Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!mailrus!uunet!mcsun!ukc!icdoc!syma!andy
From: andy@syma.sussex.ac.uk (Andy Clews)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sequent
Subject: Re: Do you like your Sequent System?
Message-ID: <2570@syma.sussex.ac.uk>
Date: 4 May 90 09:46:38 GMT
References: <1793@nems.dt.navy.mil>
Organization: University of Sussex
Lines: 43

From article <1793@nems.dt.navy.mil>, by curt@dtix.dt.navy.mil (Welch):
> We are considering purchasing a Sequent S27 system to replace
> 3 Vax 11/780's, 2 Vax 11/750's, and 2 ISI V.20 systems.
> 
> I'd like to hear opinions from Sequent owners about how they
> like their system, how well they perform, what type of
> problems you have had (with hardware, software, support
> from Sequent, etc.).

We have a Sequent S81 with 2.1Gb disk, 6 processors and 32Mb memory.  It
has performed almost flawlessly for 18 months.  The response and general
performance is astoundingly good.  Ours is used as a host machine for
programming courses, as a general Unix service and for scientific number
crunching; it seems to handle all these simultaneously with consummate
ease.  Our license is for up to 64 concurrent users; the most users I
have seen logged in so far is 45; it handled this without any problem,
together with a fair number of big-memory background jobs.  The only
problem was that our local Ethernet seemed to struggle to cope with the
interactive load (given that we have lots of other machines connected). 

We have had occasional problems with running out of virtual memory,
(i.e.  unable to start editors and suchlike), but I think this was a
case of fine tuning of the system rather than a fault. 

Our other large machines (in the Computing Service) are 2 VAX 11/780s, a
VAX 8530 and 3 MicroVAXs, all on a cluster. The Symmetry seems to
outstrip them all in terms of performance, and it has had no hardware or
kernel crashes at all in 18 months, which is more than can be said for
the VAXes.

Support from Sequent in the UK is generally good, although there is lots
of room for improvement! I cannot tell you how rapidly they respond to
major problems because we haven't had any.

Our University Administration are shortly taking delivery of an S27
which is to replace their PDP11.  I will leave them to comment further
as they wish. 



-- 
Andy Clews, Computing Service, Univ. of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QN, England
JANET: andy@syma.sussex.ac.uk   BITNET: andy%syma.sussex.ac.uk@uk.ac