brr@abcom.ATT.COM (Rao) (02/17/90)
Given: 386/33 Mhz or 486/25Mhz 16 Mb RAM 32 or 64 K cache 150+ Mb HD 2 floppies Ethernet SCSI Adapter for HD (Adaptec or similar). Interactive Unix or similar NFS + X11 + TCP/IP + Dev Sys Q: How many users can such a setup handle (efficiently) I would like to know what else I need to make such I need to make it support 15 simultaneous users. Bindu Rama Rao
cpcahil@virtech.uucp (Conor P. Cahill) (02/18/90)
In article <22232@abcom.ATT.COM> brr@abcom.ATT.COM (Rao) writes: > How many users can such a setup handle (efficiently) In order to tell you how many users a system can support, one needs to know what the users are going to be doing. If you are talking primarily about a BBS style system and you get an intelligent serial i/o card, a 33MHZ system could support upwards of 40 or 50 users. If you are talking about database users that will be updating and searching entries in a database, you will probably start to notice performance degradation when you get to 15 or 20 users. (not that this is also dependent upon the database package itself). If you are talking about power programmers that will be doing compiles and other such nonsense, you will probably run into degradation at 10 or so users. If you are talking about real power programmers that will be using X window workstations and compiling and other such nonsense you might run into degradation around 5 users. *** ALL OF THESE NUMBERS ARE JUST REAL GUESSES ***!!!!!!! The kind of hardware you have, the kinds of applications that are running, etc. will have a big effect on the number of users a system will support. We have a 33MHZ 386 with 16 MB mem, 64K cache, 24 port megaport card, 2 680MB ESDI hard drives, DPT caching disk controller with 2 1/2 MB cache, 80387. We have yet to run into a performance degradation and have had as many as 7 users on the system (2 of which were real power users with X workstations and running multiple compiles simultaneously, 2 dial in news readers, system backup in progress, 2 database users adding/deleting/ searching against a 5MB database). -- +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Conor P. Cahill uunet!virtech!cpcahil 703-430-9247 ! | Virtual Technologies Inc., P. O. Box 876, Sterling, VA 22170 | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
wht@n4hgf.uucp (Warren Tucker) (02/19/90)
In article <22232@abcom.ATT.COM> brr@abcom.ATT.COM (Rao) writes: > Given: > 386/33 Mhz or 486/25Mhz > 16 Mb RAM > 32 or 64 K cache > 150+ Mb HD 300 to 500 Mb of disk matches the rest of your configuration. Unix will want 80-120Mb just for system software (including man pages). > 2 floppies Take out one floppy and throw it away from you as hard as you can (preferably back onto the supplier's shelf) and replace it with a 60 or 80 Mb tape. Avoid Irwin Magnetics like the Bubonic Plague (beware, as they OEM to a lot of middlemen purveyors of the crap). > Ethernet > SCSI Adapter for HD (Adaptec or similar). > > Interactive Unix or similar SCO is _much_ easier to configure and administer. The C2 Trusted Computer features are for neurotics, paranoids, left-brains, or worse yet government control freaks. Not recommended for sane human beings. > NFS + X11 + TCP/IP + Dev Sys For X11, RAM, RAM, RAM and disk. How about serial ports? I highly recommend Digiboard 8 port boards. Two of them will really do you right. > Q: > How many users can such a setup handle (efficiently) > I would like to know what else I need to make such > I need to make it support 15 simultaneous users. The 386/20 I have keeps me happy. Without bragging, I can certify I keep it as busy as 4 users would at at times. A 19200 baud and a 9600 UUCP session, two makes, a pathalias run and a couple of editor sessions all get along pretty good. I don't know about commercial applications, but for development, the 386/33 should do nicely, but if you can wangle it, go for the 486. Arer the 15 users going to all share the same processor? What is the ethernet for? X terminals? NFS, TCP/IP indicates you plan to use other machines (duh, really?). -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Warren Tucker, Mountain Park, Georgia ...!gatech!kd4nc!n4hgf!wht Hacker Extraordinaire d' async PADs, pods, proteins and protocols Tridom Corporation, VSAT communications leader, an ATT subsidiary
brr@abcom.ATT.COM (Rao) (02/19/90)
In article <1990Feb17.202330.12579@virtech.uucp>, cpcahil@virtech.uucp (Conor P. Cahill) writes: > In article <22232@abcom.ATT.COM> brr@abcom.ATT.COM (Rao) writes: > > > How many users can such a setup handle (efficiently) > > In order to tell you how many users a system can support, one needs > to know what the users are going to be doing. > > If you are talking primarily about a BBS style system and you get > an intelligent serial i/o card, a 33MHZ system could support upwards > | Conor P. Cahill uunet!virtech!cpcahil 703-430-9247 ! > | Virtual Technologies Inc., P. O. Box 876, Sterling, VA 22170 | > +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ The user profiles: was planning to let 20 user accvounts access it, with say 10+ simultaneous accounts simultaneously working on it. Maybe 3 compiling C programs, 5 editing "vi", 1 X window user, and 4 reading mail, etc. About a dozen users at a time (peak). The question again, Can a 386/33 with 300+Mb SCSI HD, and 16M + RAM hanbdle all that? -bindu rama rao
cpcahil@virtech.uucp (Conor P. Cahill) (02/21/90)
In article <22276@abcom.ATT.COM> brr@abcom.ATT.COM (Rao) writes: > was planning to let 20 user accvounts access > it, with say 10+ simultaneous accounts simultaneously > working on it. Maybe 3 compiling C programs, 5 editing "vi", > 1 X window user, and 4 reading mail, etc. > > About a dozen users at a time (peak). > > The question again, > Can a 386/33 with 300+Mb SCSI HD, and 16M + RAM > hanbdle all that? Yes, Without any problems. (Be sure to include an intelligent serial i/o card). You might notice it if all three people started the compiles at the same, but that would only be momentary. -- +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Conor P. Cahill uunet!virtech!cpcahil 703-430-9247 ! | Virtual Technologies Inc., P. O. Box 876, Sterling, VA 22170 | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
tron1@tronsbox.UUCP (HIM) (02/22/90)
> Resp: 4 of 5 by *Masked* at virtech.uucp >Author: [Conor P. Cahill] > Date: Sun Feb 18 1990 22:10 >Since I got my megaport, both my ICC and maxspeed cards have been gathering >dust in my closet. ^^^^^^^^ I run a maxpeed card here on my site and it is fine .. FOR TERMINALS ONLY -- the darn thing has a real problem with modems, it will simply stor sending output until it changes it's mind. so , you would type "ls<return>" and it would HAPPEN .. but the results woul;dnt show for a minute or two. **************************************************************************** Everything I say is Copr. 1990, except the stuff I stole from someone else and the stuff I don't want responsibility for. Kenneth J. Jamieson: Xanadu Enterprises Inc. "Professional Amiga Software" UUCP: tron1@tronsbox.UUCP BEST PATH ---> uunet!tronsbox!tron1 Sysop, Romantic Encounters BBS - (201)759-8450 / (201)759-8568 ****************************************************************************