Best config for production server WAS: Sun Blade 100 vs Ultra 60

[Al - image hosting services <azick%zickswebventures.com@localhost>]

Hi,

Everyone has been so helpful on this list and I have pretty much decided
to get the SB 100 based on its size and it looks like it will hold 3 hard
drives without a problem. Also, I can get a rack mount kit for it.

I would still like to get some more advice.

I have been using a Mac G3 running NetBSD (of course). I added an ethernet
card and a scsi controller. They configured and work fine in the Mac. Just
so there is no confusion, I copied part of my dmesg from the Mac:

esiop0 at pci1 dev 2 function 0: Symbios Logic 53c896 (ultra2-wide scsi)
esiop0: using on-board RAM
esiop0: interrupting at irq 23
scsibus0 at esiop0: 16 targets, 8 luns per target
esiop1 at pci1 dev 2 function 1: Symbios Logic 53c896 (ultra2-wide scsi)
esiop1: using on-board RAM
esiop1: interrupting at irq 23
scsibus1 at esiop1: 16 targets, 8 luns per target
fxp0 at pci1 dev 3 function 0: i82550 Ethernet, rev 12
fxp0: interrupting at irq 24
fxp0: Ethernet address 00:0e:0c:9b:a7:b6
inphy0 at fxp0 phy 1: i82555 10/100 media interface, rev. 4
inphy0: 10baseT, 10baseT-FDX, 100baseTX, 100baseTX-FDX, auto

sd0 at scsibus1 target 0 lun 0: <Maxtor 7, Y250P0, YAR4> disk fixed
sd0: 233 GB, 121586 cyl, 64 head, 63 sec, 512 bytes/sect x 490234752
sectors
sd0: sync (50.00ns offset 8), 16-bit (40.000MB/s) transfers, tagged
queueing
sd1 at scsibus1 target 1 lun 0: <Maxtor 7, Y250P0, YAR4> disk fixed
sd1: 233 GB, 121586 cyl, 64 head, 63 sec, 512 bytes/sect x 490234752
sectors
sd1: sync (50.00ns offset 8), 16-bit (40.000MB/s) transfers, tagged
queueing

So, I have 2 - 250 gb ide drives on the scsi chain with scsi-to-ide
bridges. The scsi controller and the network card seem to work flawlessly
on the mac. I have a private network for my servers, so I will need a
second network port (the SB 100 only has 1). My question is this, will
these 2 cards work as well in the SB 100 as they do in the Mac, or would a
different hard drive controller and eliminating the 3 scsi-to-ide bridges
work better?  It would be great if someone could tell me what has worked
for them with large drives. I could use a different ethernet card if need
be, but this is what the colo has so if it ever failed, they could just
put one in.

Also, from what I have read in the archive and from my experience with my
sparcstation 20, I don't believe that I could boot from a drive with a
scsi-to-ide bridge even if this system had a built in scsi controller.
Someone said that I could boot from an ide flash drive. What would the
requirements of the flash drive be? The boot loader and the kernel should
easily fit on a 256mb flash drive, but will the controller see it and boot
from it? Would something like:
http://www.monstronix.com/sm9flam3ad256n2-p-319861.html work? Maybe
someone could recommend one.

I am sure that everyone knows what this means:
uid 115, pid 9059, command mv, on /var/www: file system full

I don't have much time to get the new system setup (the var partition was
giving me an error like this a few weeks ago). In the past I spent alot of
time and money trying different hardware. This time I would really like to
get setup quickly and without alot of problems. Even on the mac I had to
switch the Adaptic controller for an Atto and put in the network card
because the built-in network card on the mac seemed buggy after sending it
to the colo.

Thanks,
Al