day@uunet.uu.net (Dave Yost) (01/16/89)
The consensus seems to be that the Xylogics 753, which you can buy from
3rd-party sources, works OK on Sun 3's and 4's.
I have an extra one I don't need.
--dave
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From: cogsci.PSY.JHU.EDU!wjb@uunet.UUCP
I have a 753 in a 3/160 right now. It is currently running SUN OS 4.0 and
using the xd driver (7053) which is a standard part of 4.0. Before that I
had a 752 running with a Xylogics supplied driver for SUN OS 3.4. If you
really want to use the 753 though, you will have to upgrade to 4.0 as
Xylogics does not provide device drivers for it. (Or at least that is
what they told me.) If you want to be able to boot from it you will need
to get a new boot prom from SUN which includes support for the 7053
controller. If you have looked at the installation instructions for 4.0
you will have noticed that SUN provides PROM upgrades for certain machines
which will not run 4.0 otherwise. This upgrade just happens to include
the 7053 support...
Good Luck,
Bill Bogstad
bogstad@crabcake.cs.jhu.edu
bill@green.bph.jhu.edu
wjb@cogsci.psy.jhu.edu
------- Message 2
From: LOCAL.cam.nbs.gov!straw@uunet.UUCP (Mike Strawbridge)
We have two systems here that have 753's installed. One a 3/160 server
running SunOS 3.5 with two CDC SABRE disks (the 1 Gbyte size). The other
system is a 3/160 running SunOS 4.0 with an old CDC 160 Mbyte disk
attached. We have had no problems with Xylogics 753's.
NAME: Michael Strawbridge TELE: (301) 975-3852
USMAIL: National Institute of Standards ARPA: straw@cam.nbs.gov
and Technology UUCP: uunet!cme-durer!straw
Rm. B-146, Bldg. 225
Gaithersburg, MD 20899
------- Message 3
From: cs.Buffalo.EDU!tylock@uunet.UUCP (Steven Tylock)
I've been successfully using a 753 with both a fujitsu 2372 and another
with a 2382. They even boot. [vs others like interphase that don't quite
boot yet...] I'm running 4.0
steve
Steven Tylock @ SUNY/Buffalo Computer Science (716-636-3406)
internet: tylock@cs.buffalo.edu bitnet: tylock@sunybcs.BITNET
uucp: ..!{ames,boulder,decvax,rutgers}!sunybcs!tylock
------- Message 4
From: Dan Grim <UDEL.EDU!grim@uunet.UUCP>
Organization: University of Delaware
We are using a Xylogics 753 with two CDC-9720/1230 8-inch drives. Works
fine! We haven't tried to quantify the performance but subjectively it
seems very good. We bought everything from Aviv.
Dan Grim
University of Delaware
EE/CIS Research Computer Lab
------- Message 5
From: quimby.Dartmouth.EDU!wbc@uunet.UUCP (Wayne B Cripps)
I have a 753 (the real vme board, with two sockets) which works fine with
a sun 3-260 and a fujitsu eagle (2351) - I am also going to use it for a
fujitsu 2382
Wayne
------- Message 6
From: hao.UCAR.EDU!bovet@uunet.UUCP (Ray Bovet)
Organization: High Altitude Observatory/NCAR, Boulder CO
We have had a Xylogics 753 (the one you can buy from a local distributor
rather than from Sun) installed in a Sun 4/280 since mid September of 88.
It has not given us any problems in that time (we are running 4.0). I
have not taken the time to do any careful speed measurements on it
relative to the old XY451 we also have installed. When Sun _finally_
released the 7053 they went to great pains to emphasize that they had
modified the firmware in order to increase performance. My impression is
that a 7053 from Sun would be faster than a 753 from Xylogics. I would
very much like to see the results of actual benchmark tests, preferably
run by a disinterested third party to confirm or deny this.
Ray
------- Message 7
From: zippy.eecs.umich.edu!don@uunet.UUCP (Don Winsor)
We are using three 753 controllers purchased directly from Xylogics in a
Sun 4/260 and a Sun 4/280 machine. Both are running Sun OS 4.0.1,
although they worked fine even before we did the 4.0 to 4.0.1 upgrade.
