Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!cmcl2!ccnysci!alexis
From: alexis@ccnysci.UUCP (Alexis Rosen)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: What kind of Mac for AS server?
Message-ID: <1529@ccnysci.UUCP>
Date: 10 Apr 89 07:12:36 GMT
References: <9684@bmc.uu.se>
Reply-To: alexis@ccnysci.UUCP (Alexis Rosen)
Organization: City College of New York
Lines: 54

In article <9684@bmc.uu.se> sys_ms@bmc.uu.se (Mats Sundvall) writes:
>
>What kind of Mac shall you use if you need a fast Appleshare fileserver
>on Ethertalk.
>
>Is a SE30 optimal? You have no use of the extra cards you can put into
>a IIcx. Or should you go for a IIcx? My feeling is that a fast disk is
>very important. Is the disks delivered with a SE30 or IIcx appropiate or
>should you choose something else?

MacUser has an article on networks in the May issue. While I disagree with
most of the article, they are absolutely correct about what kind of machine
to get for a server: an SE/30 or II. Except, now the IIcx is out. So it
should be, an SE/30 or a IIcx. They also give the intelligent suggestion
of using Timbuktu to set up the server, so you don't have to buy another
keyboard, screen, and video card. (Of course, for initial configuration
you'll want to set up the hard disk on a machine with these useful items...)

The only important reason to get a IIcx instead of the SE/30 is if you *REALLY*
need a fast server. In that case, get one of the three DMA boards currently
being marketed (it's kind of hard to get a straight answer as to whether or
not they are caching, doing DMA, both, or niether, but whatever they do they
all speed up disk access by at least 200%, sometimes 400% or better). Since
all of these boards require the NuBus, you'll need the IIcx.

Actually, that works out quite nicely. Three slots in the IIcx:
One for DMA SCSI
One for EtherTalk
One for Video

If you are running it without a video card (not a bad idea at all), you could
wait a few weeks/months for the Moc OS drivers to be released for the CommCard,
and then you could put in the Commcard in the third slot. That would let you
run bridging software (Liason) on the same server so it could serve a
LocalTalk net as well, and bridge the two nets. (Use of the CommCard cuts the
CPU overhead of bridging, and LocalTalk in general, to an absolute minimum).
Or you could put in a TokenTalk card, also due in a little while. Why, the
possibilities are endless! Do I hear someone asking about ArcTalk? :-)


Don't forget the disks. They are at least as important as the server (despite
MacUser's report). If you need high performance, there's only one possible
choice. The Wren Runner, a 321MB drive with a true 10.7 ms access time and
a transfer rate that can probably outrun any of the DMA boards you can buy.
You should also consider getting more than one drive. Sharing the load across
platters can dramatically widen the server bottleneck.

Lastly, get some memory to cache the disk. The best option is to get it on
one of the DMA boards.


---
Alexis Rosen
alexis@ccnysci.{uucp,bitnet}