Hey Dan, I picked up a Unix Workstation cheap (they were going to junk the 500Mhz Alpha here at work), installed RH7.1, and it's been running at home ever since. I've got a Linkys BEFSX41 fire-walling VPNing router that I plug my PC (Winders/Linux) and Alpha into, which then in turn plugs into my DSL router. Setup a local IP network (192.168.x.x) for my machines, and away we go! Kicking out 6 SETI packets a day...
The Alpha (nodename: HOPS) is my Perl/Oracle/Apache test bed and home mail/web server. Since it's an unsupported Oracle platform (Linux on Alpha), I've got a Perl/JDBC server running on it to use DBD::JDBC to connect to the instance on the Intel box (nodename: MALT). Seamless! I would think that you could get more bang for the buck with a cheap-o Intel and Linux. Drop in a digital SOHO KVM switch (stay away from Belkin unless you plan to use ONLY Belkin cables because they did a sex change on the KVM end, the bastards!) and you can run both boxes from one keyboard and monitor. Or just run the Oracle server headless (no monitor) like a real Unix server. I'd shy away from the Ultra 5's. Just not enough horsepower there. I'm not sure about the 10's and our resident Sun consultant isn't here today, but it would probably do the job at home, provided you've got the memory for it. My 500Mhz VMS RISC Alpha runs a small OEM repository fine here at work with only 384MB (one 256 and one 128 module). And it kicks out a couple SETI packets a day, too. :) Also note that you'd need a Sun monitor or expensive converter for the monitor, should you not want to run it headless. My Alpha's got standard 15-pin D-sub for video as well as a PCI backplane, so I had no problems setting up a cheap-o video card to my KVM. HTH! GL! Need any help setting up the boxes? Holler. :) Rich Rich Jesse System/Database Administrator [EMAIL PROTECTED] Quad/Tech International, Sussex, WI USA -----Original Message----- Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2003 9:14 AM To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L I am looking to add a unix box to my collection of wintel machines at home. It will be used solely for running/testing Oracle, so I don't need bells & whistles. My thoughts are either Linux/intel or Sun Ultra workstation. While it would be convenient to be able to network it into a DSL configuration, it is not essential. My original thought was a Linux desktop, but I can also get Ultra 5 or 10 workstations on ebay for less than $500. Anyone having experience good/bad/ugly for this type of task? All tips, challenges, things to consider are greatly appreciated. Dan Fink -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.net -- Author: Jesse, Rich INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fat City Network Services -- 858-538-5051 http://www.fatcity.com San Diego, California -- Mailing list and web hosting services --------------------------------------------------------------------- To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing).
