Architecturally, Intel based servers have gone a long way in the last couple years to close the gap on their RISC server counterparts.
Can they handle the load though? We have a lot of Intel servers deployed in our organization, but none of them are running anything that you could consider the heavy I/O load that a TSM server inflicts on a machine. The usual problem is the badly behaving applications taking their toll. The last time I ran a box that could be close to that, I replaced a Sparc SS20 that served around 200 root NFS client machines with a Dell2300. It behaved itself but the performance dropped noticeably more under load, possibly to do with the limitations 2.2 Linux kernel, but I don't think I could have squeezed more performance through the bus. In some ways it felt like a downgrade. I am investigating saving some significant costs by deploying a TSM server using an Intel box. It will have a couple FC HBAs, a couple G/bit NICs and a 155ATM NIC. It will be deployed along our main TSM server using virtual volumes (I like the look of the new IBM x345/360 servers). My concern is that it won't bend as well under load as our SUN/RS6K servers in the past. Any recent Intel converts? Cheers, Suad --
