Based on the pictures that I've seen and read about the IBM x330 server, the included memory are regular memory modules. There are some x330 models that have something called MXT (Memory eXpansion Technology) that acts like a large L3 cache that buffers and handles seeks and bursts better. I don't know how large the MXT size is, but the MXT memory modules are integrated onto the motherboard rather than a removable module. If it did fail, then it would be a pain in the ass to replace, but I don't think it's the system RAM that is integrated onto the motherboard.
I think that the prices for the Compaq servers are way out of line compared to what someone can buy one through a reseller (like CDW or Insight). I'm guessing that the author of the article just went to Compaq's online store and configured the servers to get the outrageous prices. I think almost everyone knows that Compaq screws people with the prices listed on their site. Below are just some of the overpriced items:
$3300 for a second P3-S 1.4Ghz processor
+$7833 to upgrade from 256MB of RAM to 2GB of RAM (obviously inflated)
+$2500 for a 73GB hard drive
I have ordered a quad P3 Xeon (700Mhz with 1MB cache), 1GB of RAM, 4x 36GB 10K SCSI hard drives, Compaq 4x00 RAID controller for just over $20k and that was over a year ago. The only pieces that we purchased that were not Compaq branded were the memory modules (go Crucial!). Sure... there is a difference between a 7U server and a 1U server, but smart shoppers will not get dry humped by purchasing Compaq servers and options directly from Compaq.
Umm... The Jornada 5xx Pocket PC's don't have a PCMCIA (aka PC Card) slot, but rather tha CF Type I slot. The clamshell Jornada's (the 6xx and 7xx series) have a PCMCIA Type II slot plus a CF Type I slot for additional storage.
Both the Jornada and the iPaq have sleeves for PC Card slots, though the PC Card sleeve for the Jornada is sleeker than the iPaq sleeves (except for the non-Compaq thin ones) but are kind of spendy:(
Anyways, you can still get 802.11b by getting the Socket/Symbol, DLink and other CF Type I cards.
I don't think it's just the GCC that is the reason that RMS wants to have people mention Linux as GNU/Linux, but rather the GNU userland that is used in many Linux distributions and installations (ie: ls, grep, mount, etc.) since a distribution or "operating system" needs more than just a kernel (although the Linux kernel can almost be an OS in itself if/when someone decides to integrate GNU/Emacs into it;-) Note: I use both ViM and Emacs (sssh!)
I usually call Linux as "Linux" and sometimes (usually in more thorough reports and papers) call it GNU/Linux...
On the bright side of things, Michael Lucas (who has been actively involved in FreeBSD in one way or another) has been appointed as the FreeBSD Project Donations Liaison Officer.
Back on topic, it is kind of sad that two respected people have left the FreeBSD core team, but things have to evolve and projects need to become somewhat dynamic rather than stay stagnant. Companies cannot survive with the same set of people on their board of directors forever either (though some wish that isn't the case).
As projects get more committers, programmers, and commenters, the harder it is to keep focused and be able to agree on the same thing. I think that Linux has shown some of the same symptoms (disagreements between how kernel patches should be handled, etc.).
It looks like Intel has an i850-E based motherboard that has USB 2.0 built-in (I'm guessing that they planted a separate USB 2.0 controller on the motherboard). The model is the D850EMV2L and one can be purchased here .
Re:Process accounting
on
Unix SAR?
·
· Score: 3, Funny
$ man "enron accounting"
No manual entry for "enron accounting"
I agree... Intel should have updated the southbridge to include at least USB 2.0 and maybe improved AC97 sound support. The difference between ATA/100 and ATA/133 isn't really enough to make an upgrade, but the support for > 130GB hard drives is a must.
I would like to see Serial ATA to be out in the wild as that would help reduce the wiring mess, mostly for those with more than 4 devices on multiple controllers:)
Currently, Intel only officially supports dual processor configurations with their P4/Xeon processors (as well as their P3-S processors, but those are not based on the P4 core). Via is planning on releasing a chipset to enable dual processor support for the Northwood (both original and B-series) and possibly the Willamette processors, and using PC2400/PC2700 DDR memory. I'm not sure what the status is on that processor, but it would finally bring back relatively-affordable Intel dual processor machines.
