On Thu, Nov 02, 2000 at 11:48:29AM -0500, Alicia da Conceicao wrote:
> Sorry if this is a faq, but I cannot find the answer on the
> NetBSD website...
> 
> What of the many NetBSD hardware ports provide true 64 bit
> support?  (This means 64 bit pointers, 64 bit long ints!)

Only alpha and sparc64 these days

> And of these NetBSD ports, which would be considered stable
> enough for use in banking applications?  Currently we are
> running banking software on NetBSD/i386 hardware, but we
> wish to migrate to 64 bit systems due to many limitations
> with large (> 20GB) databases & memory-maps) on 32 bit
> systems.  The 64 bit hardware will be used as servers, with
> no X, audio, mouse, etc.; it will only run ipfilter, ssh,
> progresql, sendmail, and our own banking daemons.

Alpha is your friend :) sparc64 is very new, and still has issues with
compiler/toolchain (not to metion that there may still be some bugs in the
port itself :)

> 
> We are planning to buy about 5 computers with 64 bit single
> processors that must run NetBSD with true 64 bit support.
> Even though NetBSD/alpha meets my requirements, the lack
> of new development by alpha hardware makers (like compaq)

Hum, compaq seems to still be pushing alpha servers. There is also other
sources for alpha hardware.

> and the overpriced cost of NetBSD/sparc64 computers has

Sure, alpha machines have a very good price/quality ratio
Especially given that you don't have to buy compaq adds on card
(a stock 875 is properly reconised by the SRM, and most network PCI adapters
will work with NetBSD, including netgear tigon II gigabit ethernet)

> led me to consider other high preformance yet affordable
> 64 bit hardware choices like the NetBSD/macppc.  
> 
> But Linux/macppc is only 32 bit, even though the macppc's
> have 64 bit processors.  Which is why we need to make

Not all macppc are 64 bits. Maybe the G4 is, but I'm sure the G3 and prior
aren't.

--
Manuel Bouyer, LIP6, Universite Paris VI.           Manuel.Bouyer@lip6.fr
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