I was stoked to read the article on the X2100 because I'm currently in the market for an entry-level small business server. Doing my homework I found that other name-brand, entry-level servers were obviously too expensive for their spec's. The Small X2100 base-model ($745, no HDD, 512MB DDR, no DVD) is priced right where I'm looking at, but the spec's are relatively weak considering that I can build an equivalent 1U server (slightly faster, Athlon 64) for $475, purchased from online retailers. If I were to move up a notch to the Medium X2100, I find myself completely out of my price range.
So is the name-brand and the 3-year warranty worth $270 extra for a somewhat weaker machine? The often heard "save money, build it yourself" suggestion is a known misconception when it comes to desktop PC's, but I was surprised to see that it's completely feasible and worthwhile in regards to servers.
If you know how to do build it, know how to configure it and dont mind having to deal with any incompatibilities and issues yourself then go for it and build it yourself, you will save quite a bit. Personally, I think this server is pretty well priced since it's pretested, pre-assembled, in a thermally-balanced case (not that thermals are too much of a problem with K8s right now) and a decent warranty. All possible incompatibilities have already been dealt with, it also has two nice hotswapable SATA bays, a half-height 8x PCI-E slot for possible expansion and comes preconfigured with Solaris 10 (which I like, though you may not).
Actually, the Small X2100 doesn't come with a Solaris option without additional cost.
But you're right that there is certainly an amount of confidence with the Sun servers that neither the admin nor the owner of the company may expect with a self-built machine.
My main point is that desktop PC's are much more affordable than self-built - pre-testing, -assembling, -OS-loading and warranties just sweeten the deal. But why aren't servers to that point?
The board used is Tyan Tomcat K8E, with some components like PCI slots just not soldered in. Doesn't mean it's bad - I have a server running here on that one board and an A64 4400+, and it's an excellent machine - but c'mon, give credit where it's due :)
I would really like to see a price point comparison between a Sun AMD, a Dell Pentium, any IBM, and any HP. I bet it would look rather interesting. Sun is indeed coming to the fore again.
It would have been nice to see how this server stacks up against comparable offerings from IBM, HP and Dell (even though Dell doesn't offer an AMD server). Comparing it to other Sun products is nice if you only buy Sun.
Considering that the 175 is supposed to be cheaper than the 152, Sun's margins on the Dual-core system are huge. Then again, these systems cannibalize their 2-way single-core systems, so of course they have to be priced accordingly.
Can anyone find a better pic of the sun motherboard. From what I can tell the board layout is identical. Even the smdc card looks to be the same one that tyan uses. I guess I could try to flash the k8e with the sun bios and see what happens.
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allanw - Tuesday, September 13, 2005 - link
The two hard drives can be set up for RAID 0, 1 or 0+1 via the BIOS.I don't get it. How do you do raid 0+1 with only two drives?
Deinonych - Wednesday, September 14, 2005 - link
You can't. RAID 0+1 requires a minimum of 4 drives.stephenbrooks - Tuesday, September 13, 2005 - link
Darn. I could get two of these things for less than my current desktop PC cost. (Though without graphics card etc. of course!)Jmonk - Tuesday, September 13, 2005 - link
I was stoked to read the article on the X2100 because I'm currently in the market for an entry-level small business server. Doing my homework I found that other name-brand, entry-level servers were obviously too expensive for their spec's. The Small X2100 base-model ($745, no HDD, 512MB DDR, no DVD) is priced right where I'm looking at, but the spec's are relatively weak considering that I can build an equivalent 1U server (slightly faster, Athlon 64) for $475, purchased from online retailers. If I were to move up a notch to the Medium X2100, I find myself completely out of my price range.So is the name-brand and the 3-year warranty worth $270 extra for a somewhat weaker machine? The often heard "save money, build it yourself" suggestion is a known misconception when it comes to desktop PC's, but I was surprised to see that it's completely feasible and worthwhile in regards to servers.
