Unless you're looking at home automation systems from the 1980s, I don't think they're too ugly. I use a Crestron Isys TPS4500L controller in my home... it has a pretty nice interface. Check out the Crestron website -- http://www.crestron.com
The entire Crestron setup is very Windows-centric, but I feel it was worthwhile. Not as simple, but much more expandable than what I used to use (a custom HyperCard stack running on a Mac Plus interfaced to an X10 transmitter).
Oracle is for heavy-lifting... not running the weak backends to a website. It's hard to quote a price for Oracle as you pay per power unit... based on number and performance of your CPUs. We recently turned an old 96-CPU Origin 2000 into our own "mother of all databases" and paid dearly for it. The admins and my boss claim it'll be worthwhile. We'll see... I seriously don't belive we do that much DB work to justify Oracle. For some folks it makes sense. For others, it's a must.
Darwin is Openstep's underlying architecture with an overhauled version of Mach and updated BSD goodies. It is *not* xBSD. We've been over this _many_ times before.
Or at least that's what my boss is thinking... just bought a (pricey) Oracle 8i license for our 96 CPU Origin 2000. Have to pay *per CPU*, but he and the DBA's feel it's worthwhile.
Look at Linux developers such a Torvalds. They have full time jobs and work on Linux in the evenings and on weekends. Granted software development only costs time, but time is indeed valuable. I would suggest that rather than spending time and other resources to locate additional funding, just continue to pay for the hosting yourself... so long as it doesn't start cutting into your budget too deeply.
Time, money... they're both resources. Just because money is physical object (often paper or pieces of metal) doesn't make it "more valuable" than time. Besides, you're only given 24 hours each day... money you can earn more of and even save and borrow.
As everyone else has pointed out, there is no quad E220... and there is no E220 period. Though there is a dual E220R. I was just thinking about the SGI Origin 200... it's a dual CPU beast in a tower enclosure (lots of drive bays up front) but two can be connected via Craylink/NUMAlink (bidirectional 1.6 GB/sec)and one set to "slave mode" to form one quad cpu machine! Quite cool! And, really, the same concept behind the Origin 2000 and Origin 3000.
I'm curious as to which flavor of USB the XBox will have. My buddy claims it'll be 1.0, I don't think so... USB 1.0 has been out for years. Can anyone point us towards some better spec sheets?
Darwin, or the NeXT code as it stands today, has been overhauled every which way since the last NeXTSTEP/OPENSTEP release. Check out the developer docs at developer.apple.com
I would venture to guess that the software controlling many nuclear powerplants and nuclear weapons, while probably not as rigerous, are probably written and monitored quite well.
As someone that uses Mac OS, SGI MIPS/IRIX, Linux, and on occasion, Windows, I was glad to see so many positive, helpful responses. Most of what I can add has already been said, though I would like to emphasize the fact that AppleShare over classic AppleTalk (originally intended for tiny LocalTalk networks) gave way to the TCP/IP based AppleShare IP almost 5 years ago.
I would also like to comment on the Mac OS stability "issue"...
My primary usage of Macs, specifically G3 and G4 systems, is running Final Cut Pro and a variety of plugins for DV editing and compositing. All are running Mac OS 9.1 and beta3 of the Quicktime 5.0 media layer. (For those interested, Mac OS 9.1 is a free upgrade from the $99 Mac OS 9... however Mac OS X sells for about $130 and includes both Mac OS 9.1 and Mac OS X on separate CDs). I routinely work with files in excess of 1 GB and often shuffle over 100 GB of data between hard drives, DLT tape, and DVD-R in a single day. My machines are constantly rendering effects and compressing video data. I have yet to experience a single crash in the past 12 months while working with these tasks. If that isn't heavy lifting for a consumer-level desktop computer, I don't know what is. Yet I do experience crashes and dying apps, indeed I do. Netscape 4.7X has died on me at least 8 times in the past 30 days, though not once has it required me to reboot the machine. I have also experienced a few total system crashes, all resulting in a total freeze or hang of the system... all happened while playing with some games or some new wizbang shareware apps. Is this "unacceptable"? I don't think so. It's a fair trade off... the machines and their OS are rock solid for pushing data around, but can't handle poorly-written applications as well as Windows or UNIX can. At least I didn't have to worry about the Internet Explorer / Outlook exploit-of-the-day awhile back.
