From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Message-Id: <6.0.1.1.2.20040218114205.02bbdd98@mail.village.com> To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu From: Wes Kussmaul Subject: Re: [9fans] Interesting in trying out Plan 9 In-Reply-To: References: <0aa1b455d0a97802ab518aebbb724d94@vitanuova.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 12:08:27 -0500 Topicbox-Message-UUID: eb202a72-eacc-11e9-9e20-41e7f4b1d025 At 10:08 AM 2/18/2004, you wrote: >On Wed, 18 Feb 2004, C H Forsyth wrote: > > > >>well I don't see that kind of stuff here on 1000s of linux nodes. That > > > > mainly computational? how often are they rebooted (eg, between tasks)? > > just curious. > >The lesson is simple: pay the 20% increment over "cheap white boxes" and >get huge gains in hardware reliability, with consequent gains in uptime. >Pay 10-20x the cheap white box and you'll get ripped off, with reliability >typically LOWER for "Enterprise Class" systems (yes, there are people who >pay 20x cheap white box cost). I find that this rule works with any remotely technology-related product, probably other areas as well. I know someone who paid $25,000 a month for Exodus hosting and got less than we were getting for less than 1 per cent of that cost. The difference is the cost of retaining human beings to hold your hand in person as the product/service screws up. If it didn't screw up you wouldn't need the "relationship builder," the hand-holding suit. I don't know whether Consumer Reports is international, but those of us in the US can check the reliability ratings of kitchen appliances. For products priced above the midrange there is a near-perfect inverse relationship between reliability and cost. My own kitchen is a living laboratory for this phenomenon, having been designed by a "kitchen consultant" to include the Sub Zero refrigerators, the Thermidor ovens, and other total garbage costing somewhere around Ron's 20x multiple over your basic reliable Kenmore. The reason is simple: if you're going to ship a million of something it had better work or the warranty claims will obliterate your earnings. But if the customer pays for it upfront, the warranty claim becomes another opportunity to "build a relationship" with the customer. Re fools/money/departure. Somebody needs to write a book about this (and let PKI Press publish it.) Note: of those involved in the management of this household, I was not the one who retained the "kitchen consultant." Wes