Our disk drives include six ancient CDC 300 meg drives and two Fujitsu
Eagles. One one machine, we have an Eagle on one 753 and 3 CDCs on
another. This arrangement seems to work flawlessly. Prior to installing
the Eagles, we had been using 4 CDCs on a single 753, which also worked
fine. On the other machine, however, we have had a few annoying problems.
We have 3 CDCs and 1 Eagle on a single 753. With this arrangement, we get
a frequent disk controller errors logged to the console, about one every
few minutes. The errors all automatically recover by themselves when the
operations are retry. I don't know if this is a quirk of the controller
or not; it may just be that we have flakey disk drives.
The other annoyance is mounting and cabling. The 753 boards are small,
two connector VME cards, but the Sun backplane wants large cards with
three connectors. The 753 boards won't fit in a Sun adapter unless you
take off a lot of the hardware on the edge of the 753, and even then I'm
not sure it will work. They will fit on a Dawn VME adapter, which we have
used succesfully. However, we have noticed some flakiness using the Dawn
adapters, when running with two controllers in the same backplane. To
improve the situation, I decided to skip the adapters altogether, and just
plug the small board directly into the upper connectors of the large
backplane. To do this, I had to remove some of the hardware from around
the cable connectors on the 753. This arrangement seems to work just
fine, and the connectors are tight enough to keep the boards in place with
no special mounting hardware.
Don Winsor
Systems Research Programmer
Department of Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science
The University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
don@eecs.umich.edu
------- Message 8
From: Bob Sutterfield <cis.ohio-state.edu!bob@uunet.UUCP>
Organization: The Ohio State University Dept of Computer & Information Science
We're using about 21-22 of them with Fuji 600Mb 1/2 width 1/2 height
drives - one controller per 3/180, two drives per controller. We can fit
eight times the storage into the same volume as the old Eagles, and this
was a conservative choice of drives. Sorry, I don't recall the Fuji model
number on that.
We're running SunOS 3.5.1 on most everything. The supplied driver wasn't
that great at using the controller's smarts (no command sorting, elevator
seeks, stuff like that) but is improving markedly with some attention both
here and Xylogics.
------- Message 9
From: sola.att.com!mcb@uunet.UUCP
Dave,
The Xy753's work just fine. We've put up a dozen or so CDC Sabre 1230's
over the last couple of months, with about a dozen to go. These are on
3/280 and 4/280 servers (OS4.0 of course).
Mark Beutnagel
AT&T Bell Labs, Murray Hill
mcb@research.att.com
------- Message 10
From: <ge-dab.ge.com!kelsen@uunet.UUCP>
Yes. I have a 753 driving 2 Fujitsu 2382k drives on a Sun 4/280. Also,
there is a Sun 3/280 here using a 753 also driving 2 Fujitsu 2382k drives.
------- Message 11
From: "Michael J. Edelman" <zephyr.ens.tek.com!michaele@uunet.UUCP>
Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton, OR.
I have one running on my Sun 3/160 under SunOS 4.0. We also have several
other Suns at Tektronix (160s and 260s) with 753's in them.
They "drop" right in under SunOS 4.0. Under 3.5 we had to use a driver
and boot kit supplied by Xylogics.
The only problem that we had is that we were using the Dawn VME adapter
card between the 753 and the VME bus. This doesn't work because the Dawn
adapter is out of spec at the higher speeds. The Dawn adpater worked fine
with our 752's.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
Michael Edelman
Tektronix, Inc.
------- Message 12
From: uunet!oberon.usc.edu!mcooper@acamar.usc.edu (Michael A. Cooper)
Organization: USC Computing Services, Los Angeles
We are running 2 753's one with 4 Fujitsu-M2372's and one with 2
Fujitsu-M2372's without any problems. One 753 is the sole controller in a
Sun-3/280 running 4 2372's. The other 753 is in a 4/280 that has a 451
with 2 2361's in it (the 753 & 2372's were just added). Both disk
subsystems were bought third party. We currently have an order in for 3
more 753's and 6 2372's.