Good luck getting your Macs on the LAN, some organizations aren't too friendly to those that don't fit the status quo. Maybe Mac OS X will make things easier... we'll know more in due time. Mac OS 9 and my video apps work too well for me to make the leap until I know if it's safe. Video work keeps food on the table for me, a major platform switch just for the sake of upgrading is not work the risk.
Even in the Mac OS 7.0 days the passwords were (lightly) scrambled. And have been encrypted ever since the advent of AppleShare IP in the Mac OS 7.6 era. Anyone who uses classic (an no longer supported) AppleShare vs the modern AppleShare IP is just looking for trouble anway. ASIP uses TCP/IP, not AppleTalk/EtherTalk.
My point was I simply don't like apple. Having a unified IT environment makes things easier on the majority of the users and it saves money on having to pay techs that know both M$ and Apple.
Looks like you'd better forget ever using Linux on your LAN, too.
The Tokyo Disney (I don't recally the correct name off hand... everyone is using some incorrect variation) is doing quite well. It has actually been around longer than the ill-fated Euro Disney (which, amazingly, is still in operation). Tokyo Disney's sucess is probably best attributed to its management... it isn't run by Disney.
Monorails are controlled by humans...
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... and are very strictly monitored. One screwup (go past an automated warning) and you're done.
Check out the "Hidden Mickeys" website for LOTS of monorail info.
Re:firewire isn't the second coming of christ
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I make useful posts when I can. Though beware of my (blatent) trolls... makes Slashdot more fun.
poorly designed ATM system or some other proprietary system
Hold the phone (literally)!! ATM is not proprietary. What color is the sky on the planet you're from? Just because Redhat doesn't ship with drivers for an ATM interface and you can't buy such a beast at Fry's doesn't mean that it's proprietary.
48-port gigabit backbone. And each of the ~45 wiring closets around the park have massive switches with your choice of blades. It can support all gigabit if they so desired, but are using 100BT and 10BT for many applications. 1000BT is not needed or (or even that much better than 100BT) for most things.
You don't even need 100BT. The only reason Disney is using 1000BT is because of the ungodly overhead of having so many different systems sharing the same LAN. That plus it'd be pretty silly to use last year's technology for something you want to last for at least 5.
I'm not too wild about the idea of having a central control room. Say something happens, like a fire or a collapsing wall... and disables their primary network switch or servers. Then they're screwed. It doesn't sound like they have a fully redundant hot-failover control center on the other side of the park. Or even a redundant LAN in the event that the backplane of their primary switch were to fail. Shit happens and you have to be ready. Heck... three years from now a landscape guy might even be digging outside of the control center with a backhoe and cut the bundle of fiber. You've gotta be ready for anything. Not everyone is going to be 100% clued in and will know what to do in the event of a major problem. No beowulf cluster or mysql+php linux ramblings can solve that.
And dude, GPS-controlled vehicles would scare the living shit outta me.
they probably have something like that
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I'm sure there's a good sized cluster in there somewhere to control all of it. Probably not some 512 node monster... maybe just a single rack of quad xeons or something.
Did anyone get the same idea I just had... how about a "themable" park that can actually be controlled (to a certain extent) by the guests themselves... It wouldn't have to be huge, just very customizable. Props, lighting, music, costumes could all be specified in advance or on the fly. I wonder what it would take to get Malda, AndOver, and some other folks to donate or lead such a project. I would love to have my own custom environement for a day (or at least provide some input).
Gee Disney, WinNT and gigE, that's nice. How do you like our Linux setup with multiple gigE links, a room full of clusters, and actually LISTENING to our guests?!?!
Sure, it sorta scares me. I think I'd rather see some hot failover systeming running on some embedded system. But I certainly wouldn't want to see it run on Linux. That's all we need, some wanker sysadmin locking up Splash Mountain and the Monorails to install kernel 2.4.723pre8. At least NT 4.0 SP6a is about the end of the line. And hey, you've got somone with deep pockets to sue should things go haywire!
