[buug] /usr on solaris X86

[Rob Helmer]

On Fri, Nov 08, 2002 at 12:05:17AM +0000, johnd wrote:
> On Thu, Nov 07, 2002 at 02:13:47PM -0800, Nick Jennings wrote:
> > On Wed, Nov 06, 2002 at 11:28:13PM -0800, f.johan.beisser wrote:
> > > 
> > > second, why are you using x86 Slowaris? that's roughly like giving a
> > > formula 1 car 85 octane fuel. it works, but it really kills performance.
> > > you may want to look at Sun's new Linux distrobution instead, since it
> > > should be compatable with most sun products. anything you could possibly
> > > need to run as x86 solaris will run in Linux or BSD on x86 anyway.
> 
> I think you are over generalizing.  Are you assuming that Sparc boxes are fast?
> I work with x86 boxes that are way faster than some Sparcs and vice versa.


They are not neccessarily faster. The recent Sun boxes ( Ultras and above
I think ) use 64 bit CPUs, so you can potentially get pretty good performance
if your task is CPU-intensive and your application takes advantage of this fact.

I/O generally sucks on Solaris out of the box, there's usually some tuning 
( params in /etc/system ) that's needed. I always find that the default
settings in Solaris are too general or too low for the task at hand
( web/app serving, file serving, db, etc. ).

My opinion is that as far as "employability" goes, employers are
most likely going to be looking for Sparc. I just don't think
there's a good reason to go with Solaris x86 given the maturity
of GNU/Linux and the BSD derivatives. I think that Sun releasing
it's own GNU/Linux distribution is a good indication that this
is not limited to me.

On Sparc, you have endian issues that are worth learning about, and
I really like the hardware ( being able to get to the "bios" from
the console or serial port at any time is great, hard to do on x86
short of LinuxBIOS ).


> 
> > 
> >  Does anyone here use X86 Solaris? Is it a good way for cheapo's to learn
> >  about Solaris Systems? Having some familiarity with it, even if it's
> >  not professional will help greatly (not to mention the BSD and Linux
> >  experience I already have).
> > 
> It is a great way to learn.  It will appear to be the same as a Sparc.  If you
> learned Solaris on a x86 you would be able to move to a Sparc with ease.
> 
> at least try it...there is no cost, if you can get a copy of the install CD's.
> 
> 
> Assuming your not doing any super low level stuff.


It's probably worth learning both if you have time, not having used 
Solaris x86 but having used *BSD ( mostly FreeBSD ), Solaris/SPARC 
and GNU/Linux and spoken with people who have I have a feeling it 
won't be a huge leap. Not as big of a leap the freenix/x86 vs. sol/sparc 
is anyway, because of the hardware differences.

BTW, Solaris 9 x86 isn't free, but Solaris 8 x86 is :

http://wwws.sun.com/software/solaris/binaries/inteldownload.html



--
Rob Helmer