Right now, I'm just eyeing out a dual T-bred setup for myself:)
Dual channel DDR memory controllers (the nVidia nForce chipset was kind of there, but one channel was used for the integrated video chipset on some of the models) would provide a nice amount of bandwidth. One example of a dual-channel DDR memory controller would be the Intel E7500 chipset for the P4/Xeon processors (though the officially supported memory speed is PC1600, not PC2100 and requires Registered DIMMs).
One thing that kind of holds back multi-channel DDR chipsets for commodity computers is the cost of implementing and validating the chipsets and motherboards. DDR (which is available in 64-bit or 128-bit, or even higher) requires a lot more traces than RDRAM (since it is parallel vs. serial), which causes increased complexity in routing traces as well as regulating noise and inteference in longer traces.
I think we will see more and more dual channel DDR in the future, but it will be expensive and not as pretty as it could be.
Or you can integrate the 802.11b or 802.11g controller into the processor and integrate a special type of heat spreader that allows someone to bolt-on a heatsink (a la Alpha) and use the heatsink as a mini-antenna;-)
Or the other option is to have the controller on the processor and have a couple of pins from the packaging go directly to some type of MII/PHY chip, which in turns does the RX/TX with an external antenna.
Just some thoughts... dunno how feasible either of them are.
Re:i850E doesn't officially support PC1066 RDRAM
on
Intel Moves To 533MHz FSB
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
I forgot to make a comment about the AMD T-bred processors. Why doesn't AMD start putting some type of protection on the naked cores? I would really like to see AMD to put on the integrated heat spreaders on the processors to help reduce the chance of cracked and broken cores, as well as help dissipate the heat from the now smaller cores.
Sure, the T-bred processors won't be producing as much heat (due to the die shrink), but once speeds start hitting well over 2Ghz, I expect the cores to get very, very hot again.
Just my $0.015 post-taxes.
i850E doesn't officially support PC1066 RDRAM
on
Intel Moves To 533MHz FSB
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
According to Anand's article on the new 533Mhz FSB P4's and the i850E chipset (which provides official support for the 533Mhz, aka quad-pumped 133Mhz, FSB), that Intel isn't officially supporting the use of PC1066 RDRAM modules which would allow the memory bus and the processor FSB to run in tandem.
Although quite a few Samsung PC800 modules will run at PC1066 speeds without any problems, but if any installed modules are not capable of running at the higher speed, the memory bus will get capped at the current max of 400Mhz (or 3.2GB/s).
I guess for now, the new processors don't really, really need the higher memory bandwidth, but as the processor speeds start to hit 3+ Ghz, the extra amount of bandwidth will become more important.
Although nmap, wrappers and ipchains (or ipfw/ipfilter) can protect from many security intrusions from the outside, but it doesn't help when the intrusions come from the inside. Things that could help increase the chance of an internal security intrusion include weak passwords or passwords that rarely change, poor ACLs on servers, firewalls, routers, applications, etc., lax security policy, modems dangling off of machines that have access to a land-line, etc.
The other thing that would normally come out of security audits are plans to make sure that software that is being used and requires utmost security are updated in a timely fashion. Sure, you can run a Linux/BSD-based firewall, but what if you haven't updated the OS and firewall software for 4+ years? Or how about the DNS servers that are still running either BIND 4 or god-forbid, early versions of BIND 8.
For Apache+PHP web servers, there were a couple of nasty bugs found in PHP 3 and PHP 4 that were quickly fixed... but I still know people and companies that run on Apache 1.2.x and PHP 3.x that don't really keep up with the latest security bulletins.
I think it will help a little bit, but for those who aren't tech savvy and use the new version of WinAmp won't know the difference... unless if somebody sends them or if they find a file encoded in O/V. Other than that, those people will only care about MP3's.
