[ILUG] Have you had your daily dose of reality?

[David Murphy]

> Firstly: The E10K is not a HA setup. It's a parallel machine. It's
> far more suited to computing than HA.

It's not a prallel machine either - it's a (big/purple/expensive) SMP
box.

> Tru64 clustering: you get a bunch of Tru64 machines, and you end up
> with what looks like one machine to the outside world. One
> load-balanced IP address. The machines don't even have to be in the
> same data center.

If you want to compare clustering, compare Tru64 Clustering to
SunCluster. There are parallel applications (Oracle Parallel Server,
for instance) for SunCluster, but it is more commonly used for
failover of a single-machine application. Single system image is some
way down the road for Sun.

> If something breaks, replacing it isn't a problem. I'll bet an
> AlphaServer DS20 costs less than an E10K system board.

If something breaks on your E10K, you call SunService, and they come
replace it. You don't bin it and buy a new one.

> A bunch of 10/20K pound machines in a cluster makes a lot more sense
> than one great big vulnerable system.

Reliability-wise, a cluster is going to protect you against problems
that no single system can survive.

> Next tandem tech: don't know much about it, but it's even more hard
> core. Eg the Alpha cpu has lock-step capability. Ie 2+ cpu's are
> locked to each other stepping through the same instructions. They're
> all locked to each other running the same code. You could literally
> put a bullet through one cpu, and your code will keep running.

FT-SPARC.

-- 
When asked if it is true that he uses his wheelchair as a weapon he will reply:
"That's a malicious rumour. I'll run over anyone who repeats it."
Stephen Hawking - [http://www.smh.com.au/news/0001/07/features/features1.html]
David Murphy - For PGP public key, send mail with Subject: send-pgp-key