From owner-freebsd-chat Wed Jul 10 17: 4: 0 2002 Delivered-To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.FreeBSD.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E877137B406 for ; Wed, 10 Jul 2002 17:03:55 -0700 (PDT) Received: from avocet.mail.pas.earthlink.net (avocet.mail.pas.earthlink.net [207.217.120.50]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6391743E54 for ; Wed, 10 Jul 2002 17:03:55 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from tlambert2@mindspring.com) Received: from pool0451.cvx22-bradley.dialup.earthlink.net ([209.179.199.196] helo=mindspring.com) by avocet.mail.pas.earthlink.net with esmtp (Exim 3.33 #1) id 17SRR2-0005JH-00; Wed, 10 Jul 2002 17:03:52 -0700 Message-ID: <3D2CCB20.FC148BA1@mindspring.com> Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 17:02:40 -0700 From: Terry Lambert X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7 [en]C-CCK-MCD {Sony} (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Darren Pilgrim Cc: a clever sheep , freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: 2u freebsd box and riser card drivers References: <20020710155003.GC500@malkavian.org> <3D2C9C2F.91398132@mindspring.com> <3D2C9E93.A8EBBD81@pantherdragon.org> <3D2CA2D6.E387A2D@mindspring.com> <3D2CC40B.AAB21291@pantherdragon.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Darren Pilgrim wrote: > > Now to find a motherboard that can handle 1G SIMMs, where the SIMM > > connector hardware is at a steeper angle than normal so that you > > can fit 4G in a 1U case... ;^). > > You know, there's a point at which all this extra hardware will demand > a 2U case just so you can use larger fans. :) Or have you found a > company that will make small electric turbofans at a reasonable price? > I've seen 1-inch turbofans that pull no more juice than the average > 80mm case fan and can move 170CFM when unobstructed and running at > nominal speed. I just wouldn't want to put one in my desktop. OK, here are some dirty little form-factor secrets that everyone should know... There are three overwhelming arguments in favor of 1U: o Psychological: smaller == more technically advanced. o Economic: Over the amortizable lifetime of a product (3 years for computer equipment, according to the IRS), rack space rental is a more significant portion of TCO than the price of the box itself. o Economic: A small box costs less to ship than a big box There are four overwhelming arguments in favor of 4/5U: o Psychological: I flat out disbelieve your ability to make something that can do what you say it can do fit in a space that small o Psychological: Something should weigh proportional to what it costs to buy. Put a cinderblock retaining bracket in the thing to bring up weight, if you have to. o Practical: The bigger it is, the more connectors, knobs, and indicators I can jam onto the front of the thing o Ability to read the name/logo through the chain link by the people in the colocation case next door to your customer's. Rarely is 2/3U a good thing, unless you are aiming to be a plug-in replacement for a product that is already 2/3U. -- Terry To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message