On 5 Sep 2006 23:21:58 GMT in <4m6f4mF4qmatU1@individual.net> jpd <read_the_sig@do.not.spam.it.invalid> wrote:
> Begin <slrnefr1gc.315.pakrat@vm01.raleigh.neotoma.org>
> On 2006-09-05, pakrat@localhost.private.neotoma.org
><pakrat@localhost.private.neotoma.org> wrote:
>>
>> IBM seems to be tossing money into such work with Linux/Xen.
>> Intel and AMD seem to be tossing money into hardware to make this easier
>> to accomplish with their CPUs.
>
> Which for IBM is a bit ironic, IMO...

Anyone that thinks that IBM has a unified direction has had a case
of cranial rectal inversion ATLEAST since the 5150 was released.
Now that IBM is largely services and works for hire, things are even
more schizophrenic.
>
>
>> At current moment IBM does not make any non-blade pSeries systems that
>> are not capable of such partitioning.
>
> ... and this is why. Not to mention BIG iron.

I presently deal with pSeries big, middle, and small iron.
I'm more impressed with partitioning with VIO on the middle and small iron
than on the big iron. I could be jaded because it requires significantly
fewer people in the meeting for a firmware upgrade, or memory replacement
on the small and medium iron.
And we won't go into power and physical structure requirements for big iron.
There's just someone wrong when they start offering liquid cooled chiller
doors for the boxes. Doubly wrong if you saw the sales spike when s/390
went CMOS and could be air cooled.
>
>
>> Expect used lower end partitionable pSiers hardware to start
>> trickling out to in the know hobbyists within 2.5 years.
>
> For some reason ibm kit is more prone to being asked unreasonably much
> for, even second hand. Plus, at least here, last time I looked, parts
> and stuff are much more of a pain to get than for, say, suns or even
> sgis. (Again, second hand.) But maybe that just proves I live out in the
> boonies, or shows me a total cheapskate, who knows.

Is SGI even in business anymore? For some reason cheap SGI hardware
makes me think of the cheap miniscribe harddrives that flooded the used
market back in the 90s.
As for SUN hardware... I've seen a lot of it. I've seen most of it with
fried onboard ethernet, dieing CPUs, bad memory, dieing power supplies....
>
> The xSeries I got to babysit weren't ideal, eg. their BIOSes could use
> some serious improvements so they'd waste less of my time, but boy did
> they have pretty lights inside. *This*<--- part is broken, here, look.
> Sometimes IBM does get (some) things right. :-)

Unless IBM outsources the design and manufacturing of the xSeries
box and it doens't have light path diagnostics.


--
Chris Dukes
< elfick> willg: you can't use dell to beat people, it wouldn't stand up
to the strain... much like attacking a tank with a wiffle bat