Sun prices [LWN.net]

Sun prices

Posted May 27, 2003 13:37 UTC (Tue) by beejaybee (guest, #1581)
In reply to: Sun prices by xose
Parent article: The ponytail versus the penguin (Economist)

SUN prices:
Sun FastEthernet 10/100BaseT PCI Adapter 2.0 costs about $695.00 !!!

Linux prices:
Intel Pro/100 S Server Adapter about 55$

They might even be the same part. After all, the PCI bus is the PCI bus...

Sun, HP etc. must make a fortune out of ignorant purchasing departments who simply don't dare buy generic components whatever the price difference. If anything the ripoff on server memory is even worse.

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Sun prices

Posted May 27, 2003 18:04 UTC (Tue) by rfunk (subscriber, #4054) [Link] (1 responses)

> They might even be the same part. After all, the PCI bus is the PCI bus...

No, the Suns require an OpenFirmware-capable version. Ask a Mac geek about that. (Though a card for a Mac might work....)

Sun prices

Posted May 28, 2003 0:36 UTC (Wed) by xose (subscriber, #535) [Link]

and x86 a PXE capable version ;-)

Sun prices

Posted May 28, 2003 22:29 UTC (Wed) by Peter (guest, #1127) [Link]

Sun, HP etc. must make a fortune out of ignorant purchasing departments who simply don't dare buy generic components whatever the price difference.

Sometimes they even play what I consider dirty tricks.

We had a bunch of RS/6000s around here and we wanted Fast Ethernet. IBM sells a PCI card for several hundred dollars, and it's a rebranded 3C905. But it's actually an OEM part, with its own PCI ID, and the IBM AIX driver does not recognise a generic 3C905 - you actually have to get the IBM version. I once tried to binary-edit the AIX driver to try and insert the 3Com PCI IDs into it, but to no avail.

And no, this isn't about Open Firmware or anything - we're not booting off the network, so that shouldn't be an issue. It's just the general lack of third-party driver support for commercial Unix that lets them get away with this stuff.

Then there was the time I was browsing the IBM parts catalog CD-ROM, and I came across a 2400-baud modem for like $700. In 1998. We all got a good laugh out of that one....