From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 MIME-version: 1.0 (Mac OS X Mail 9.3 \(3124\)) From: Brantley Coile In-reply-to: Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2016 09:10:41 -0400 Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable Message-id: <449720C2-7F8C-40D3-9DC4-F7F69EF66645@me.com> References: <57BB9228.5070600@gmail.com> <57BB98EC.6030507@gmail.com> <57BD601A.508@gmail.com> <157DDAE0-B239-41FB-B10F-AFCC3F45A18F@me.com> To: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs <9fans@9fans.net> Subject: Re: [9fans] Is 9Fans dead or alive Topicbox-Message-UUID: 9886cf2a-ead9-11e9-9d60-3106f5b1d025 Nick, Coraid, Inc sold network storage systems that consisted of our software = running on more or less stock Supermicro hardware. We invented the = ATA-over-Ethernet block storage network protocol. We sold almost = $100,000,000 worth of stuff, somewhere north of 10,000 units, all = running Plan 9. I left Coraid the company in 2014 over disagreements with management on = the direction of the company, and started SouthSuite Software. Coraid, = Inc. was foreclosed on by the bank in 2015 and I was subsequently able = to purchase the good parts of the old Coraid, including the brand name = =E2=80=9CCoraid.=E2=80=9D Now, Coraid the brand lives on as a product of = SouthSuite Software. Now, we license that same software, or our continuing evolution of it, = to run on Supermicro hardware our customer buys themselves at a big = savings. We also support the existing Coraid equipment that is in the = field. You can check us out at http://www.coraid.com Thanks for asking. P. S. I still code exclusively in C and see no reason for me to change. Brantley > On Aug 24, 2016, at 9:00 AM, Nickolas Peter = wrote: >=20 > Hi Brantley, >=20 > I am by no means an experienced developer or Plan 9 user, so I can = hardly speak from the same experience level as most (I assume) of the = posters on this list. I only recently found myself very interested in = Plan 9, C, and embedded systems. As of now, I only run 9front as a = learning environment on series of virtual machines. >=20 > It's really intriguing to hear that there's commercial hardware = running Plan 9, and very motivating to see that there are still people = utilizing Plan 9 in some way as a primary system. >=20 > When you mentioned using Plan 9 in your shipping software, were you = referring to some internal software that you use to handle shipping = hardware to customers, or software that you sell to customers (say, to = run on your hardware)? I'm interested to hear more about it, if you're = at liberty to share. >=20 >=20 > Nick >=20 >=20 > On Wednesday, August 24, 2016, Brantley Coile = wrote: > Some general comments. >=20 > It=E2=80=99s good to see it used in at least a few places. It=E2=80=99s = too good a system to be the only one using it. But I will until = providence completely forces me to do otherwise, which I don=E2=80=99t = anticipate. >=20 > I=E2=80=99m really lucky to be able to use the system, especially in = the way it was envisioned in the 1980=E2=80=99s. My first knowledge of = it was when I asked Dennis Ritchie what was new. He said that Ken was = playing around with the concept of union directories. Later, during one = of my visits to the Labs, in 1988 I think, Dennis gave me a = demonstration of the system. >=20 > One problem with most people who haven=E2=80=99t been as fortunate as = I have, is they really just need a single system, not a distributed = system. While Plan 9 makes a better single system for some things than = most OSes, it=E2=80=99s really not supposed to have local disks at all. = It really is designed to be a larger distributed timesharing system. At = Coraid, we had two setups, one in Athens and one in Redwood City, that = supported over 100 users in total. And without a single dedicated system = admin. It was a very part time job, mostly for Erik, but Ian Ennis did = some as well. It was very easy to manage because it was a single = machine. >=20 > As far as I know, SouthSuite is now the only company both using it as = a development system or shipping software based on Plan 9. Does anyone = know of any others? >=20 > Different people choose tools for different reasons and to satisfy = different requirements the world places on them. I chose to work in = embedded appliances so I could pick the software I use. The PIX Firewall = was a bit too early for Plan 9=E2=80=94it was not yet released when I = wrote the PIX=E2=80=94but it was very much of the spirit, as was the = Cisco LocalDirector. Soon, we began using the 1995 Plan 9 release and I = have been using it almost exclusively ever since. I use it as the sole = development environment and as the base of the products we ship. >=20 > In spite of our early success at Coraid with the SR, after the VC = investment the use of Plan 9 became controversial. It=E2=80=99s not what = others use, and in Sand Land (what else can one call Silicon Valley) = that makes people nervous. Over my objections, the company attempted to = move to Open Solaris. It=E2=80=99s a truism that a company that changes = operating system goes out of business, and Coraid, Inc. again proved = that to be true. The reason? A small company can=E2=80=99t afford the = retooling costs to switch to another operating system. >=20 > But things have turned out well anyway, at least for me and the = traditional Coraid users. Now I have everything from the trademark to = the source code and now offer the Coraid product as a software product = and can support existing Coraid users, both with software updates and = with help getting their hardware fixed or replaced. We are helping all = those folks who bought Coraid gear continue to get value of their = purchase. One fellow sent me a note showing that he=E2=80=99s been up = over 2,000 days without rebooting. There=E2=80=99s never a reason to = fork-lift an SR. >=20 > I like to think we do a good job, but our performance, efficiency and = low cost is all made possible by the superior system that was developed = by the folks at the Labs from 1987 thru 2002. >=20 > Brantley