[Gllug] Sun SparcStations

[Tethys]

Dylan writes:

>Now, I notice the monitor socket is significantly different from the PC 
>'standard' type: are they compatible, given a converting cable, or is using a 
>PC monitor a non-starter? Likewise for the keyboard.

I use a 13W3 -> 4BNC converter cable on mine without problems. Not sure if
you can get a 13W3 -> VGA. As for keyboards, I think you're probably out of
luck. I know there are various KVM switches that support both PC and Sparc
outputs, but they're very expensive, and you'll probably stuggle to find
one any more. A genuine Sun keyboard can be picked up on ebay for pennies,
though.

But as Chris says, just use a serial console. Virtually all of my Sparc
boxen are headless, accessed via the network and/or serial console.

>Also, how does the performance relate to ix86 performances? They've got 
>SparcII chips (I think) with 1G scsi drives (which I figure I can change for 
>some larger ones I've got knocking around.)

Slow. But not as slow as you might expect, given the clock speeds. Sparc
chips have traditionally come with much more on chip cache that x86 and
compatibles, so they're still usable even at comparatively low clock speeds.
But even allowing for that, x86 performance is *miles* ahead these days.

>I was thinking one could be pressed into service as a gateway (with pkt 
>filter/mail relay/squid...)

The SparcStation 4 and 5 would make an ideal firewall, with one exception.
They only have a single network port, and SBUS NICs are somewhat pricey.
I used to use my 4 as a file/print server, until I upgraded my network to
100baseT, when it became more cost effective to replace it with an x86
machine than it was to get it a faster network card...

Tet

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