Hello D.U.M.,
My original posting :
>Our retailer told us yesterday that the AlphaServer 2100 line should
>end it's (short) life by '97 in favor of the 4100 series.
>Is that new sounded ? Does it implies the 2100 series only (3 PCI slots)
>or the relatively new 2100A series (8 PCI slots) ?
>Also, do you know if 2100 & 4100 can co-operate in Unix clusters ?
>(Through the memory channel hardware).
>We had based a strategy upon the 2100 since it allowed to change/upgrade
>easily from a CPU to another (eg 4/200, 4/233, 4/275, 5/250, 5/300, 5/375
>where supported provided you did not mix them in the same cabinet).
>Is that strategy already out of date (after only 2 years :-( ?
>Are 2100 CPU boards usable in a 2100 or 2100A cabinet (I fear not ...) ?
>Thanks for your help, I am lacking accurate and up-to-date information
>since this year DECUS Europe is held one month later !
>(weather is so nice and warm in Spain ;-)
In short :
No definitive answer received, neither confirmation nor denial of
the continuation of the 2100 line. But 4100 and 2100 can be mixed
in a Unix Cluster, although not surprising, that's good news.
What we will do is to upgrade 2 of our 2100 to 2100A (we need more
PCI slots) and also upgrade 2 CPU's from 4/275 to 5/300. Those
upgrades benefit until tomorrow of a special promotional pricing ;-)
Here are the replies I got :
-> From : alan_at_nabeth.cxo.dec.com
(Alan Rollow - Dr. File System's Home for Wayward Inodes.)
By today's standards, the 2100 has had a fairly long life.You
reinforce this by going through the litany of CPUs that it has
supported. I don't think the VAX 6000 supported more and we
didn't announce new VAX CPUs nearly as fast we have Alpha
upgrades.
I don't know what the plans are for the 2100 family. I can
imagine that as CPUs are pushing into the 400 and 500 Mhz
clock rates, large caches close to the CPU aren't enough to
support the data rate demanded of memory. It wouldn't
surprise me if the 2100 can't keep up with those clock
rates. The 4100 has a faster memory subsystem it and
easily be poised as the next base system for future, faster
Alpha CPUs.
I've also never seen a 4100, so I don't know how easy or hard
it is to upgrade the CPU. Good luck finding the truth.
-> From : berc_at_pa.dec.com
(lance)
As you pointed out, this box has been around for a long time and
has allowed cost-effective upgrades as processors improved. But
the base unit and backplane are at the end of their useful lives,
and it's now possible to do better much better.
-> From : cherkus_at_UniMaster.COM
(Dave Cherkus)
|> Also, do you know if 2100 & 4100 can co-operate in Unix clusters ?
|> (Through the memory channel hardware).
Yes, definitely.
Thanks to the 3 who responded, I agree that :
<< By today's standards, the 2100 has had a fairly long life.>>
Assuming our machines are 6 months old, allow me to complain about
those standards ...
Regards,
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Received on Thu Sep 12 1996 - 11:33:24 NZST