The Sun Blade 1000 from Sun actually has FC-AL disk, instead of SCSI.
There's still a SCSI bus for the peripherals that require it, but the main internal disk storage is FC-AL. There's also an external port that can accept a GBIC-type device to add external storage.
Go take a look at the iTunes page. This is the application that sold me on buying a mac, back in March. My SPARCstation 20 is nice and all, but it's getting a bit sluggish.. So I was going to buy a new computer. I had it narrowed down to a Dell workstation with Linux, a Sun Ultra 10, or a PowerMac G4. I bought the G4.
Between iTunes, iMovie, and Mac OS X, this is the most fun I've had with a computer in _years_. And that includes playing with toys like Sun's E10000 (at work! I couldn't even pay for the electricity at home:-).
Apple, for the first time in 15 years, is REALLY firing on all cylinders. They've got lots going for them!
Anyway, back to iTunes... check it out at the website above -- there are lots of quicktime movies that show exactly what makes it so nice. It's an MP3 player, a file organizer, an MP3 ripper and a CD burner all in one app! It really REALLY rocks. I mean, really, what other app do you know of that'll rip MP3's off a CD while you're listening to it and adding it to your database? (And all from the same app as your player & cd burner!)
I hear complaints that the cheapest Mac is still more expensive than the cheap PC's. So what? You get what you pay for. Does the PC include a Unix-based OS that's fast and slick as hell (KDE & Gnome are neither.)? No. Does it come with a full-fledged MP3 manager/player/ripper? No. Gotta pay the Microsoft Tax if you actually want to legally convert your CD's into a digital format. Do they come with a real movie editing program? Nope, don't have that either. MS Movie Maker is a poor excuse for anything. And best of all, I don't need Microsoft ANYTHING to use my Mac! Or use my Sun workstation, either!
#1) It's not open source.
#2) It's not "getting a free ride" or anything like that. It's about bringing good software to another operating system.
What the HELL is the big deal with people charging for decent software?
I absolutely, 100% agree that most software is crap and isn't worth the bits it's written on. But there ARE pieces of software that are WELL WORTH what the author is asking for.
Mac OS X -- I didn't mind paying $129 for it. It's well worth the investment.
X-Plane -- this is a great flight sim that's worth the $49 I paid for it.
Adobe Photoshop Elements -- Finally, a photoshop that's priced reasonably. I paid $90 for it and didn't mind one bit. It's a great piece of code and worth it.
Veritas Volume Manager -- makes your life better. Worth the $$$.
Solaris -- Worth the $80 for the media. (Although I don't think media costs NEAR $80, Solaris is still worth $80.)
Not worth it:
Microsoft anything -- we all know why.
Sun Cluster -- Sun makes some of the sh_ttiest clustering software ever.
99% of other software.
---------
I guess my point here is that JUST because someone charges for software doesn't make it bad. The quality of the code determines whether it's worth it or not!
Good. So go back to your playpen and your "STALLMAN RULEZ!" rallies and leave those of us who use REAL computers alone.
There's this little thing called capitalism -- basically, in order to stay in business, you have to make a profit. I know, I know, it's a REALLY hard concept for some people to get, but you really should try 3rd grade social studies classes. They might help.
I never in a MILLION YEARS thought I'd own a Mac... but I do, and it is good.
I have expunged every piece of Wintendo hardware (That means AMD/Intel. I haven't _ever_ run Windows. OS/2, Linux, Solaris, sure. No Windows.). My SPARCstations sit pretty idle (one is a simple webserver, the other is a firewall).
My desktops are all Mac now. It's weird man, very very weird. I never ever thought I'd be doing this.
And you wanna know what sold me on the Mac?
iTunes. Simplicity at its best. Oh, and it doesn't skip. EVER.
Re:Belkin makes one...
on
USB Switches?
·
· Score: 1
Welllllll.....