Furen - Tuesday, September 13, 2005 - link
If you know how to do build it, know how to configure it and dont mind having to deal with any incompatibilities and issues yourself then go for it and build it yourself, you will save quite a bit. Personally, I think this server is pretty well priced since it's pretested, pre-assembled, in a thermally-balanced case (not that thermals are too much of a problem with K8s right now) and a decent warranty. All possible incompatibilities have already been dealt with, it also has two nice hotswapable SATA bays, a half-height 8x PCI-E slot for possible expansion and comes preconfigured with Solaris 10 (which I like, though you may not).Jmonk - Wednesday, September 14, 2005 - link
Actually, the Small X2100 doesn't come with a Solaris option without additional cost.But you're right that there is certainly an amount of confidence with the Sun servers that neither the admin nor the owner of the company may expect with a self-built machine.
My main point is that desktop PC's are much more affordable than self-built - pre-testing, -assembling, -OS-loading and warranties just sweeten the deal. But why aren't servers to that point?
Gholam - Tuesday, September 13, 2005 - link
The board used is Tyan Tomcat K8E, with some components like PCI slots just not soldered in. Doesn't mean it's bad - I have a server running here on that one board and an A64 4400+, and it's an excellent machine - but c'mon, give credit where it's due :)Ahkorishaan - Monday, September 12, 2005 - link
I would really like to see a price point comparison between a Sun AMD, a Dell Pentium, any IBM, and any HP. I bet it would look rather interesting. Sun is indeed coming to the fore again.MCSim - Tuesday, September 13, 2005 - link
Check out the Sun's NC05Q3 webcast. They are making some comparisons there.Deinonych - Monday, September 12, 2005 - link
It would have been nice to see how this server stacks up against comparable offerings from IBM, HP and Dell (even though Dell doesn't offer an AMD server). Comparing it to other Sun products is nice if you only buy Sun.dilidolo - Monday, September 12, 2005 - link
If you want to conpare hardware, then run same OS.If you want to benchmark OS/App, then use same hardware.
With Anand's testing method, you can't really tell if it's OS or hardware that makes the difference.
Furen - Monday, September 12, 2005 - link
Considering that the 175 is supposed to be cheaper than the 152, Sun's margins on the Dual-core system are huge. Then again, these systems cannibalize their 2-way single-core systems, so of course they have to be priced accordingly.MCSim - Monday, September 12, 2005 - link
https://www.sun.com/nc/05q3/">Sun NC05Q3 eventMCSim - Monday, September 12, 2005 - link
https://www.sun.com/nc/05q3/">Fixed linkgibhunter - Monday, September 12, 2005 - link
Everyone retains their badge number in our company too. I think it makes it easier from an accounting standpoint.When I left in 99 and came back in 03 I still had the same badge number even though new employees' numbers have gone up by about a hundred.
splat1 - Monday, September 12, 2005 - link
The board is a rebranded tyan K8E.surprized the guys from anandtech didnt see that.
ftp://ftp.tyan.com/img_mobo/i_s2865.tif">ftp://ftp.tyan.com/img_mobo/i_s2865.tif
Looks like they pulled the pci slots and some other stuff but Im pretty sure the board layout was tyan's design.
Furen - Monday, September 12, 2005 - link
I would call it a similar design, it's not easy to "pull" stuff out of a motherboard.splat1 - Monday, September 12, 2005 - link
Can anyone find a better pic of the sun motherboard. From what I can tell the board layout is identical. Even the smdc card looks to be the same one that tyan uses. I guess I could try to flash the k8e with the sun bios and see what happens.MCSim - Monday, September 12, 2005 - link
Sun is doing really well with the Opterons.Questar - Monday, September 12, 2005 - link
Yeah, look at those profits they're making!erikpurne - Monday, September 12, 2005 - link
"...seem too phased by this either;..."Brian23 - Monday, September 12, 2005 - link
Time to buy SUNW stock!TwistyKat - Monday, September 12, 2005 - link
I'd wait to see what happens after the Niagra launch. If that gains traction, the sky is the limit with SUNW.cHodAXUK - Monday, September 12, 2005 - link
Yep, Sun are starting to looking very interesting these days.