Here Comes the Sun (Server)

Thanks Dave. I'll look into that and seek clarification.

best

-Kevin

Hi folks,

According to Sun service plans will cost $200-450 annually, based on the level of service. While we didn't get specifics I had asked for the something comparable to what HP or Dell might offer in terms of phone support and possibly on site service.

best

-Kevin

dwelp:

tsg_kevin:

Dave, where are you seeing this language exactly? My guess is that I can't see why that language would have to do with the donation or the program themselves, and thus suspect it refers to OpenSolaris and not the Solaris that comes with the system.

 

Recipient organizations must agree to accept the terms of the Sun Microsystems Equipment Transfer and Software License Agreement.

http://www.techsoup.org/stock/download/sun_agreement.pdf

Paragraph 1.2 in RECITALS in the above agreement.

I'm wondering if they reworked their NFR agreement, or an agreement they use for demo equipment for a try and buy.

Dave

Any update from Sun on this?  I pulled the trigger last week and have one of the last ones available on the way.  Would like to know for planning purposes if I can use Sun OS 10 in production or have to scrap the included OS.

Thanks

Dave

Hi Dave,

We've gotten confirmation that it is not an issue for production use.  If you can share your experiences on the forum that'd be great as well. (Aside from it feeling like Xmas in July!)

-Kevin

Thanks Kevin,

I'm sure the folks at Sun were shocked that some one actually read the agreement.

I'll Start a new thread about my experiences when I get the hardware. 

Currently my plans for the server:

My production need for the server is a few months off,  it is intended to become the Web server for our on-line donation and program enrollment software, which I found out had to be on different hardware from our production server due to PCI requirements.  The Sun product with its OS versatility and donation status allows me to have the pieces in place even though I didn't budget for two servers.

Prior to the production use, I intend to try VMware ESX server and see if I can incorporate three servers on the one platform, which will meet additional future needs with out the hardware expense.  The Sun server is the first non production Iron I've had that was powerful enough to try a Virtual Machine to see what it is like.  If things work out like I hope and some more servers become available from Sun I could have a really nice redundant hardware platform to run about 5 or 6 servers including our production server.

So much for the dreaming, now I just need to wait for the box to arrive.

Dave

Here is a really interesting podcast on OpenSolaris.  Apparently, that is the development platform for the distributed Solaris (there is no longer a distinction between Solaris and SunOS as far as I can tell).  So Dave, take a listen to Floss Weekly 75 and it might answer some of your questions and lead you to some places that will answer more.  :)  I'm partiularly fascinated by the default file system using ZFS (here's another podcast about ZFS)

Great podcasts Chris, I will have to continue to check them out.  I hope the open Solaris is qualified for the application I want to put on this box as the file system really sounds fantastic.

The Server arrived today, in a rain soaked box (2" of rain in an hour)  but inside was dry and nicely packaged.  One note, this is a rack mount server but does not include the rack mounting rails.  X8029A   so you will need either the rails or a rack shelf to put the server on.  Looks like some digging to find rails at a decent price.

Dave

Yeah, I love the FLOSS Weekly set of podcasts.  Hope it works out for you - good luck with the rails!  (who needs those sily things anyway?)

Silly rack systems and silly rack rails.   I have a couple of very old ML350 rack servers sitting on their side. One runs Untangle and the other is an Anti Virus admin server.

The 1U server is just too thin to set on it's side.

Also to the poster who suggested using it as a PC.  Most likely will not work well as the Sunfires use a service processor and lights out management interface.  I think trying to use one as a pc workstation would be challenging.

Dave

The funny part is the rails might cost as much or more than the donated price of the system.

The really sad part is how many rail kits are sitting out there in back closets not being used at all.  I remember in the former life having boxes of rails in back rooms where we did an inplace upgrade and never used the new rails and they got put in the back with the other giblets from the new server.

I am seeing SunFire rails any where from $150 to $300 but I think I will try a four post shelf for about $55

Dave

I've received my hardware, now I just need to figure out what to do with it. I'd like to virtualize using VMWare. Does anyone know if the OpenSolaris can be used as a host for W2K3 virtual machines?

From what I've read so far it looks like it will support the Open Solaris Hypervisor, or VMware ESX Hypervisor.  I need to download the backup for the Solaris from Sun and then my plan is to get the unit powered up with just Solaris, then try the ESXi from VMware.  I'm hopeful that one of those will let me run Open Solaris and Windows server (and that my bread and butter apps will run on the Solaris) Fortunately I've got some time before I need the unit in production, and hopefully it will be in the Virtual mode when I do

Dave

What Dave said :)

I'd go for the VMware hypervisor ESXi 4.0  as the virtal host platform -  I've had very good luck and performance with this so far.  From what I understand, it will run OpenSolaris fine - just not sure if the VMware Tools are up to date (haven't ever researched it).  I know VMware runs windows perfectly.

I was excited to see the Sun Fire boxes available. I would love to deploy one in our all-Mac environment where an alternative is the hugely expensive Xserve.

What I really want to use it for is to allow users to see exactly the same files, etc. no matter what Mac they log into. There are various ways of achieving that. We could use NetBoot and put the home directories all on the server. Or we could run virtual machines on the server and have users simply VNC to them.

Does anyone have any experience with these kinds of setups? 

Thanks!

--johnt