[rhn-users] Intel or AMD

[Dean WOODS]

For what it's worth, we use the Sun V20Z Opteron systems and the NewIsys 
2100 Opteron systems.  Sun actually OEM's the NewIsys 2100 as the V20Z.  
If your on a tight budget, the NewIsys system is quite a bit cheaper 
than the V20Z for the same options.  Both are great machines and perform 
very well.  The only real difference I see between them is the way they 
utilize the service ports for remote access and management.  For more 
info and pricing, check out NewIsys 
<http://www.newisys.com/products/2100.html> and Colfax International. 
<http://colfax-intl.com/jlrid/SpotLight.asp?IT=0&RID=71>

DWoods

Dominique Demore wrote:

>Red Hat Network Users List <rhn-users at redhat.com> on Thursday, December 16, 2004 at 13:28 -0500 wrote:
>  
>
>>Single CPU?  Dual CPU?  Quad CPU?
>>    
>>
>
>Well I am hoping to be purchase a Dual 248 or 250 version of the Opteron. However since Oracle's licensing is pretty
>hefty for the second processor, I will have to wait an see.
>
>As for the applications, these servers would only be for the SIS database and Application Server (plus any custom apps
>which access Oracle). You mentioned the HP Server. I was looking at their prolient DL models.
>
>  
>
>>Opteron's use a Non-Uniform Memory Architecture (NUMA).  Specifically, 
>>each CPU has its own connection to its own bank of RAM.  Memory is 
>>accessed via a different path than I/O.  Then there's connections 
>>between the CPUs in case one CPU needs to access RAM or I/O hooked up to 
>>the other processor.  Xeons and Itaniums have a Front Side Bus that all 
>>access to all I/O and memory goes through, leaving you with a single 
>>bottleneck.
>>
>>
>>So, it depends on the exact Opteron motherboard design that you're 
>>talking about, but with a dual or quad CPU system, an Opteron will make 
>>a much better database server than a Xeon or an Itanium (assuming the 
>>motherboard is designed right.)  I've looked at the design specs for 
>>Sun's Opteron servers and HP's Opteron servers, and both are solid 
>>designs that put RAM in the right places.  In both cases, on the 
>>dual-opteron design all I/O is off of one CPU (with ram on both) and on 
>>the system that can handle more than 2 CPUs, I/O is spread between 2 of 
>>the CPUs.  (and a bank of RAM on every CPU, of course)  I haven't 
>>checked if they've updated, but about a year ago IBM's Opteron systems 
>>looked kind of sub-par (no on-board RAID); designed for compute clusters 
>>not database servers.  I have no idea about other vendors; quality can 
>>vary widely.  There are definitely some Opteron boards out there that 
>>put all the RAM and I/O on one CPU, which makes the system about as slow 
>> as if it had a front-side bus.
>>
>>
>>Check for support from Oracle.  An Opteron can still make a very speedy 
>>server for running 32-bit applications, but you're best off if the 
>>specific things you're running actually support the "x86_64/AMD64/ia32e" 
>>64-bit instructions.
>>
>>
>>Also, go read this article, and make sure to look at the diagrams:
>>http://www.samag.com/documents/s=9408/sam0411b/0411b.htm
>>-- 
>>Eric Eisenhart <eric.eisenhart at sonoma.edu>
>>Linux/Unix Systems Administrator
>>Office: Schulz 1050A, (707) 664-3099
>>AIM: ericeisenhart, ICQ: 156218985
>>Sonoma State University, IT
>>
>>
>>_______________________________________________
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>>rhn-users at redhat.com
>>https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/rhn-users
>>    
>>
>
>
>
>-----
>Dominique Démoré
>Technical Services Coordinator
>Rainbow District School Board
>69 Young Street
>Sudbury, Ontario
>P3E 3G5
>Tel: (705) 674-3171 x. 258
>Fax: (705) 671-2442
>
>
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