Dear managers,
this might be a little bit off topic, but I have no clue where to post
my question, so if this bothers you to much, please ... cat this_mail >
/dev/null
The very problem I am facing now is, which way to go regarding
scientific modelling and computing. To explain in short: We use Alphas
as our backbone for building sophisticated FEM and CFD modells and
analysing them with the power of the Alpha processor. To build the
models we use PRO/Engineer in the design stage and import the models
into MSC.Patran (which is a fairly good Pre/Post-Processor for a wide
varity of FE-codes) or our CFD code.
At the beginning of 2001 I planed to buy a XP1000 for the design stage.
We have much trouble using PRO/E on WinNT for larger models. The XP1000
would give us a boost in PRO/E, MSC.Patran and its relatives NASTRAN,
MARC etc. and the CFD code.
But installing the MSC.Patran 2000r2 I noticed the V2001 would be the
last release supported for Tru64, after that one has to switch to ->
NT/2000/XP or LINUX. But then, there would be no Alpha port.
Knowing this I stopped all my plans to buy a XP1000. Why ? Well, suppose
MSC.Patran will not run on Tru64 in the near future, when will the other
software stop supporting this particular hardware and the UNIX running
on that. And when will COMPAQ stop producing sophisticated workstations,
which might be used for scientific modelling and computing. But, using
INTEL hardware seems to me like a stone throw into the past.
Interestingly MSC.Patran will support the competitors workstations,
especially SGI's will be supported !!
One may argue, that the world of scientific computing is not tied down
to visualization. But on the other side, when will people, which rely on
fast computing, forget about Alphas when they can't be used as a tool on
the desktop with their special power of computing.
I know, that this list is viewed by COMPAQ engineers. So, it might be
they will notice that and will give me some advice what to do. The
simple answer would be: Forget about Alphas as a desktop workstation,
hope Tru64 will survive as a server system and go with this.
In the past I believed Alphas will find their way to the desktop of
engineers and scientists - but it comes out, that these people will go
with the mainstream and use M$ or the competitors workstations.
Last but not least I recall the impact of Steven Spielbergs Jurassic
Park on the people, that SGI is the world leader in computing, they do
have the tools to withstand the demand of number crunching and data
visualization. Up to now this remains in the memory ... and SGI tries to
keep up with this.
COMPAQ bought DEC transforming COMPAQ from a PC distributor to a system
supplier. They have come along this way, but now I am afraid they loose
track with the people who are willing to use their systems for what the
Alphas are designed for as well: computing power on the desktop.
I might be wrong, this might be the wrong list, I might be a pessimist
on what will happen to Alphas on the desktop, but I would like to know
what other folks do think about this ...
Some of the issues mentioned here are referenced as well in the message
http://www.ornl.gov/its/archives/mailing-lists/tru64-unix-managers/2001/03/msg00391.html
Received on Thu Apr 05 2001 - 07:51:37 NZST