Uses for a Sun e250?


 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Operating Systems Linux Gentoo Uses for a Sun e250?
# 1  
Old 08-21-2006
Uses for a Sun e250?

We are retiring a Sun e250 at work, and I wondered if I could put it to any good use. Will I have any problems loading Linux as opposed to Solaris? Should I use any particular flavor of Linux that might be more Sun friendly? Assuming I manage to load Linux on this server, then what? Will it be useful for anything, or is it just a boat anchor? Feedback welcome. =)
# 2  
Old 08-21-2006
Gentoo?

It looks like Gentoo might be a viable candidate. I think I will download that and try to get this running. I have not loaded a linux OS in several years, and that was on an x86. I may be in WAY over my head here, but what the heck. This unit is slated for disposal anyway. =)
# 3  
Old 08-21-2006
Gentoo recently dropped support for all sparcs but sparc64, so that might not be a good choice. That it had sparc32 support before says linux on Sparc is quite possible, though, and you can probably find one of their sparc32 livecds still hanging around somewhere on their mirrors.
# 4  
Old 08-21-2006
UltraSparc equals 64?

The research I have done so far says the E250 is an ultrasparc, which is 64bit. Is this incorrect? Or were you saying you feel Gentoo will also drop support for the 64 bit sparcs?

Do you have another gnu/linux you recommend for this platform.

Thanks for your input.
# 5  
Old 08-22-2006
You may be able to use Ubuntu Linux.
# 6  
Old 08-22-2006
Quote:
Originally Posted by kccrusher
The research I have done so far says the E250 is an ultrasparc, which is 64bit. Is this incorrect?
I did not know that Ultrasparc is 64-bit. If so, Gentoo's as good a distro as any... most distros are pretty inflexible with respect to processor but Gentoo covers nearly anything.
# 7  
Old 08-22-2006
Slow progress

Thanks for all the input, so far. I decided to load x86 on a couple of spare computers I had lying around. One is a barebones laptop (no battery even) that I can use as a terminal for the e250. The other is a PC at home just for testing. Because I am a linux loser, it took me at least 6 attempts before I got the OS to load on the one at home. Even then, I have an installation that boots to a command prompt and not a GUI. I am on my 3rd attempt at loading this on the laptop. Since I am more familiar with the x86 architecture, it seemed logical to start here rather than on the sparc box. This will give me a chance to refamiliarize myself with the commands and the overall installation steps. I will let you know how it goes.
Login or Register to Ask a Question

Previous Thread | Next Thread

9 More Discussions You Might Find Interesting

1. Solaris

E250 server not getting ok prompt

E250 server only shows banner when powered on i am not getting OK PROMPT . .In morning it was booting with solaris 7 .i am not able to do STOP-A STOP-D .its not excepting STOP-N also. Please help (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: monu94
1 Replies

2. Solaris

Sun Solaris Enterprise E250 x64 Help

Hi everybody, my name is Giulia and for me is the fist time in this forum, i hope write in the correct section for my problem. I have a sun solaris server e250 enterprise with sun 5 versionof O.S. Now i wont format all and install new version of solaris, but i don't know the actual corrent... (7 Replies)
Discussion started by: giulia79
7 Replies

3. Solaris

Error LED showing on E250

I've got an old E250 server where a front error LED is showing. I've read through the Sun docs (Sun Enterprise 250 Server Owner's Guide - Sun Microsystems) but it's only the 'General fault' LED (About the Status and Control Panel (Sun Enterprise 250 Server Owner's Guide) - Sun Microsystems)... (2 Replies)
Discussion started by: aussieos
2 Replies

4. Solaris

Sun Solaris 9 E250 -- Suggestions For External Hard Drives

Hello, Running a Sun Solaris 9 E250 and need advice or suggestions on what type of external hard disks are compatible and or available. It's an old machine and is due for replacement soon but in the short term need an external hard drive for backup etc as the partner/backup machine has just... (2 Replies)
Discussion started by: KenLynch
2 Replies

5. Solaris

SUN E250 Cluster

Hi, I need some help, since I am new to cluster. I am handling a site where I have look after two SUN E250 server. I have been asked to configure Active-Active Clustering on these servers. I would like to know how to configure both the servers for clustering. Below are the things which... (5 Replies)
Discussion started by: RajaRC
5 Replies

6. Solaris

E250 - need to access it

Hi, We have an E250 which we need to access to install solaris 10 for a communigate trial. We only have the server itself, no cables or anything and im struggling to gain access. It has a RSC card, that i have learned, but a db25-db9 cable doesn't seem to bring anything up in telnet on... (11 Replies)
Discussion started by: e250user
11 Replies

7. Solaris

SUN E250 Console connectivity

Hi, I have cisco console cable. One end of the cable is DB9 connector and the other end is RJ45 connector. I would like to use this cable to connect to my SUN E250 system from my pc so that I can access the SUn console directly. I would like to know whether it is possible and also on which... (5 Replies)
Discussion started by: RajaRC
5 Replies

8. UNIX Benchmarks

Sun E250 / 512MB Ram

============================================================== BYTE UNIX Benchmarks (Version 3.11) System -- SunOS xxxxx 5.8 Generic_108528-13 sun4u sparc SUNW,Ultra-250 Start Benchmark Run: Sun Jan 11 19:47:12 EST 2004 1 interactive users. Dhrystone 2 without register variables ... (0 Replies)
Discussion started by: kduffin
0 Replies

9. UNIX for Advanced & Expert Users

Raid A1000 with E450 and E250.

Hi, I'm facing problem in connecting a Raid A1000 to E250 and E450. ( Both machines with Solaris 2.6 OS and patched, with different scsi-initiator-ids - 7 & 3 ). BTW, I'm not using this setup to access raid data from both machines simultaneously. There is Veritas Cluster Server monitoring... (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: shibz
1 Replies
Login or Register to Ask a Question