> The goal here is to get away from the Alpha, because there's not much > development work going on for it any more.
OTOH, for the purposes you listed (WWW, mail, CVS), do you care? I'd think that stable is good for those purposes. > Linux for the mainframe doesn't > have that problem. (Is that true enough of the 31-bit versions?) The Germans have assured us that they're still testing on 31-bit, but most of the interesting and cool stuff requires z/Architecture, so how long that obtains remains to be seen. > Under no > circumstances will I run an x86 or x86_64 platform natively as a server on > the net. If non-IA32 is the only criteria, then pick up a small SPARCstation or Netra 1, or a MIPS-based SGI. All are cheaper to operate than the MP3K, and all are well supported (and run Herc passably well). > Don't get me wrong, folks: the only reason I'm looking at other solutions > besides Hercules is that I'm not too sure about the overall reliability of > PC-class hardware in 24x7 service. It's otherwise more than good enough > and, > I believe, fast enough (especially given the speed of the DSL it'll be > talking over). With Intel hardware, you get what you pay for. If you buy good stuff -- tolerably good used xSeries boxes or HP DL-class boxes go for about $250-300 on eBay -- then it's very reliable. If you use off the shelf parts, then it's up to you to do the footwork on reliability. For the applications you listed, you don't need multi-Ghz systems, and you can get the high-end manageability features that make using stuff like that tolerable. I'm not sure what running the whole thing emulated would really accomplish, though -- other than the brag factor. Taking that kind of performance hit for principle seems kind of ... well, odd. > OTOH, David Boyes's comments on the MP3000's power supply are certainly > giving me pause...especially since the last failure I had on the > Alphaserver > was a power supply. Knowing the power company in your area, that'd be a serious risk. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For LINUX-390 subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: INFO LINUX-390 or visit http://www.marist.edu/htbin/wlvindex?LINUX-390