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Unless you're looking at home automation systems from the 1980s, I don't think they're too ugly. I use a Crestron Isys TPS4500L controller in my home... it has a pretty nice interface. Check out the Crestron website -- http://www.crestron.com
The entire Crestron setup is very Windows-centric, but I feel it was worthwhile. Not as simple, but much more expandable than what I used to use (a custom HyperCard stack running on a Mac Plus interfaced to an X10 transmitter).
Oracle is for heavy-lifting... not running the weak backends to a website. It's hard to quote a price for Oracle as you pay per power unit... based on number and performance of your CPUs. We recently turned an old 96-CPU Origin 2000 into our own "mother of all databases" and paid dearly for it. The admins and my boss claim it'll be worthwhile. We'll see... I seriously don't belive we do that much DB work to justify Oracle. For some folks it makes sense. For others, it's a must.
Darwin is Openstep's underlying architecture with an overhauled version of Mach and updated BSD goodies. It is *not* xBSD. We've been over this _many_ times before.
Or at least that's what my boss is thinking... just bought a (pricey) Oracle 8i license for our 96 CPU Origin 2000. Have to pay *per CPU*, but he and the DBA's feel it's worthwhile.
The devil's lacing up his iceskates...
But seriously, I don't think Larry Elison has *ever* publically said anything positive about opensource.
Look at Linux developers such a Torvalds. They have full time jobs and work on Linux in the evenings and on weekends. Granted software development only costs time, but time is indeed valuable. I would suggest that rather than spending time and other resources to locate additional funding, just continue to pay for the hosting yourself... so long as it doesn't start cutting into your budget too deeply.
Time, money... they're both resources. Just because money is physical object (often paper or pieces of metal) doesn't make it "more valuable" than time. Besides, you're only given 24 hours each day... money you can earn more of and even save and borrow.
Just something to think about.
As everyone else has pointed out, there is no quad E220... and there is no E220 period. Though there is a dual E220R. I was just thinking about the SGI Origin 200... it's a dual CPU beast in a tower enclosure (lots of drive bays up front) but two can be connected via Craylink/NUMAlink (bidirectional 1.6 GB/sec)and one set to "slave mode" to form one quad cpu machine! Quite cool! And, really, the same concept behind the Origin 2000 and Origin 3000.
I'm curious as to which flavor of USB the XBox will have. My buddy claims it'll be 1.0, I don't think so... USB 1.0 has been out for years. Can anyone point us towards some better spec sheets?
I saw that too... and went ahead and placed my order. Cool policy.
Darwin, or the NeXT code as it stands today, has been overhauled every which way since the last NeXTSTEP/OPENSTEP release. Check out the developer docs at developer.apple.com
I would venture to guess that the software controlling many nuclear powerplants and nuclear weapons, while probably not as rigerous, are probably written and monitored quite well.
As someone that uses Mac OS, SGI MIPS/IRIX, Linux, and on occasion, Windows, I was glad to see so many positive, helpful responses. Most of what I can add has already been said, though I would like to emphasize the fact that AppleShare over classic AppleTalk (originally intended for tiny LocalTalk networks) gave way to the TCP/IP based AppleShare IP almost 5 years ago.
I would also like to comment on the Mac OS stability "issue"...
My primary usage of Macs, specifically G3 and G4 systems, is running Final Cut Pro and a variety of plugins for DV editing and compositing. All are running Mac OS 9.1 and beta3 of the Quicktime 5.0 media layer. (For those interested, Mac OS 9.1 is a free upgrade from the $99 Mac OS 9... however Mac OS X sells for about $130 and includes both Mac OS 9.1 and Mac OS X on separate CDs). I routinely work with files in excess of 1 GB and often shuffle over 100 GB of data between hard drives, DLT tape, and DVD-R in a single day. My machines are constantly rendering effects and compressing video data. I have yet to experience a single crash in the past 12 months while working with these tasks. If that isn't heavy lifting for a consumer-level desktop computer, I don't know what is. Yet I do experience crashes and dying apps, indeed I do. Netscape 4.7X has died on me at least 8 times in the past 30 days, though not once has it required me to reboot the machine. I have also experienced a few total system crashes, all resulting in a total freeze or hang of the system... all happened while playing with some games or some new wizbang shareware apps. Is this "unacceptable"? I don't think so. It's a fair trade off... the machines and their OS are rock solid for pushing data around, but can't handle poorly-written applications as well as Windows or UNIX can. At least I didn't have to worry about the Internet Explorer / Outlook exploit-of-the-day awhile back.
