Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 22:57:07 -0600 From: Tillman Hodgson <tillman@seekingfire.com> To: FreeBSD-Sparc64 <sparc64@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Sun Netra T1 AC200 - practical questions Message-ID: <20031218225707.B8560@seekingfire.com> In-Reply-To: <92527552015.20031219053526@blue.calx.nl>; from freebsd@walter.transip.nl on Fri, Dec 19, 2003 at 05:35:26AM %2B0100 References: <92527552015.20031219053526@blue.calx.nl>
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On Fri, Dec 19, 2003 at 05:35:26AM +0100, Walter Hop wrote: > 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: The ROSPA user group (http://www.rospa.ca/) is run off of an Ultra 5. It's been exceedingly stable server assuming that one is comfortable running -CURRENT (and the typical issues that come from that). > 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 on google getting serial to work, but those may be outdated. The serial console is better for installation than the "real" console on my Ultra 5, if that helps. > 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? Similar. I tend to reboot more often as I rebuild world to follow -CURRENT about once a month, but I've never had a lockup that wasn't my own fault (note to self: Read UPGRADING more often). > 3. Does userland and ports usually run well on sparc64, or can I expect to > have endian related issues? I haven't run across a port that works on i386 but doesn't on sparc64. Assuming you're doing typical apache-ish things, I think you'll be fine. I also do Postfix, mailman, HTML::Mason, php, Kerberos, NIS, firewall, Quagga for OSPF routing, OpenVPN tunneling and vlan'ing. It's been been great. > 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? I don't know this personally - it seems like a small community to me, but that might be just because it works well enough to not need a chatty mailing list. > 5. Is my plan a bad idea for any other reason that is not apparent? 8) Seems like a good idea to me. 'Course, I love interesting hardware ;-) -T -- Being generous is inborn; being altruistic is a learned perversity. No resemblance. - Robert Heinlein
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