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Message Posted: Fri, 07 Jan 2005 @ 19:37:25 GMT

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The NCR MPRAS Unix is the most stable Unix (as a non-TPA node) I've ever used. In the past 7+ years using NCR non-TPA nodes I have only seen one node panic.

However, not many vendors create and support software that runs on MPRAS. Some have, but are now not supporting those versions - Maestro, for example. A list of vendors that have products for NCR Unix would be great to have. Connect:Direct for Unix (aka, NDM) is one that is supported.

If you're big into OpenSource software you will find challenges with MPRAS.

For ETL solutions you may be constrained by the 2GB file size limit. There used to be a product called Terafile that removed this limitation. I don't know if it still exists. The workaround is to split your files before dropping them on the server. We use both NCR and Sun for different source file size and processing requirements.

Starting with the model 5250 (I think) GB ethernet is supported. According to NCR there is no appreciable difference (if any at all) in network performance between GB eth. and the bynet. So you could have GB TPA nodes and a GB Sun box and see the same mload acquisition performance as if mload was running on a non-TPA node over the bynet. I have not tested with mload, but FTP is comparable, and sometimes faster over GB. 10GB eth is a reality. Eventually, you might even see 10GB eth supported at the node level. Not sure how that will compare to the bynet. Can NCR speak to the future performance of the bynet?

The Intel cpus on NCR are very fast. If you choose Sun (SPARC) over NCR be sure you are running cpus at 1GHz or greater. This comes from experience.

I don't know about now, but the NCR nodes were WAY more expensive than Sun, without any real gain for the added cost. It's one thing to use extra NCR nodes that are lying around for ETL servers, but it's another to buy one for this purpose. Of course, if you going for a fully loaded Sun F15 the cost is probably comparable.

Non-TPA nodes are managed from the AWS. If you want NCR nodes off the bynet/cmic/etc. you will probably need an additional AWS to monitor them if you want them supported. I'm not sure why since there are many NCR servers out there running without an AWS. Maybe there's another vendor's software for this purpose. Has anyone tried Nagios on NCR?

One other consideration might be who's going to take care of the Sun box. If adding this to your environment requires Sun expertise you don't already have, it may be an extra cost.

I prefer Sun. A Windows box might be a good way to go. Or maybe even Linux.

This is from my experience. If anyone has a contrary experience, or if I have mistated anything, I welcome the info and correction. This is a good topic.

Mike

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