ramsey@lll.llnl.gov (Ramsey, Susanne) (06/13/90)
I figure that SLC's have been out long enough that I can get some good information from the net. Our division is considering purchasing SLC's for many of our users. We want to make them "dataless" clients, with page and swap on a local disk. My question/problem is: Which disks? Some folks want 3rd party because they are less expensive; but I wonder if in the long term it is not better to go with a SUN made disk. I would like to hear your comments in support of either way. Also if you have a favorite please send me info such as the manufacturer, sales rep, phone number and cost. By the way, we are considering 104MB disks but if you have arguments for larger I'd also like to hear those. Please respond directly to me and I will summarize if there is enough interest. Thanks to all. Susanne (YES that's with an "s" not a "z") Susanne Barbera-Ramsey Lawerence Livermore National Laboratory Internet: ramsey@lll.llnl.gov 7000 East Ave. L-630 (415) 423-9530 Livermore Ca 94550
ballen@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Bruce Allen) (06/14/90)
I don't have experience with the SLC, but I do have experience with SparcStations. The short answer to your question is, don't buy disks from Sun. They are too expensive, and you have to pay for service. At the moment, the disks I am buying are 660 Mbyte formatted, from R-Squared 800-777-3478. These disks are in a box, cabled, and ready to go. They cost $2112 and have a 5 (five) year warranty. The basic disk is a Fujitsu M2263S. Smaller size disks are cheaper. Even with discounts, a 327 Mbyte disk from Sun cost 3K, has a 90 day warranty, and you have to pay about $60/month for maintenance. Five year warranties buy peace of mind. They are a good idea. (HP also have 5 year warranties on disks.) Conclusion: Don't buy from Sun.