kprasad@caip.rutgers.edu (K. Venkatesh Prasad) (01/13/89)
Hello comp.sys.* folks, I am looking for some benchmark info. ($$, MIPS, architecture etc) on the sequent and pyramid machines. Any pointers in that direction will be much appreciated. Regards, -Prasad
csg@pyramid.pyramid.com (Carl S. Gutekunst) (01/19/89)
>I am looking for some benchmark info. ($$, MIPS, architecture etc) on >the sequent and pyramid machines. Any pointers in that direction will >be much appreciated. Both companies have benchmark groups, and will be more than happy to discuss numbers with you. Both will also be able to tell you why the other's numbers are a pack of lies. :-) Unfortunately, I have often found that the companies that profesionally write and run benchmarks also have strong personal biases; so you can't rely on those either. If you really want benchmarks, a good reference is John Mashey's UNIX Perfor- mance Characterization Suite. Far better is to pick something you use a lot, and design your own benchmark around it. Assuming you are at all serious about purchasing a machine, again both companies will be happy give you time on their machines to try them out. Keep in mind that the Pyramid 9000 and the Sequent Symmetry, though both sym- metric multi-processors, are conceptually very different machines. At the very least, Pyramids use fewer and larger CPUs; so non-parallizable processes will run faster, but you have a higher incremental upgrade cost. Pyramids are also more targeted towards commercial environments, while Sequents are targeted towards academic, engineering, and scientific. And of course, these aren't the only two players in the supermini market: CCI, Arix, AT&T, DEC, Encore, Alliant, Convex. And you might be surprised at the capabilities of high-end "micros" from Sun, NCR, or MIPS. Also remember that the market is not static; don't look just at what the company has today, but also what they are planning on for six months, a year, two years, five years down the road. Demand answers, and be satisfied if you can at least get some educated waffling. :-) On the other hand, be very careful when asking about what the company can ship today, not what they are beta testing next week. When I buy machines, I try establish a matrix of priorities versus machines, and mark down which machines will meet each priority. This is a big help in eliminating emotional biases. Of course, whether or not the applications you need run on that particularly machine should be very high on the matrix. <csg>
bejc@pyrnova (Brian Clark) (01/19/89)
In article <55614@pyramid.pyramid.com> csg@pyramid.pyramid.com (Carl S. Gutekunst) writes: > >When I buy machines, I try establish a matrix of priorities versus machines, >and mark down which machines will meet each priority. This is a big help in >eliminating emotional biases. Of course, whether or not the applications you >need run on that particularly machine should be very high on the matrix. > Quite independently of Carl I have developed a similar way of system based around a matrix of priorities, I can email or smail a sample to anyone who's interested. -m------- "Do you have any idea what it's like being English? Being so ---mmm----- correct all the time, being so stifled by the dread of doing -----mmmmm--- the wrong thing. We're all terrified of embarrassment. Thats -------mmmmmmm- why we're all dead"
rro@bizet.CS.ColoState.Edu (Rod Oldehoeft) (01/21/89)
In article <55653@pyramid.pyramid.com> bejc@pyrnova.UUCP (Brian Clark) writes: >In article <55614@pyramid.pyramid.com> csg@pyramid.pyramid.com (Carl S. Gutekunst) writes: >> >>When I buy machines, I try establish a matrix of priorities versus machines, >>and mark down which machines will meet each priority. This is a big help in >>eliminating emotional biases. Of course, whether or not the applications you >>need run on that particularly machine should be very high on the matrix. >> >Quite independently of Carl I have developed a similar way of system based >around a matrix of priorities, I can email or smail a sample to anyone who's >interested. > How about a posting?