what so great about sun?

BudBud Chesterfield, Va
edited October 2004 in Hardware
What so great about sun systems i have a ultra 1 and am playing with a ultra 5 now. They just seem like the same thing you could do with a standard amd/intel box with linux/unix. Only reason i got mine cause they were free and i thought it would look good on my resume if i could say i was comfortable with sun, also the job im trying to get is heavy in sun systems. But why do so many people have them for networking? Them being propietary really blows and makes it harder to get parts and do upgrades too.

Comments

  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited October 2004
    Well I'll tell you right off the bat. If it wasn't for Sun, I might not be in business right now.

    A few years back when we started getting into hosting, we had a couple of x86 boxes running either OpenBSD or Red Hat Linux. As per the usual with x86 "homebrew" hardware, we had occasional problems.

    When it came time for growth and time to put servers in a datacenter, we needed something rock solid, reliable, and something that could be completely accessed, powered down and up, rebooted, etc remotely.

    I took a gamble and got a Sun box.

    It has been the most reliable, most stable box I've ever owned. It can be shut off remotely. It can be turned on remotely. It doesn't ever need a reboot. It is manageable, stable, and fast. Out of all our servers at our datacenter, our Sun box consistently has the best uptime record.

    Yes, it's true. Solaris is proprietary, the hardware is proprietary, and it can be a pain the ass to support sometimes. However, it pays off in the end. I owe a major part of our success as a hosting company to Sun.
  • BudBud Chesterfield, Va
    edited October 2004
    do you run solaris or something else?
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited October 2004
    Solaris 8
  • BudBud Chesterfield, Va
    edited October 2004
    have you tried 9
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited October 2004
    Nope. Haven't seen a need to yet. We keep talking about it, but hell, 10 is almost out... We may as well wait at this point...
  • BudBud Chesterfield, Va
    edited October 2004
    can you run unix programes in solaris, i wanna run folding at home on solaris 9
  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    edited October 2004
    Not sure about unix programs in general, but I think the issue will be that the Sparc processor isn't x86 like Intel and AMD, and I think the linux clients were built with x86 in mind.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited October 2004
    Yep, folding won't work - not because of the OS, but because there is no sparc client.
  • TheBaronTheBaron Austin, TX
    edited October 2004
    im going to reiterate what prime said , sun boxes are super super stable. these damn things never crash, and while the operating system may not be the easiest to use (primarily due to how proprietary everything is) its of about the same difficulty as linux once you get used to it
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited October 2004
    It's mostly getting used to where things are, and what things are called.
  • NosferatuNosferatu Arizona
    edited October 2004
    Off-Topic: LOL, I thought you were talking about the star. "What's so great about the sun?" ;D
  • TexTex Dallas/Ft. Worth
    edited October 2004
    Isnt this sort of like argueing why companies don't just build their own servers? You know... why do they buy HP and Dell servers when they could just build one for less?

    Because service and support as well as the management tools and utilities make the end result greater then just the sum of the pieces. A server expected to run 24/7 is differant then a overclocked watercooled Barton.

    Tex
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited October 2004
    Look at the detail work in this box.
    http://anandtech.com/systems/showdoc.aspx?i=2255
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited October 2004
    OK, I'm convinced - I want one. (Not sure what I'd do with it, but it looks like pretty cool, ultra solid hardware to me!)

    I'm fascinated with the modular motherboard-riser card modular design. That could be so much fun to play with! Do they have a version of the linked system that will run Win2K?

    Just musing here. I've no intention of selling my home, which I don't even occupy yet, to fund a grand new toy. But it's fun just thinking about mucking around in that Sun box.
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