At least with Bluetooth, you can get a Compact Flash card (for most Pocket PC devices) or an SD or Memory Stick BT card for some Palm devices. If you don't have any of those options, then you are SOL:)
Only problem for handheld users is that not all handhelds are capable of hosting USB devices (with the exception of maybe two or three Pocket PC based handhelds).
Hook it up to your Bluetooth GPS, and have your own "where am I today?" web server. Or a bluetooth web-cam for "what am I doing today?"
As far as the GPS is concerned, it depends on if you are using a Microsoft OS on the host machine; if so, then it's "where we (Microsoft) want you to go today?". On the paranoid side, think of the possible uses by the RIAA/MPAA... not only do they know that you are serving illegally ripped/copied media files, but they can track every move you make:)
Thanks for the info... even at 400kbps async (interference, distance and the BT chip/controller factored in), that would still be able to stream a DiVX and MP3 files fairly nicely.
I wonder if they will include a USB (either 1.1 or 2.0, preferrably 2.0) port on the device for faster data transfers from a laptop or a desktop. I'd hate to have to sit around and transfer 4-5GB of files via BT:)
It looks like someone took a motherboard from either an iMac (the iWhack version, not the iLamp) or an iBook, took the original monitor and wired it to the video card... as for the floppy, it's probably a USB floppy drive that was carefully mounted.
I just hope they added FireWire ports to add a DVD-R drive or something. That would be a nice and small DVD burning machine or heck, even a web server.
I wonder what kind of transfer rates one can get with that thing, since it is limited to the speed of the Bluetooth connection.
The storage unit would be a nice add-on for those with a Pocket PC 2002 device and a BT card (or in the case of the iPaq 3870, which has BT built-in) as you could just sit the drive on a table or in a jacket pocket and listen to MP3s or even watch (shrunken versions) of Anime or movies with PocketDiVX.
Microdrives don't hold as much as laptop drives...is there even a 20GB microdrive? If there were, I'd guess it'd cost Creative over $500 per device, meaning the Nomad would cost close to $1500 MSRP. I may love music, but that's a bit steep for a dedicated portable device, no?
The hard drive in the iPod is a 1.8" form factor hard drive, which is smaller than the standard 2.5" form factor hard drive found in most laptops. IIRC, the hard drive found in the Nomad Jukebox (6GB, 10GB and 20GB; dunno about the NJ3) uses the 2.5" laptop drives.
The IBM Microdrives are even smaller than the drives found in your iPod and the largest capacity Microdrive is 1GB.
Slashdot Mirror
Based on the pictures that I've seen and read about the IBM x330 server, the included memory are regular memory modules. There are some x330 models that have something called MXT (Memory eXpansion Technology) that acts like a large L3 cache that buffers and handles seeks and bursts better. I don't know how large the MXT size is, but the MXT memory modules are integrated onto the motherboard rather than a removable module. If it did fail, then it would be a pain in the ass to replace, but I don't think it's the system RAM that is integrated onto the motherboard.
- $3300 for a second P3-S 1.4Ghz processor
- +$7833 to upgrade from 256MB of RAM to 2GB of RAM (obviously inflated)
- +$2500 for a 73GB hard drive
I have ordered a quad P3 Xeon (700Mhz with 1MB cache), 1GB of RAM, 4x 36GB 10K SCSI hard drives, Compaq 4x00 RAID controller for just over $20k and that was over a year ago. The only pieces that we purchased that were not Compaq branded were the memory modules (go Crucial!). Sure... there is a difference between a 7U server and a 1U server, but smart shoppers will not get dry humped by purchasing Compaq servers and options directly from Compaq.This is a duplicate article... the first one was posted earlier today, here.
"Pillars of Non-Creation" == "Monument To Non Existance"???
Both the Jornada and the iPaq have sleeves for PC Card slots, though the PC Card sleeve for the Jornada is sleeker than the iPaq sleeves (except for the non-Compaq thin ones) but are kind of spendy :(
Anyways, you can still get 802.11b by getting the Socket/Symbol, DLink and other CF Type I cards.
I usually call Linux as "Linux" and sometimes (usually in more thorough reports and papers) call it GNU/Linux...
