Thanks to all for answers to this thread !
Sorry for the delay, was out of town. :-(
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>From: "Shridhar Daithankar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2002 13:07:19 +0530
>>On 9 Jan 2002 at 21:34, newlxuser wrote:
>> May I dare to dis-agree with this, Bish ?
>Well you need not because both of you are right in their own places..
Thanks ! At least there is some-one who understood my point ! :-)
>> If these 486's are being used extensively from last 11 months
>> smoothly for critical share portfolio 'real time' data feeding
>> job, what can be wrong with a doc's patient's summary data ?
>OK I tell you the reason. It's hardware aging. Your cables(i.e. HDD/IDE
etc) go
>old. They start dropping transfer speed and start popping errors.
Accepted !
>It's nothing to do with 486. It's a fine and capable architecture. I have a
Yes ! That is *the* point !! "It's a fine and capable architecture."
>But for mission critical jobs especially database, please don't do it. If
you
Whether it is a 486 or P-4 , data-base apps must be fortified by
regular back-ups ! There is NO guaranty that P-4 would never fail!
>But if you put database and it fails due to hardware error you stand to
lose
>something despite of almighty backups in place.
How ? "hardware error" would never crop-up in new hardware ?
Only the % may differ in old & new. But if you have back-ups, one
can re-install the app again.
>I would recommend internal cable replacements once in a year if machine is
>serving 24x7. Believe me it makes difference..
Yes , this is acceptable for all PCs - Old/New .
>Again it's not the CPU it's the hardware architecture. After all one has to
Very true ! Whether CPU is 486/P-4, the back-up system
makes it safe for mission critical database apps .
As back as 1968, man was able to manuvour Apollo-11
remotely, with the help of -now obsolate- Mark-I or some-
thing like that ! Mostly speed is changed, logic remained
the same.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
============================================================
>Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2002 21:53:00 +0530
>From: USM Bish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Got your point ... My comment was based on the fact that there has
Thanks ! :-)
>been no 486 since 1995 ! Old hardware is not very reliable for a
>critical thing like an ICU ! I don't mind a HDD dying, but defini-
>tely not a man because the HDD died and the last blood sugar level
>could not be accessed :-)
Quite true ! Again I would like to put the same point...
Whether it is a 486 or P-4 , data-base apps must be fortified by
regular back-ups ! There is NO guaranty that P-4 would never fail!
The original poster's question was, whether the old 486 w/o CDR
is capable for using linux with SQL database amd how to go for it.
And not the reliabilty criteria !
Actually, one of the local vendors suggested me NOT to go for a
very high capacity HDD ( like 40GB ), since the failure rates
of these high capacity HDDs are on the rise, due to over-cramping
of the HDD platter granules (the magnetic particles ).
Most of the accounting firms here, have started useing 1.2 or
2.1 GB old HDDs as 2nd hard disk, for regular data back-ups. And
prices of these old HDDs are as big as 50 to 60% of the new ones !
>It is neither the technology nor software adequacy the delimiting
>factor. Merely the reliability.
Hmm.. ! Well the original post was not mentioning any reliability
criteria... that's why I objected to your point !
[EMAIL PROTECTED] asked for "how to install linux an old
computer without the cd-rom.
>> Instead, why not to directly create a Linux & swap partition
>> thru some utility like 'part' or 'DM' ? ( And then transfer
>> /home to it ... )
>>
>Don't know if you are following the thread. The box he is talking
>about is a 486 with 8mb RAM without a CD-ROM. The only mode to go
>in is through floppy. The HDD is also small .... He would have to
>face several problems:
Yes, I am following the thread ! Just recently I said - "I go
thru all the mails answered by Bish- even if those are NOT
related to my queries..." , 'cause I gain lot of knowlege . :-)
'part' & 'DM' are small enough to carry on a floppy & he/she
can get it copied from any PC vendor.
>c) I had suggested Pygmy Linux which is on kernel 2.2.16 and the
> full distro works from a dos drive (UMSDOS/loadlin) with just
> 9 odd disks. Pygmy linux does not have a boot CD. Just unzip
> the file on the M$ partition and you are running ! This can be
> done on an existing M$ only.
>f) If he has access to the Slack root/ boot disk sets, he can do
> as you say ... he would still have to install M$ first though.
> Why take the trouble ?
Sorry for my poor english, I may have not understood the point
correctly.
But Sir, I think your above 2 points are self-contradicting !
You are suggesting to use UMSDOS/loadlin based Pygmy Linux... which
requires M$ . (**This can be done on an existing M$ only.**)
and then you are saying...
(**.. he would still have to install M$ first though. Why take the
trouble ?** )
How come ?
>d) Once in Pygmy, you have all the Linux tools available to do
> stuffs like repartitioning, creating seperate swap etc, and
> not before.
^^^^^^^^^^
Well... Are you sure ? We *CAN* "do stuffs like repartitioning,
creating seperate swap etc, " thru 'part'. I have used it
extensively ! :-)
>e) Change to ext2 was advocated for speed reasons. I suggested a
> bigger /home because he wants to run SQL only, and postgres
> data goes in /home/postgres. His drive space is premium. I do
> not know much about mysql.
I think, 100 MBs are enough to hold postgres/mysql database for a
24-bed hospital for around a couple of years. Any-how, only rare
cases are found in a hospital who are staying for more than
6-months.
===================================================
Shridhar D & Bish,
Sorry for challanging veterans like you, since 99% of my
little knowledge abt linux is aquired thru LIH postings
with the help of all-of-you there !
I have already developed & implemented a Heart Specialist
database software some 18 months back ! It is smoothly
running on a 486DX-4 machine with 1.2GB HDD. The Doc was
using the PC for a couple of years before that, for managing
his data thru M$-Excell.
Off-course my app is VB5 based front-end with SQL inter-
spersed. The only pre-caution I suggested to the Doc is
"to take regular back-ups". For that I have installed
an external IOmega ZIP drive with 100 MB media on his PC.
The back-up are always taken on 2 medias, to be damn sure.
It is running smoothly !
Since I am interested in the subject I wanted more knowledge
from experts like you & thought my experience may be help-
ful to **[EMAIL PROTECTED]** .
That is why I intercepted the thread ! Hope you wo'nt mind
my "logical overtures". Forget & forgive if I am too childish.
Thanks & Regards !
~newlxuser
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