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Date: Wed, 11 Jun 1997 09:59:54 -0500 (CDT)
From: "M. L. Dodson" <bdodson@beowulf.utmb.edu>
Message-Id: <199706111459.JAA12495@beowulf.utmb.edu>
To: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG, hubert@joule.physics.uottawa.ca
Subject: Re: hardware compatibility
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> 
> Hi! 
> 	I am presently a grad student at the university of Ottawa (Canada) in
> physics. We are planning to setup an array of Pentium-pro for parallel
> programming running FreeBSD. I have a simple question regarding hardware
> compability. Here is the components that were suggested by the
> retailler:
> 
> -ASUS P6NP5 pentium/pro motherboard with intel PP 200Mhz, 256K cache

Someone else will have to comment.

> -64 MB EDO RAM
         ^^^^^^^
For serious work go with true parity RAM and set the motherboard up to
do error correction (I assume that the ASUS board can do this; I think I 
have seen postings to that effect).

> -2.1 GB Panasonic SCSI HD

Are you going to have an array of compute servers?  Think about one
file server, put the big disks on it, and only ~ 1G disks on the 
compute servers with just / and swap on them.  Mount everything else 
via NFS.  Stay with SCSI everywhere, though.  Evaluate the size of
swap needed.  Some quantum chemistry packages may need 1G swap or
more (which should be local to the machine).

> -2 MB PCI S-3-3D Virge Graphic video card
> -17 " Daytek digital video
> -mitsumi mouse
OK for file server.
Cheapest possible video and monitors, no mouse, etc on compute servers.

> -12x SCSI toshiba cd-rom (ext)
Only needed on one machine (file server?).

> -Adaptec ISA SCSI-II card
           ^^^
Go with a PCI SCSI controller every time.

> -OvisLink PCI Combo lan coard
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I believe the Intel EtherExpress Pro/100B is the preferred ethernet card
de jour.  (Someone will correct me if I'm wrong ;-)  Think about a 100 mbps
ethernet hub connecting these puppies (bought with the money you save by not
putting 17" monitors on the compute servers).  Set the file server up
with 2 ethernet cards and make it a gateway between your 100 mbps compute
array network and your campus network (probably 10 mbps).

You need a sufficiently large tape drive on the file server to back
things up (SCSI, of course).

> 
> Can you tell me if this hardware would have any problem running under
> FreeBSD or/and make any suggestion.
> 
> Thanks a lot for your help
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Sylvain Hubert
> hubert@physics.uottawa.ca
> 

--
M. L. Dodson                                bdodson@scms.utmb.edu
409-772-2178                                FAX: 409-772-1790