Ian & Stuart's Australian Mac: Not for Sale/Another.not.for.sale (Australia).iso/hold me in your arms/Nexus/nexus.software/linux.use

Internet Message Format | 1994-05-18 | 6KB

From: [e-mail] (Sparky)
Date: Thu, 21 Apr 1994 15:51:32 -0500
To: Multiple recipients of list <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Setup (fwd)

I mailed lasermoon about what they think about Linux. Contrary to me thinking
that they would just be in it for themselves they have given some very
useful advice. Heres what they said for anyone setting up a similar system...

Info said...
> From: Info <[e-mail]>
> Date: Tue, 19 Apr 1994 18:25:27 EDT
> Organization: Lasermoon Ltd, 2a Beaconsfield Rd, Fareham, England. PO16 0QB.
> To: Sparky <[e-mail]>
> Subject: Re: Setup
>
> On Mon, 18 Apr 1994 18:30:51 +0100 (BST), "Sparky" <[e-mail]> wrote:
> >     I realise that you meantioned youd not had experience connecting
> > Linux to a leased line, but I have a worry. I have had some advice telling
> > me that Linux may not be able to handle 16 users at once and I should
> > consider BSD instead. Have you had any experience of this and if you
> > think it would be able to handle it, how much memory would you expect the
> > PC to need to handle it well (including the main xsession). Thanks for your
> > help.
> >
>
> Hi,
>
> Although we have not actually implemented a leased line system, we are
> likely to do so in the near future. The following thoughs and discussion
> may prove useful :
>
> The operating system and hardware will depend on the service you intend
> to provide and the amount of money you have to spend. For the purposes
> of discussion we will assume excellent service and you have no money!
>
> The leased line will be connected to a service provider - I assume
> either Pipex or Eunet. Almost anyone else is suicide for what you want
> to do. Cost is in the order of 1400 per month (cost of line, routers
> etc). This line we will assume runs at 56Kbps. Thus you must have a
> system attached to it which is capable of running this link at a
> sustained speed of 56K. This is not that trivial as will be seen.
>
> Leaving the net connection, we come to the requirement for the
> user-terminals. You really need an intelligent terminal server, either
> ethernet or card based (which plugs into the PC). This allows a much
> faster throughput and allows you to expand the system (for things like
> printers). The alternative would be a number of dumb multi-serial port
> cards which will *CLOBBER* the number of interrupts in the system, drain
> CPU performance and kill throughput (I have direct experience of this).
> Smart multi-port cards are more expensive, but are about the only sane
> alternative. Alternatively, why not have a number of remote PC's with a
> small number of terminals connected to them. This is more expensive than
> using smart serial cards but offers a number of benefits which would be
> of direct use :
>
>     -    Decreased down-time. If one dies, you still have something running.
>
>     -    Increased system performance. The "main" system is not having
>     to service all those interrupts from the terminals and can get
>     down to the real work (ie serviceing the leased line and getting
>     files).
>
>     -    It is easier to maintain.
>
> So now we have a system which looks like this :
>
>     A central file server which also controls the leased line servicing
>     requests from terminals attached to a number of PC's connected via
>     ethernet.
>
> Now the crunch :
>
>     Disk Space
>     Greater than 10Gb. News alone will guzzle over 1.5GB if you are
>     keeping the groups for any length of time. SCSI-II mandatory.
>
>     CPU - File Server
>     486DX2-66 or better. 24MB RAM or better.
>
>
>     Monitoring CPU
>     Cheaper CPU to run X. This will stop X slugging the file-server.
>
>
> Operating System & General Discussion.
> Hard to beleive I know, but Linux  may not be the best choice. You will
> have a considerable investment in this and you will want something
> STABLE. Solaris is the obvious choice (as you can move up in the
> hardware stakes as the system grows). However, Linux would be a good
> start due to the low cost!! We will assume either Yggdrasil or Slackware
> (the others are too unstable). Forget LI and Debian - they are
> essentially being developed by an ad-hoc set of volunteers with no realy
> specification or standards to work against or any real objective in
> view.
>
> Whilst these statements may offend the anti-commercial group on the net,
> LI and Debian, it is worth remembering that it is YOUR money, time and
> credibility thats at stake. An apology on the net for bugs, and/or a
> call for more volunteers will not help *YOU* keep the customers happy.
> You will find this to be true when you become operational and have real
> people bugging you with their problems. The last thing you want is
> another kernel patch to test. Sure, its fun - as a hobby, but you now
> have a first loyalty to your customers (to pay for the 1400 per month
> leased line).
>
> Sorry for the lecture, but we have seen too many projects fail because
> folk have missed the target (ie: keeping the customers happy) and it
> would be a shame if it happened to you. Doubtless the above will offend
> a number of folk on ideological grounds......... :-(
>
> We would welcome more discussion on this!
>
> (Incidentally, we are currently looking at Linnux on a 486DX2-66 for
> our connection, but are realistic enough to know that we will probably end
> up using a Sun :-(
>
> Cheers,
>
> Ian.
>
> --
> Lasermoon Ltd, 2a Beaconsfield Road, | [e-mail]
> Fareham, Hants, England. PO16 0QB    |
> [phone]  Fax: [phone]
> Specialists in Unix, Novell and Dos Systems and Software.
>


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