From owner-freebsd-sparc64@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Dec 18 20:35:35 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-sparc64@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 162D516A4CE for ; Thu, 18 Dec 2003 20:35:35 -0800 (PST) Received: from blue.calx.nl (gif1.blue.calx.nl [80.69.67.145]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9D80743D2D for ; Thu, 18 Dec 2003 20:35:32 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from freebsd@walter.transip.nl) Received: from kai.calx.nl (kai.calx.nl [80.69.67.132]) by blue.calx.nl (Postfix) with ESMTP id 773BFA931 for ; Fri, 19 Dec 2003 05:35:25 +0100 (CET) Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 05:35:26 +0100 From: Walter Hop X-Priority: 3 (Normal) Message-ID: <92527552015.20031219053526@blue.calx.nl> To: freebsd-sparc64@freebsd.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Sun Netra T1 AC200 - practical questions X-BeenThere: freebsd-sparc64@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: Porting FreeBSD to the Sparc List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 04:35:35 -0000 Hi, I have a practical question. I can get a used Sun Netra T1 AC200 for a nice price and would like to know if it is realistic to run a FreeBSD server on this hardware. I want to run just a few personal domains on it for my family, so I won't not lose money when it has to be rebooted. I have browsed the -sparc64 archives, but have not found much recent real world experiences about running FreeBSD on this hardware. Documentation is sparse, so I hope you will forgive me for asking some newbie questions as anything sparc is new to me. Some questions are pertaining to the Netra hardware, some to FreeBSD/sparc64 general usage: 1. Is the Netra's serial port + FreeBSD's driver usable for getting FreeBSD up and running through serial console? I have read some problem reports on google getting serial to work, but those may be outdated. 2. Will it be reasonably safe to run 5.2-RELEASE on sparc64? An i386 5.1R box with similar usage is now 62 days up without a glitch, are uptimes such as these expected? 3. Does userland and ports usually run well on sparc64, or can I expect to have endian related issues? 4. What is the future plan for support of low-end sparc64 in FreeBSD? Are there enough people interested in these setups to keep them on the roadmap for the near future? 5. Is my plan a bad idea for any other reason that is not apparent? 8) Thanks in advance for helping me out! cheers, walter