Jeff Johnson wrote:
A Xeon is a Xeon is a Xeon.
This is a very true statement.
Unfortunately for many, the commonality ends where the processor and
socket meet. There is a great deal of deviation in motherboard designs.
Some are much better than others and it is not always based on the
location of the factory (China versus Japan, USA, etc).
Absolutely.
Intel, as an example, releases a reference design and bios definition
that is usually the gold standard for a particular type of platform.
Many companies will take this design and modify it to fit their needs
and in the process streamline the design. That is usually a cost driven
exercise.
Lets all say it together now ... Broadcomm NICs on motherboards ...
:(
The end result is usually a decent server platform that performs well in
a file/print or even enterprise space. Unfortunately for those who have
been bitten, we all know there is a difference between how a well tuned
HPC environment can put demands on hardware, challenge tolerances and
expose any of the cost driven "changes" made to a motherboard.
Yeah. Not just motherboards. All components. Things that work really
well in an office context, that an IT person wouldn't give a second
thought to deploying do not work well, if at all, in an HPC environment.
We have seen this again and again, usually in the contexts (curiously
enough) of storage design, networking, as well as computing system design.
I have seen HPC sites that can make a Dell 1950 stumble with little
difficulty. Granted, that requires a well tuned environment and skilled
savvy users that can place demands on machines where the various
shortcomings are exposed. A fair number of the previously mentioned
Nothing helps you debug a design like a real use case, live, in action,
on your system.
sole-source contracts end up being penny-wise and dollar-foolish as well
as detrimental to the people actually relying on the hardware for
productive research.
:(
I have never seen a reduction in competition as productive for the
consumer in that market. Reduction in choice, increase in price,
decrease in consumer leverage. This is good ... how?
--
Joseph Landman, Ph.D
Founder and CEO
Scalable Informatics LLC,
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
web : http://www.scalableinformatics.com
http://jackrabbit.scalableinformatics.com
phone: +1 734 786 8423 x121
fax : +1 866 888 3112
cell : +1 734 612 4615
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