultra 
>> 5 but somehow it feels like my "home machine".

It is very PC-like, esp in hardware design (IDE, "VGA" monitor connector, etc.), and likely faster than the Ultra 1...

>> Is there a size-power-cpu-ram-diskspace to usefulness equation that I'm not 
>> aware of?
>
>Yes. The more CPU, RAM, Storage and network connectivity a box has the 
>more potentially useful.

And the more power it uses ;^)

>This is an easy one to spot. The Ultra-5's CPU is far faster than the 
>Ultra-1, no doubt it has a better framebuffer and will be much snappier to 
>use.

Agreed - Ultra 1 has an UltraSPARC I CPU and the Ultra 5 has an UltraSPARC IIi processor. Does the Ultra 1 have a Creator (UPA) framebuffer or SBUS TGX?

>The E3500 takes half an hour to POST, so if you're switching machines 
>on-and-off the wait would drive you nuts.
>
>Personally, I'd try to score a SunRay thin client or two and plug 'em into 
>your 3500. The performance may surprise you.

Or, run the Ultra 1 or 5 as a remote desktop terminal over a 100 Mb/sec connection. You can also run application on the E3500 and have them display on your "friendly" Ultra 5...

Just a few thoughts - hope they help...

Ken