Good luck getting your Macs on the LAN, some organizations aren't too friendly to those that don't fit the status quo. Maybe Mac OS X will make things easier... we'll know more in due time. Mac OS 9 and my video apps work too well for me to make the leap until I know if it's safe. Video work keeps food on the table for me, a major platform switch just for the sake of upgrading is not work the risk.
Even in the Mac OS 7.0 days the passwords were (lightly) scrambled. And have been encrypted ever since the advent of AppleShare IP in the Mac OS 7.6 era. Anyone who uses classic (an no longer supported) AppleShare vs the modern AppleShare IP is just looking for trouble anway. ASIP uses TCP/IP, not AppleTalk/EtherTalk.
My point was I simply don't like apple. Having a unified IT environment makes things easier on the majority of the users and it saves money on having to pay techs that know both M$ and Apple.
Looks like you'd better forget ever using Linux on your LAN, too.
The Tokyo Disney (I don't recally the correct name off hand... everyone is using some incorrect variation) is doing quite well. It has actually been around longer than the ill-fated Euro Disney (which, amazingly, is still in operation). Tokyo Disney's sucess is probably best attributed to its management... it isn't run by Disney.
... and are very strictly monitored. One screwup (go past an automated warning) and you're done.
Check out the "Hidden Mickeys" website for LOTS of monorail info.
I make useful posts when I can. Though beware of my (blatent) trolls... makes Slashdot more fun.
(wicked grin)
poorly designed ATM system or some other proprietary system
Hold the phone (literally)!! ATM is not proprietary. What color is the sky on the planet you're from? Just because Redhat doesn't ship with drivers for an ATM interface and you can't buy such a beast at Fry's doesn't mean that it's proprietary.
48-port gigabit backbone. And each of the ~45 wiring closets around the park have massive switches with your choice of blades. It can support all gigabit if they so desired, but are using 100BT and 10BT for many applications. 1000BT is not needed or (or even that much better than 100BT) for most things.
Notice there is **NO** mention of redundancy?!
You don't even need 100BT. The only reason Disney is using 1000BT is because of the ungodly overhead of having so many different systems sharing the same LAN. That plus it'd be pretty silly to use last year's technology for something you want to last for at least 5.
I'm not too wild about the idea of having a central control room. Say something happens, like a fire or a collapsing wall... and disables their primary network switch or servers. Then they're screwed. It doesn't sound like they have a fully redundant hot-failover control center on the other side of the park. Or even a redundant LAN in the event that the backplane of their primary switch were to fail. Shit happens and you have to be ready. Heck... three years from now a landscape guy might even be digging outside of the control center with a backhoe and cut the bundle of fiber. You've gotta be ready for anything. Not everyone is going to be 100% clued in and will know what to do in the event of a major problem. No beowulf cluster or mysql+php linux ramblings can solve that.
more money = better stuff, right?
And dude, GPS-controlled vehicles would scare the living shit outta me.
I'm sure there's a good sized cluster in there somewhere to control all of it. Probably not some 512 node monster... maybe just a single rack of quad xeons or something.
Did anyone get the same idea I just had... how about a "themable" park that can actually be controlled (to a certain extent) by the guests themselves... It wouldn't have to be huge, just very customizable. Props, lighting, music, costumes could all be specified in advance or on the fly. I wonder what it would take to get Malda, AndOver, and some other folks to donate or lead such a project. I would love to have my own custom environement for a day (or at least provide some input).
Gee Disney, WinNT and gigE, that's nice. How do you like our Linux setup with multiple gigE links, a room full of clusters, and actually LISTENING to our guests?!?!
Sure, it sorta scares me. I think I'd rather see some hot failover systeming running on some embedded system. But I certainly wouldn't want to see it run on Linux. That's all we need, some wanker sysadmin locking up Splash Mountain and the Monorails to install kernel 2.4.723pre8. At least NT 4.0 SP6a is about the end of the line. And hey, you've got somone with deep pockets to sue should things go haywire!