The honest-to-goodness reason I bought external USB speakers is because that's what Apple sells. [grin] Seriously though, I actually _like_ the USB audio options.... USB itself kicks arse... at least on the Mac.:-)
The iSub from Harmon/Kardon looks super-cool and sounds excellent. I have a Power Mac G4 with the Apple Pro Audio Speakears and the h/k iSub. It R-O-C-K-S!!
And iTunes is quite possibly the best (and simplest) MP3 player ever written....
Belkin makes EXACTLY this sort of device. In fact, the box is labeled "USB Switch". I saw it yesterday when I was going to pick up my Mac OS X 10.1 CD's at CompUSA... (Hey, I don't like CrapUSA either, but they had the CD's...)
I was thinking to myself, "Hey, cool, a switched fabric for USB! Now my subwoofer won't share bandwidth with my digital camera!" But that isn't what they meant.:-)
You'll want to check out www.sunhelp.org. Mr. Bill (the ever-so-gracious host there) knows his stuff and has some links to Sun equipment vendors.
Since everyone and their brother has personal recommendations, here are mine, by category:
Category 1 -- Some cash to burn, want new toys
Sun Blade 100. I'd buy one of these new (less than $1000 from Sun) if I were only going to run Solaris 8. Nevermind that this thing is a PC in SPARC clothing. Hell, even the CPU is socketed! Gasp! Bear in mind that the Blade 100 can only run Solaris 8, 4/01 HW release or later.
Category 2 -- Something Ultra, mid-range prices
If I were to go out and buy a Sun machine today, it'd be an Ultra 2. They're a bit expensive still ($500-$900-ish), but can use 2 CPU's (on module boards), S-Bus cards, and has a UPA slot for a decent (read: Creator 3D) video board. They're also a VERY VERY solid machine. You can get an Ultra 1 for a bit less, but it only has 1 CPU (soldered to the mobo)....
Category 3 -- Less cash, more machine.
Here I'd recommend a SPARCstation 20. The only really acceptable configuration these days involves dual-75mhz processors, at least 128mb of RAM, and an SX video VSIMM. The SPARCstation 20 had a neat video configuration -- you could either use a TGX+ S-Bus video board (8-bit video only), or use the built-on-to-the-mobo SX (24-bit) frame buffer. The SX buffer is good, but you need to get a VSIMM to make it work (the mobo has no video RAM on it!). I paid ~$100 for my VSIMM from MemoryX. The SPARCstation 20 will run anything from Solaris 2.5.1 through Solaris 9 (yes, it works. We're a Gold Beta site... No, I can't burn you a copy!:)
Category 4 -- Even less cash, less performance
A SPARCstation 5 gives OK performance for a good price. Get a 110mhz SPARC 5. The standard 70mhz model is too dog-slow. The 170mhz model is weird; Linux doesn't support it at all... The architecture is just... weird.:-) You can get a SPARC 5 for $200 or so. Again, get lots of memory.
The biggest trick to getting a decent Sun workstation is MEMORY. Don't skimp; get at least 128MB, shoot for 256MB (or anything over 192...) if at all possible.
Also remember that ALL of the workstations above use SCSI disks. They all have SCA connectors; your standard, run-of-the-mill SCSI disk won't work internal to the case. What I tend to do is use some variety of external disk pack with the SPARCstations to fit standard SCSI devices onto it. Right now, I have my 8x Yamaha CD burner plugged into the SPARCstation 20's external SCSI bus. It works great!
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me -- I actually enjoy answering SPARC & Sun-related questions... Email me at: dmurphy-slashdot AT nbvb DOT com.
Imagine what's gonna go on in the engineering labs at HPaq....
HP-UX vs. Tru64.
NetServer vs. ProLiant.
Jornada vs. iPaq.
Deskpro vs. Vectra.
PA-RISC vs. Alpha.
Whoa.
Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll wipe each other out.
Imagine the possibilities though:
HP-UX 12i... now with DECnet!
Or Tru64 Unix... now with SAM!
Or better yet, DECclusters of HP-UX running on PA-RISC.