Michael A. Cooper, University Computing Services, U of Southern California
UUCP: ...!uunet!oberon!mcooper BITNET: mcooper@kylara
ARPA: mcooper@oberon.USC.EDU PHONE: (213) 743-2957
------- Message 13
From: Hugh LaMaster <ames.arc.nasa.gov!lamaster@uunet.UUCP>
We just installed a 753 and two CDC 1200 MB disks on a 3/160. They were
purchased from Highland Digital. There were some installation problems,
handled by Highland, but they are working fine now. Very nice
performance.
Hugh LaMaster, m/s 233-9, UUCP ames!lamaster
NASA Ames Research Center ARPA lamaster@ames.arc.nasa.gov
Moffett Field, CA 94035
Phone: (415)694-6117
------- Message 14
From: erbe.atmos.washington.edu!marc@uunet.UUCP (Marc Michelsen)
I installed a Xylogics 753 w/ a full size VME adapter board and Fujitsu
M2382K disk drive in a Sun 4/260 about a week ago and have had no
problems. Before I bought it I called Xylogics and asked for a authorized
distributor in California. They gave me the name AnDATAco in San Diego,
David Sykes (619-453-9191). He was very helpful in getting the thing up
and running quickly. He claims he sells more Xylogics boards than anyone
else in the country.
Marc L. Michelsen ARPA: marc@erbe.atmos.washington.edu
(206) 545-7511 UUCP: uw-beaver!geops!erbe!marc
University of Washington BITNET: MMICHE@UWAIS1
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, AK-40
Seattle, WA 98195
------- Message 15
From: Jim Budler <eda.com!jim@uunet.UUCP>
We have been operating a 753 (purchased along with a CDC Sabre 850 from
National Peripherals, Inc. in Chicago) on a Sun 3/280. It works fine.
We originally attempted to bring it up on a Sun 3/160 to format and
partition the drive without taking the file server (the 3/280) out of
service. It did not work there. It would timeout very quickly. It may be
that the 3/160 is to slow, or it may relate to that CPU exchange for
3/160's that Sun requires for their new SMD-4, which is some form of 7053.
Our 3/280 is of the December 1987 vintage, though, so would require a ROM
upgrade for the SMD-4 also, according to Sun.
So, anyway, my synopsis:
753 works on a Sun3/280, doesn't work on a Sun3/160.
jim
Jim Budler address = uucp: ...!{decwrl,uunet}!eda!jim
domain: jim@eda.com
------- Message 16
From: Gregory Bond <munnari!melba.bby.oz.au!gnb@uunet.UUCP>
Organization: Burdett, Buckeridge & Young Ltd, Melbourne
Yep, it works, but is not the same size as a sun card, so is a bit ugly.
Electrically the same as the 7053 i think. Drivers all work OK in our
system (3/260 & Os 3.5).
Our daily load pattern here is quite predictable, due to the use of the
system for online processing and the predictable nature of the incoming
data. The processing is serverely disk limited and there is always >30%
cpu idle.
With the "standard" 451 controller, we would see load averages around 6
(this with 70% cpu idle!) and appalling response time. With the Xylogics
753, we saw load averages around 2, cpu idle around 30-40%, response time
predictably much better. With the rimfire, load averages are around 1.5,
cpu idle around 25-30%, response not significantly better than the 753.
The peak IO bandwidth for the rimfire is ~20% higher than the 753 (when
doing disk-disk tar's for example).
Client users also noticed significant improvement when using the 753 or
rimfire for nd root/swap. (They commented on this without knowing we had
done anything - must have been quite a noticable improvement).
The 753 & rimfire tests were done with a different physical drive to the
451 (a CDC Sabre 850MB as opposed to Fuji 300MB) by moving the online
stuff and clients to the new drive/controller and running the server swap
& /usr from the 451/Fuji, so these measurements are not totally
comparable.
Gregory Bond, Burdett Buckeridge & Young Ltd, Melbourne, Australia
Internet: gnb@melba.bby.oz.au non-MX: gnb%melba.bby.oz@uunet.uu.net
Uucp: {uunet,mnetor,pyramid,ubc-vision,ukc,mcvax,...}!munnari!melba.bby.oz!gnb
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