On Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 2:13 PM, Dale Ghent <da...@elemental.org> wrote:
> > On Oct 27, 2009, at 2:58 PM, Bryan Cantrill wrote: > > >> I can agree that the software is the one that really has the added >>>>> value, but to my opinion allowing a stack like Fishworks to run >>>>> outside >>>>> the Sun Unified Storage would lead to lower price per unit(Fishwork >>>>> license) but maybe increase revenue. >>>>> >>>> >>>> I'm afraid I don't see that argument at all; I think that the >>>> economics >>>> that you're advocating would be more than undermined by the >>>> necessarily >>>> higher costs of validating and supporting a broader range of >>>> hardware and >>>> firmware... >>>> >>> >>> (Just playing Devil's Advocate here) >>> >>> There could be no economics at all. A basic warranty would be provided >>> but running a standalone product is a wholly on your own proposition >>> once one ventures outside a very small hardware support matrix. >>> >>> Perhaps Fishworks/AK would have a OpenSolaris edition - leave the bulk >>> of the actual hardware support up to a support infrastructure that's >>> already geared towards making wide ranges of hardware supportable - >>> OpenSolaris/Solaris, after all, does allow that. >>> >>> Perhaps this could be a version of Fishworks that's not as integrated >>> with what you get on a SUS platform; if some of the Fishworks >>> functionality that depends on a precise hardware combo could be >>> reduced or generalized, perhaps it's worth consideration. Knowing the >>> little I do about what's going on under the hood of a SUS system, I >>> wouldn't expect the version of Fishworks uses on the SUS systems to >>> have 100% parity with a unbundled Fishworks edition - but the core >>> features, by and large, would convey. >>> >> >> Why would we do this? I'm all for zero-cost endeavors, but this isn't >> zero-cost -- and I'm having a hard time seeing the business case here, >> especially when we have so many paying customers for whom the business >> case for our time and energy is crystal clear... >> > > Hey, I was just offering food for thought from the technical end :) > > Of course the cost in man hours to attain a reasonable, unbundled version > would have to be justifiable. If that aspect isn't currently justifiable, > then that's as far as the conversation needs to go. However, times change > and one day demand could very well justify the business costs. > > > /dale > The problem is, most of the things that make fishworks desirable are the things that wouldn't work. Want to light up a failed drive with an LED? Clustering? Timeouts for failed hardware? The fact of the matter is, people asking for this are people that aren't willing to spend the money that Sun would be asking for anyways. I mean, seriously, a 7110 is $10,000 LIST! Assuming you absolutely despise bartering on price, you can get the thing for 20% off just by using try and buy. If you're balking at that price, you wouldn't like the price of the software. No amount of "but you don't have to support it" is going to change that. I think you're failing to take into consideration the PR suicide it would be for Sun to offer fishworks on any platform people want, offer support contracts (that's the ONLY way this will make them money), and then turn around and tell people the reasony feature XYZ isnt' working is because their hardware isn't supported... oh, and they have no plans to ever add support either. I honestly can't believe this is even a discussion. What next, are you going to ask NetApp to support ONTAP on Dell systems, and EMC to support Enginuity on HP blades? Just because the underpinnings are based on an open source OS that supports many platforms doesn't mean this customized build can or ever should. And one last example... QLogic and Brocade FC switches run Linux... I wouldn't expect or ask them to make a version that I could run on a desktop full of HBA's to act as my very own FC switch even though it is entirely possible for them to do so. And just as a reminder... if you look back through the archives, I am FAR from a Sun fanboy... I just feel you guys aren't even grounded in reality when making these requests. --Tim
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