keithe@tekgvs.TEK.COM (Keith Ericson) (09/09/87)
In article <4305@teddy.UUCP> jpn@teddy.UUCP (John P. Nelson) writes: >I'm trying to put together a 80386 UNIX system. I'd like to hear any >recommendations/horror stories that the net might have, both Hardware >and Software. > >My requirements: I'd like to get a 16 or 20 Meg 386 system, Hopefully >with 3 or 4 Meg of 32bit ram. A 1.2 Meg floppy will probably suffice >at first, but I want the ability to upgrade to a tape drive later. I >need at LEAST 20Meg of usable file space after the system software is >loaded (and swap space allocated). > I can speak to part of the hardware issue, and recommend a potential vendor. We've been evaluating the Intel 80386 motherboards with the 80387s. (These are the "Fab 6" boards that _do_ function with the 80387.) Intel has proven to us that they are *serious* about only producing high quality boards; the couple of problems we've run into have been met with very high-level action to insure that it won't happen again. (If anyone out there is having hardware problems I know Intel will want to hear about - and will quickly take measures to remedy - them. Together with a pair of the Intel MEM020 boards (2 Megabyte, 32-bit- wide) memory boards (for a total of 4-1/2 megabytes of RAM) and a suitably sized hard disk you'll have a decent UNIX platform. (We've been running Interactive's 386 System V.) We have Miniscribe 6085's in some, Maxtor 2190's in others. (Unfortunately the disk controllers only access 1024 of the 2190's 1224 cylinders, so instead of the almost 160 megabytes of disk we can only get to 115 megabytes. The WD 1006 controller, which does address 2048 cylinders, for some reason won't properly cold boot, so I'm waiting for the new version of the 1006. Sigh.) One source for this hardware is Eltech Research, Inc., of Milpitas CA. They sell the Intel motherboard system (I've verified - phone call - that it is the Fab 6 version), running at 16 MHz with a Seagate ST251 (40 Megabyte), Teac High density floppy, HD/FD controller (probably Everex), EGA controller (Everex MicroEnhancer - vanilla EGA), and Nanoa "Hi-res" (820 x 620) monitor, the case, power supply, and keyboard, burned in for 96 hours for $3,139. And the 4 Megabytes of RAM will add another $1200, for a total of $4,339. For a UNIX system I'd recommend swapping the ST251 for and ST4096 (full-height, 85 Megabytes). Probably bump the price by something like $500-$550. (I've never seen the Nanoa monitor but it's specs look impressive. We have NEC Multisysnc's - they're OK.) I don't know what the 80387 will cost. If you're interested, check out Eltech's ads in InfoWorld or PC Week. Their phone number is (408) 942-0990. (I've always dealt with Angie Wong, but there's no reason that others can't give you good service, too.) I have no connection with Eltech other than being a very (make that very, VERY) satisfied customer. They've shown themselves to be aggressive in pricing and service - even to the point of shipping replacements to us before receiving our original parts (E.g., I mis-ordered some tape-controller cards (internal instead of external); the originals are still on my desk, waiting for paperwork from Purchasing, while the replacements have already been shipped by Eltech.) There are local companies I could deal with, but for now I'll stick with a proven vendor. keith (these are my own opinions, but I formed them on my employer's time - and money) ericson
agnew@trwrc.UUCP (R.A. Agnew) (09/15/87)
In article <2643@tekgvs.TEK.COM> keithe@tekgvs.UUCP (Keith Ericson) writes: >In article <4305@teddy.UUCP> jpn@teddy.UUCP (John P. Nelson) writes: >>I'm trying to put together a 80386 UNIX system. I'd like to hear any >>recommendations/horror stories that the net might have, both Hardware >>and Software. >> You'll get severely bottlenecked at the disk. Use a 16 bit, high speed controller like the Adaptek AT model. I don't remember the model but it is available in both 2,7 RLL and 2,7 ARRL. If your drive can take it, use the ARRL as this will double the transfer rate from ST506/412 to 10 Mbits. I have had great luck with the Vertex V170 and 2,7 RLL at 90 Mbytes and 7.5M. I don't know if it will support the bandwidth for ARRL so ask Adaptek. ARRL would give you 120 Mbytes, 19 ms., 10 Mbits for less than $1k and the V190 would take you to 140 Mbytes for little more. You might also consider a SCSI interface which supports 4 Mbytes synchronous rates, especially if you plan to use multiple drives with overlapped seeks and a streaming tape. The 386 can handle it. The Adaptek controller has a third-party DMA. Make sure you format the drive for 1:1 interleave and set the transfer size to 26K (RLL) or 34K (ARRL) if you can. Under DOS use 32K clusters. You should consider implementing a full track buffer. These techniques can reduce the time to FSCK the disk from about 20 minutes to about 15 seconds. The improvement in multi-user performance is incredible!