Since Compaq doesn't even _OWN_ the Alpha anymore!
And where does OpenVMS stand? I know most everyone here are Unix folks, but ya gotta respect VMS... it _still_ works, and _still_ runs those true mission-critical servers!
Whatever. Linux was something nice. It's a shame that egos, zealots and kiddies ruined it.
Now back to your regularly scheduled commercial Unix...
--dm
(And, FWIW, Solaris is one of the few Unices that can truly call itself a descendent of SVr4... And, for the most part, Sun has kept true to those roots and hasn't corrupted it with those 3 letters and a slash yet. If I say them, a nasty man might just appear.:-)
Slashdot Mirror
No way! AT&T Starlan didn't talk wireless!
I haven't touched that stuff since '91.... It's still too painful to think about. Think Ethernet on crack.
He doesn't need a cookie. The OSDN crapola on Slushdot took care of that already.
The Sun Blade 1000 from Sun actually has FC-AL disk, instead of SCSI.
There's still a SCSI bus for the peripherals that require it, but the main internal disk storage is FC-AL. There's also an external port that can accept a GBIC-type device to add external storage.
Uhm... I didn't know Matrox made hard disks?
:-) Which, if you scramble the letters in Matrox....... :-)
I guess you meant Maxtor...
--DM
OpenVMS file versioning.
:-)
:-)
'nuff said.
And hey, you can make a KICKASS cluster of these! Forget that beowulf stuff... why not have a cluster that actually _does_ something?
--nbvb
Go take a look at the iTunes page. This is the application that sold me on buying a mac, back in March. My SPARCstation 20 is nice and all, but it's getting a bit sluggish.. So I was going to buy a new computer. I had it narrowed down to a Dell workstation with Linux, a Sun Ultra 10, or a PowerMac G4. I bought the G4.
:-).
Between iTunes, iMovie, and Mac OS X, this is the most fun I've had with a computer in _years_. And that includes playing with toys like Sun's E10000 (at work! I couldn't even pay for the electricity at home
Apple, for the first time in 15 years, is REALLY firing on all cylinders. They've got lots going for them!
Anyway, back to iTunes... check it out at the website above -- there are lots of quicktime movies that show exactly what makes it so nice. It's an MP3 player, a file organizer, an MP3 ripper and a CD burner all in one app! It really REALLY rocks. I mean, really, what other app do you know of that'll rip MP3's off a CD while you're listening to it and adding it to your database? (And all from the same app as your player & cd burner!)
And the visual effects are cooooooooolllll!!
--nbvb
Things that beat any Microsoft offering are:
here
here
here
here
here
and here
And if you want to delve deeper into Answer #1:
Included when you buy a Mac:
iTunes
iMovie
Mac OS X
Quicktime
Things worth paying for (if they're your can of soup):
Final Cut Pro
FileMaker
AppleWorks
I hear complaints that the cheapest Mac is still more expensive than the cheap PC's. So what? You get what you pay for. Does the PC include a Unix-based OS that's fast and slick as hell (KDE & Gnome are neither.)? No. Does it come with a full-fledged MP3 manager/player/ripper? No. Gotta pay the Microsoft Tax if you actually want to legally convert your CD's into a digital format. Do they come with a real movie editing program? Nope, don't have that either. MS Movie Maker is a poor excuse for anything. And best of all, I don't need Microsoft ANYTHING to use my Mac! Or use my Sun workstation, either!
#1) It's not open source.
#2) It's not "getting a free ride" or anything like that. It's about bringing good software to another operating system.
What the HELL is the big deal with people charging for decent software?
I absolutely, 100% agree that most software is crap and isn't worth the bits it's written on. But there ARE pieces of software that are WELL WORTH what the author is asking for.
Mac OS X -- I didn't mind paying $129 for it. It's well worth the investment.
X-Plane -- this is a great flight sim that's worth the $49 I paid for it.
Adobe Photoshop Elements -- Finally, a photoshop that's priced reasonably. I paid $90 for it and didn't mind one bit. It's a great piece of code and worth it.