Just my $0.015
Back on topic, it is kind of sad that two respected people have left the FreeBSD core team, but things have to evolve and projects need to become somewhat dynamic rather than stay stagnant. Companies cannot survive with the same set of people on their board of directors forever either (though some wish that isn't the case).
As projects get more committers, programmers, and commenters, the harder it is to keep focused and be able to agree on the same thing. I think that Linux has shown some of the same symptoms (disagreements between how kernel patches should be handled, etc.).
Just some of my thoughts... that's all.
It looks like Intel has an i850-E based motherboard that has USB 2.0 built-in (I'm guessing that they planted a separate USB 2.0 controller on the motherboard). The model is the D850EMV2L and one can be purchased here .
No manual entry for "enron accounting"
I just had to say it :)
I would like to see Serial ATA to be out in the wild as that would help reduce the wiring mess, mostly for those with more than 4 devices on multiple controllers :)
Right now, I'm just eyeing out a dual T-bred setup for myself :)
One thing that kind of holds back multi-channel DDR chipsets for commodity computers is the cost of implementing and validating the chipsets and motherboards. DDR (which is available in 64-bit or 128-bit, or even higher) requires a lot more traces than RDRAM (since it is parallel vs. serial), which causes increased complexity in routing traces as well as regulating noise and inteference in longer traces.
I think we will see more and more dual channel DDR in the future, but it will be expensive and not as pretty as it could be.
Or the other option is to have the controller on the processor and have a couple of pins from the packaging go directly to some type of MII/PHY chip, which in turns does the RX/TX with an external antenna.
Just some thoughts... dunno how feasible either of them are.
Sure, the T-bred processors won't be producing as much heat (due to the die shrink), but once speeds start hitting well over 2Ghz, I expect the cores to get very, very hot again.
Just my $0.015 post-taxes.
Although quite a few Samsung PC800 modules will run at PC1066 speeds without any problems, but if any installed modules are not capable of running at the higher speed, the memory bus will get capped at the current max of 400Mhz (or 3.2GB/s).
I guess for now, the new processors don't really, really need the higher memory bandwidth, but as the processor speeds start to hit 3+ Ghz, the extra amount of bandwidth will become more important.
The other thing that would normally come out of security audits are plans to make sure that software that is being used and requires utmost security are updated in a timely fashion. Sure, you can run a Linux/BSD-based firewall, but what if you haven't updated the OS and firewall software for 4+ years? Or how about the DNS servers that are still running either BIND 4 or god-forbid, early versions of BIND 8.
For Apache+PHP web servers, there were a couple of nasty bugs found in PHP 3 and PHP 4 that were quickly fixed... but I still know people and companies that run on Apache 1.2.x and PHP 3.x that don't really keep up with the latest security bulletins.
Still, it's a nice step in the right direction...
At least with Bluetooth, you can get a Compact Flash card (for most Pocket PC devices) or an SD or Memory Stick BT card for some Palm devices. If you don't have any of those options, then you are SOL :)
Only problem for handheld users is that not all handhelds are capable of hosting USB devices (with the exception of maybe two or three Pocket PC based handhelds).
Nevermind on the last part... my eyes must have glazed over the last part of the press release. Still, I wonder if it will be USB 1.1 or USB 2.0.
I wonder if they will include a USB (either 1.1 or 2.0, preferrably 2.0) port on the device for faster data transfers from a laptop or a desktop. I'd hate to have to sit around and transfer 4-5GB of files via BT :)
I just hope they added FireWire ports to add a DVD-R drive or something. That would be a nice and small DVD burning machine or heck, even a web server.
The storage unit would be a nice add-on for those with a Pocket PC 2002 device and a BT card (or in the case of the iPaq 3870, which has BT built-in) as you could just sit the drive on a table or in a jacket pocket and listen to MP3s or even watch (shrunken versions) of Anime or movies with PocketDiVX.
The IBM Microdrives are even smaller than the drives found in your iPod and the largest capacity Microdrive is 1GB.