Re: Sequent and DYNIX/ptx

Konstantin Kivi wrote:

> Hello All

    Hi. We use DYNIX/ptx 4.4.2 (I believe that is the latest rev. of the OS) on a NUMA-Q 2000. It has four P-Pro 200MHz CPUs and 1 GB RAM. We use this machine to run Oracle Applications for all of Reuters America (I'm the primary DBA), servicing about 150-200 concurrent users in Canada & US.

> Our company is choosing
> equipment and OS for an OLTP system
> (we are already running it on Nile/Pyramid for a year but
> want to migrate to a more common platform)
>
> I'd like to here about someone's experience
> running oracle 7.3.3+ or 8.+ on such platform. Is there

    We run 7.3.3.5 with OraApps 10.7 (Release 10.7). On the machine, we have 3 databases (our production instance as well as user test instance, and a system test instance, plus a copy of the Global product demo). Our Prod. instance has a total SGA of about 200 MB. Users connect primarily via telnet to use the character-based Oracle Financials (A/P, A/R & G/L). There are some users who connect via Citrix servers to use the GLDI (General Ledger Desktop Integrator) and a few who are experimenting with 10.7 NCA (for which we've got a Compaq NT Server running Oracle App Server 3.0.1 and Forms server 4.5).

    Anyhow, no, we have not run into any unusual bugs. As far as DYNIX goes OS-wise, it is SVR4, and very similar to Solaris. Where it deviates, it tries to be more POSIX compliant than SVR4. So you do get a differences from Solaris, but by-and-large, it's pretty close.

    One annoyance is that it is a relatively obscure OS compared to SunOS, HP-UX, etc. If you try to build programs yourself, such as those available on the Net like Perl, tcp-wrappers, tripwire, etc., etc., you may struggle a bit to get the compiler flags set correctly. We had a bit of help from Sequent Professional Services to get some stuff built right.

    Oracle wise, I believe it runs really well. With the multi-CPU power, we easily support those 150-200 users. The only time things can drag is with a couple of key reports that run during the financial close at month end (and we're still trying to trace why this is: could be an SQL issue rather than the OS). But typical load at heavy volume during the day is anywhere from 500-900 Unix processes, and generally, performance is still good.

> something particularly bad (or good) compared
> to e.g. HP or SUN. Are there any unusual bugs
> or problems?
>
> The machine will be NUMA-Q 2000, 4Xeon 400MHz, 1GB RAM.
> OS will by DYNIX/ptx v4.4.4
> Later there will be a cluster of two such systems.
>

    We will probably go for another quad of processors and another GB of RAM when we add on users for the Oracle HRMS (plus others who will be connecting via the web for other financials projects). Both Reuters here in the U.S. as well as over in the UK are very pleased with Sequent as a company and with its hardware. I personally find their service to be very supportive and helpful and their hardware to really perform in the clutch.

    Hope this helps you out! Good luck

Matt
--
Matt Surico
Oracle Certified Database Administrator surico_at_buoy.com
http://www.buoy.com/~surico Received on Tue Dec 01 1998 - 21:13:59 CST