Veritas Volume Manager -- makes your life better. Worth the $$$.
Solaris -- Worth the $80 for the media. (Although I don't think media costs NEAR $80, Solaris is still worth $80.)
OmniWeb -- worth $29. Nice browser, nice features.
Not worth it:
Microsoft anything -- we all know why.
Sun Cluster -- Sun makes some of the sh_ttiest clustering software ever.
99% of other software.
---------
I guess my point here is that JUST because someone charges for software doesn't make it bad. The quality of the code determines whether it's worth it or not!
--nbvb
Good. So go back to your playpen and your "STALLMAN RULEZ!" rallies and leave those of us who use REAL computers alone.
There's this little thing called capitalism -- basically, in order to stay in business, you have to make a profit. I know, I know, it's a REALLY hard concept for some people to get, but you really should try 3rd grade social studies classes. They might help.
damn skippy!
Welcome to the New World...
I never in a MILLION YEARS thought I'd own a Mac... but I do, and it is good.
I have expunged every piece of Wintendo hardware (That means AMD/Intel. I haven't _ever_ run Windows. OS/2, Linux, Solaris, sure. No Windows.). My SPARCstations sit pretty idle (one is a simple webserver, the other is a firewall).
My desktops are all Mac now. It's weird man, very very weird. I never ever thought I'd be doing this.
And you wanna know what sold me on the Mac?
iTunes. Simplicity at its best. Oh, and it doesn't skip. EVER.
--DM
kiddies, all of ya.
We all know that BARREN REALMS ELITE was the best BBS door ever written.
Period.
yeah, those are the dorks who got busted by the feds!
:)
I didn't want to EVER go NEAR their board...
hells yah!!
It was broken as hell to install, but it was bi-directional...... which is what made it kick zmodem's arse!!!
--dmurphy AT osxadm DOT com
The DMJ BBS System/2
North Bergen, NJ
1:2630/316
There's nothing here for me to moderate!
Welllllll.....
:-)
The honest-to-goodness reason I bought external USB speakers is because that's what Apple sells. [grin] Seriously though, I actually _like_ the USB audio options.... USB itself kicks arse... at least on the Mac.
The iSub from Harmon/Kardon looks super-cool and sounds excellent. I have a Power Mac G4 with the Apple Pro Audio Speakears and the h/k iSub. It R-O-C-K-S!!
And iTunes is quite possibly the best (and simplest) MP3 player ever written....
--dmurphy AT osxadm DOT com
OmniWeb for OSX solves this with a checkbox labeled:
"Allow Pop-Up Windows Only When Link is Clicked On" (or something similar)
Which means, it'll only pop up a window if and only if you click on something deliberately.
Nice. Very, very nice.
Belkin makes EXACTLY this sort of device. In fact, the box is labeled "USB Switch". I saw it yesterday when I was going to pick up my Mac OS X 10.1 CD's at CompUSA... (Hey, I don't like CrapUSA either, but they had the CD's...)
:-)
I was thinking to myself, "Hey, cool, a switched fabric for USB! Now my subwoofer won't share bandwidth with my digital camera!" But that isn't what they meant.
Good luck!
--DM
Agreed.
:-)
It works really, really well on OS X, what with the built in Java 2 and all.
So _THIS_ is why Adaptec (Roxio) Toast includes recording to DLT........
Aha!
--nbvb
All of the telephone network CO's have diesel generator backups. ALL of them.
The problem is refueling. We can't get diesel trucks in there to refuel!!
They are OWNED by the PANYNJ (Port Authority of New York & New Jersey). They're LEASED by the 2 companies above...
You'll want to check out www.sunhelp.org. Mr. Bill (the ever-so-gracious host there) knows his stuff and has some links to Sun equipment vendors.
:)
:-) You can get a SPARC 5 for $200 or so. Again, get lots of memory.
