[GRASS-user] install GRASS on linux, which is better -DELL Precision 690n or SUN Ultra 40 M2

[gary]

The opterons are better at moving data around. You need to dig up the 
AMD papers, but I recall the opteron has additional "hyperchannels" as 
opposed to the AMD 64. My recollection is the hyperchannels make a big 
difference if you have multiple processors as individual chips. I don't 
know if that holds true for dual core chips, i.e. multiple processors on 
the same silicon. The AMD 64 is no slouch. If you go that route, you 
should read the datasheet on the particular processor since the ob-board 
RAM size varies. More RAM on the chip helps in the dual core applications.

I didn't log the numbers, but I believe the biggest grass run I ever did 
used 1.6GBytes of RAM. Since you need some RAM for the OS, a 2Gbyte 
computer will just barely do the job. Depending on the AMD 64 mobo, some 
can run the RAM interleaved, but this require 4 identical memory 
modules. I believe all the mobos require 2 RAM modules, i.e. they read 
the memory 128 bits wide.

My recommendation would be to buy/build a 4 Gbyte machine using four 
1Gbyte RAMs on a dual core AMD 64. Go for multiple PCs, i.e. spread out 
the load. You should be able to get a system builder to put out each PC 
for around $1500. I'm using Gigabyte mobo with NForce4 chipset. It runs 
the memory both parallel and interleaved. It is a socket 939 board. The 
newer AM2 socket is closer to the Opteron, and used the lower latency 
DDR2 modules. however, the improvement is small, maybe 10%, since the 
old boards if stuffed to the max (i.e. 4 RAM modules) were very 
efficient with the older DDRs. BTW, I built my systems out of the 
Patriot low latency DDRs.

I'm using an ATI Radeon X800 video card, and thus far no problems with 
GRASS and Suse 10.2.



jun liang wrote:
> Thanks, Brent. I have contacted our local SUN retailer and they said only
> Solaris 10 will be preinstalled - they will not preinstall Redhat, or other
> Linux OS, since that's what they get from SUN. I have visited SUN's website
> - pretty much the same thing, only Solaris 10 preinstalled and you have no
> other options. Redhat and other windows systems supported, though. 
> For the number of CPUs installed, you can also add another CPU to Dell's
> configuration, but the price will be higher.
> SUN's educational matching grant program lists 3 different configurations
> for Ultra40M2, the most expensive one (with 2*Opteron 2.66Ghz, 16G Mem) cost
> about $8800, which is too expensive for us. The regular price for this will
> be over $10,000. 
> Just wonder if it is worth to have dual CPU to run grass - for multi users
> running grass. Does the performance improve a lot? Anyone here has
> experiences?
> I have googled comparisons between AMD Opteron and Intel Xeon (see following
> links) and found they are close to each other. The latest Xeon performs
> slight better than Opterons. 
> Thanks for any comments.
> 
> http://www.linuxhardware.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/05/1414204
> http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/10/26/intel_woodcrest_and_amd_opteron_battl
> e_head_to_head/page2.html
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Brent Wood [mailto:b.wood at niwa.co.nz] 
> Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 4:56 PM
> To: jun liang
> Cc: grassuser at grass.itc.it
> Subject: Re: [GRASS-user] install GRASS on linux, which is better -DELL
> Precision 690n or SUN Ultra 40 M2
> 
> Hi,
> 
> 
> I think GRASS & most of it's dependencies & related applications are 
> much better tried, & may be better supported on Linux than Solaris. 
> However, I'd rate Sun hardware as generally superior to Dell. Also if I 
> read the specs correctly, the Sun has 2 dual core CPU's, the Dell has 
> one, so with 15 users & everything else being comparable, the Sun should 
> be a better platform for your purposes.
> 
> I guess someone using Solaris may confirm that everything works fine, 
> but with Linux, you pretty much know it will, so I suggest seeing if Sun 
> will ship with Linux instead (generally I believe they will) & if so, go 
> that way.
> 
> I'd also check that ALL the packages you want to run will work OK in a 
> 64 bit environment. I'm still occasionally bitten by finding a 32bit app 
> that won't run on 64bit (such as highly optimised applications with some 
> assembler in them).
> 
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Brent Wood
> 
>> Hi, All
>>
>> Need to make decision for purchasing a computer to install Linux and 
>> grass on it. I am looking at dell and sun - Ultra 40 M2 and Dell 
>> Precision 690n.
>>
>> Maximum users for using grass will be around 15 - for a GIS course.
>>
>> Could you commend on this and suggest some alternatives, if the 
>> following are not the best choices? Thanks.
>>
>> Jun
>>
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>> Ultra 40 M2 $3,745
>> Sun Ultra 40 M2 Workstation. 2 x AMD Opteron 1207 Rev F Model 2214 
>> (2.2 GHz/dual-core) processor, 8GB (4x2GB) DDR-667 ECC memory, 1 x 
>> 250GB 7200 rpm SATA HDD with Solaris 10 pre-installed, NVIDIA Quadro 
>> FX1500 PCI-Express graphics card, DVD Dual, 2 x 10/100/1000 Ethernet, 
>> two x16 PCI Express slots, two x8 PCI Express slots, one legacy PCI 
>> slot. Standard Configuration. RoHS-6 Compliant.
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> BUILD YOUR SYSTEM $3,326.80
>> Dell Precision Workstation 690n - 750W Dual Core IntelR XeonR 
>> Processor 5160 3.00GHz, 4MB L2,1333 edit
>> Operating System Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS v4 for EM64T 64bit system 
>> w/ 1 YR RHN, w/ Media edit
>> 2nd Processor None edit
>> Memory 4GB, DDR2 SDRAM FBD Memory, 667MHz, ECC (4 DIMMS) edit
>> Graphic Cards 128MB PCIe x16 nVidia Quadro NVS 285, Dual DVI or Dual 
>> VGA Capable edit
>> Boot Hard Drive 250GB SATA 3.0Gb/s,7200 RPM Hard Drive with 8MB 
>> DataBurst CacheT edit
>> CD-ROM, DVD, and Read-Write Devices 48X CD-ROM edit
>> 2nd Hard Drive 250GB SATA 3.0Gb/s,7200 RPM Hard Drive with 8MB 
>> DataBurst CacheT edit
>>
>>
> 
> 
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