Re-post: help wanted selecting Decstation

[Alan's Home for Wayward Notes File.]

In article <1990Oct29.224303.25334 at ecst.csuchico.edu>, robin at ecst.csuchico.edu (Robin Goldstone) writes:
> (Sorry if you have seen this before, but there is some question as to
>  wheter or not my original message ever made it off-site...)
> 
> We want to purchase a unix machine to do Domain Name Service for our
> campus.  I am not a unix person, but I will be supporting this machine
> with help from our computer science department.  We are looking at 
> getting a DECstation since DEC's pricing is good and we get the software
> free though the University Consortium.
> 
> [ Description of what system will be doing. ]
> 
> Thats about it! No application software, no programming...  DEC recommended
> a DECsystem 3100 w/ 8mb memory, 332mb disk, tk50 tape drive.  The cost is
> a little more than we were hoping to spend.  I have three questions:
> 
> 1) Would a DECstation 2100 have enough muscle to perform the above tasks?

	Probably, but the DECstation is still a workstation.  You
	probably don't want the extra graphics hardware and certainly
	don't want to run any of the windowing software.

	I don't think we offer the 2100 in a DECsystem version.
	Still if the monochrome, smallest monitor 2100 costs
	less than a DECsystem 3100 then you can probably find
	a way to turn it into a DECsystem.

	Also check the prices of the 5100.  I would expect that
	they are higher then the 2100/3100, but maybe not.

> 2) Is 8MB enough memory?

	Probably not.  I have access to a DECsystem 3100 running
	V3.1D and just sitting pretty idle it's using about 10 MB
	of memory.  Hopefully we'll fix that problem someday...

> 3) Can we get away with a smaller disk?  I know it is possible to save money
> by buying a non-DEC SCSI disk, but I have heard you have to do some magic
> to use a SCSI disk as your boot disk, and given my limited (none) ultrix
> expertise, I don't think this would be smart.

	ULTRIX without the workstation stuff (DECwindows, X, etc)
	should comfortably fit onto two RZ24's.  I don't know if
	this is a supported configuration though.  The installation
	can get real hard if you don't have what the installation
	scripts think is a supported configuration.
> 
> Please reply directly to me if possible and thanks in advance for any
> help you can offer.
> 
> Robin Goldstone, Systems Software Specialist


-- 
Alan Rollow				alan at nabeth.enet.dec.com