Since everyone and their brother has personal recommendations, here are mine, by category:
Category 1 -- Some cash to burn, want new toys
Sun Blade 100. I'd buy one of these new (less than $1000 from Sun) if I were only going to run Solaris 8. Nevermind that this thing is a PC in SPARC clothing. Hell, even the CPU is socketed! Gasp! Bear in mind that the Blade 100 can only run Solaris 8, 4/01 HW release or later.
Category 2 -- Something Ultra, mid-range prices
If I were to go out and buy a Sun machine today, it'd be an Ultra 2. They're a bit expensive still ($500-$900-ish), but can use 2 CPU's (on module boards), S-Bus cards, and has a UPA slot for a decent (read: Creator 3D) video board. They're also a VERY VERY solid machine. You can get an Ultra 1 for a bit less, but it only has 1 CPU (soldered to the mobo)....
Category 3 -- Less cash, more machine.
Here I'd recommend a SPARCstation 20. The only really acceptable configuration these days involves dual-75mhz processors, at least 128mb of RAM, and an SX video VSIMM. The SPARCstation 20 had a neat video configuration -- you could either use a TGX+ S-Bus video board (8-bit video only), or use the built-on-to-the-mobo SX (24-bit) frame buffer. The SX buffer is good, but you need to get a VSIMM to make it work (the mobo has no video RAM on it!). I paid ~$100 for my VSIMM from MemoryX. The SPARCstation 20 will run anything from Solaris 2.5.1 through Solaris 9 (yes, it works. We're a Gold Beta site... No, I can't burn you a copy!
Category 4 -- Even less cash, less performance
A SPARCstation 5 gives OK performance for a good price. Get a 110mhz SPARC 5. The standard 70mhz model is too dog-slow. The 170mhz model is weird; Linux doesn't support it at all... The architecture is just... weird.
The biggest trick to getting a decent Sun workstation is MEMORY. Don't skimp; get at least 128MB, shoot for 256MB (or anything over 192...) if at all possible.
Also remember that ALL of the workstations above use SCSI disks. They all have SCA connectors; your standard, run-of-the-mill SCSI disk won't work internal to the case. What I tend to do is use some variety of external disk pack with the SPARCstations to fit standard SCSI devices onto it. Right now, I have my 8x Yamaha CD burner plugged into the SPARCstation 20's external SCSI bus. It works great!
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me -- I actually enjoy answering SPARC & Sun-related questions... Email me at: dmurphy-slashdot AT nbvb DOT com.
Thanks!
--nbvb
Imagine what's gonna go on in the engineering labs at HPaq....
HP-UX vs. Tru64.
NetServer vs. ProLiant.
Jornada vs. iPaq.
Deskpro vs. Vectra.
PA-RISC vs. Alpha.
Whoa.
Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll wipe each other out.
Imagine the possibilities though:
HP-UX 12i... now with DECnet!
Or Tru64 Unix... now with SAM!
Or better yet, DECclusters of HP-UX running on PA-RISC.
Since Compaq doesn't even _OWN_ the Alpha anymore!
And where does OpenVMS stand? I know most everyone here are Unix folks, but ya gotta respect VMS... it _still_ works, and _still_ runs those true mission-critical servers!
--nbvb
And this is why I use ATT/Solaris.
:-)
Or SVr4/Solaris.
Or Unix/Solaris.
Or BellLabs/Solaris.
Or ThompsonRitchie/Solaris
Whatever. Linux was something nice. It's a shame that egos, zealots and kiddies ruined it.
Now back to your regularly scheduled commercial Unix...
--dm
(And, FWIW, Solaris is one of the few Unices that can truly call itself a descendent of SVr4... And, for the most part, Sun has kept true to those roots and hasn't corrupted it with those 3 letters and a slash yet. If I say them, a nasty man might just appear.
I do believe that this is because Red Hat didn't ship an ISO image until 4.x(?). It was a download-the-whole-damn-tree kind of a thing..
Maybe they've deleted the trees since, but I didn't think Redhat shipped ISO's until at least the 5.x series...