Robust hardware to run ruby newtwork service

i know this is bit off topic, but since you all are my "computer family"
i thought you would be the ones to ask.

i am setting up a datacenter to host a ruby application i’m writing. i
have to figure out what systems to use.

i am debating between Apple’s new XServers or more tradiational dual AMD
rackmount boxes running Debian/Woody (or Gentoo if it proves stable).

can anyone recommend? is Apple Xserver a good way to go? does it support
Ruby fully (along with DBI and Postgresql)? if i go traditional, which
hardware vendor is best? is Gentoo stable enough? or should i stick with
Debian?

thanks,

~transami

i know this is bit off topic, but since you all are my “computer family”
i thought you would be the ones to ask.

i am setting up a datacenter to host a ruby application i’m writing. i
have to figure out what systems to use.

i am debating between Apple’s new XServers or more tradiational dual AMD
rackmount boxes running Debian/Woody (or Gentoo if it proves stable).

X86 style boxes are going to generate a lot more heat than the
XServers. Depending on the hardware density, this may be an issue for
you.

Another approach, depending on the required size of your data center would
be to look at Egenera BladeFrames … these are nice boxen and run linux
(a RedHat derivative) natvely.

-pate

···

On Fri, 16 Aug 2002, Tom Sawyer wrote:

can anyone recommend? is Apple Xserver a good way to go? does it support
Ruby fully (along with DBI and Postgresql)? if i go traditional, which
hardware vendor is best? is Gentoo stable enough? or should i stick with
Debian?

thanks,

~transami

In article 1029440451.1779.1649.camel@silver,

i know this is bit off topic, but since you all are my “computer family”
i thought you would be the ones to ask.

i am setting up a datacenter to host a ruby application i’m writing. i
have to figure out what systems to use.

i am debating between Apple’s new XServers or more tradiational dual AMD
rackmount boxes running Debian/Woody (or Gentoo if it proves stable).

can anyone recommend? is Apple Xserver a good way to go? does it support
Ruby fully (along with DBI and Postgresql)? if i go traditional, which
hardware vendor is best? is Gentoo stable enough? or should i stick with
Debian?

The Apple Xserver looks pretty nice and from what I hear the price is
actually pretty reasonable even though it’s an Apple product.

I use Gentoo on my laptop (not as a server, though) and I REALLY like
it. In that context it has been plenty stable.

This sounds like it might be a pretty serious application. Can you give
us any more details?

Phil

···

Tom Sawyer transami@transami.net wrote:

sure, it’s a unique accounting application geared toward the custom
hardware industry (i.e. high-end sinks, door knobs, towel warmers, yes,
towel warmers, etc.) so it’s a vertical market that is in dire need of
something geared for them rather then what’s currently out there:
hobbling legacy systems.

rather then use the traditional onsite installation business model, i
will be setting up as an Application Service Provider. I am writing my
app with a three-tier architecture, but i haven’t decided whether the
mid-logic tier will sit on my servers or on the client side. (it’s much
more network intensive on the server side)

anyway i essentially need database servers, each able to handle anywhere
from 10 to approx. 300 concurrent users. i project to have a client base
of 10,000 cuncurrent users split into groups ranging from 10 to 1000,
each group needing to access the same database. so i may end up with an
installation of 1000 units!

some basic hopes for each machine: IDE ATA/100 RAID 5 with easy access
to drives, power redundency, and low power consumption. today i have
actually been looking at transmeta’s developer board, and considering if
i could throw it into my own rackmount chassis and use it! but damn its
hard to find a good 2U microatx rackmount case.

p.s. FYI - the plan, once this thing gets off the ground, is to hire a
ruby programmer (i am dead beat of doing everything myself :slight_smile:

···

On Thu, 2002-08-15 at 18:15, Phil Tomson wrote:

This sounds like it might be a pretty serious application. Can you give
us any more details?


~transami

Keep in mind that the transmeta CPUs are, by modern standards,
very, very slow. If you need something along the lines of even 1
GHz P3 processing power, no Transmeta CPU is going to deliver it.

(That’s not to say that they don’t have their place; I love my
Transmeta machine. But that’s because it’s a full-function computer
that weighs hardly over a kilogram. :-))

cjs

···

On Fri, 16 Aug 2002, Tom Sawyer wrote:

today i have
actually been looking at transmeta’s developer board, and considering if
i could throw it into my own rackmount chassis and use it!


Curt Sampson cjs@cynic.net +81 90 7737 2974 http://www.netbsd.org
Don’t you know, in this new Dark Age, we’re all light. --XTC