Hello All-
I had only a handful of responses from users (<10) who have actually
made the switch from Sun Blade hosts
to Dell PC's running either Redhat Linux or Enterprise Linux. As
expected, the speed of the Linux box
exceeded that of the Blade and performance with VNMRj 1.1D (LX) and
VNMRj 2.1A was reported to
be "faster" relative to the sun. Sorry, no actual benchmarks reported
to me, but there are some available at
the Varian website.
In sifting through Varian NMR News and your responses, I have the
following summary for you:
1) ++ Speed improvement running VNMRj 1.1D LX on the Dell relative to
running VNMRj 1.1D on the Sun Blade 1500
2) Dell is less expensive, but....
Originally, Varian specified the Dell PC configuration they would
support ( Varian NMR News, 9/20/04)
Later, they withdrew this possibility, requiring that the Dell
used as spectrometer host (+ router kit)must be purchased from
them or they would not support compatibility issues or console
communication problems(Varian NMR News, 1/22/05).
3) VNMRj 1.1D and 2.1A are the only supported Varian software in the
Linux environment.
VNMRj LX versions DO NOT support the "classic" VNMR interface and
likely never will.
Pulsetool is not available in VNMRj LX versions, but is still
available with VNMRj 1.1D for the Suns.
4) Varian does have specific suggestions for transferring data and
accounts from your Sun host to your new Linux host (Varian
NMR News, 2/13/05). Remember that ALL configuration files,
paramater sets, shims, calibrations etc. need to be copied to
your new box. It is best to transfer all user accounts to the
same user and group ids on your Dell. One mgr wrote a script to
automate most of this, however, adding users to the pgsql
database in VNMRj requires that you use the vnmrj adm GUI.
This could be time consuming if you have a large number of users.
5) One mgr out there is successfully running VNMRj 1.1D LX on a Dell
purchased exclusive of Varian, but it is
a datastation only at this time. Some corrections were required
before VNMRj would run. No direct experience
reported with testing it as a spectrometer host.
6) One user has a Dell w/Enterprise 3 Linux + VNMRj 2.1A LX as a
spectrometer host for a "New Varian NMR System." Some
initial networking issues to resolve, but system is fast and stable.
7) One user has a new Dell Linux direct from Varian running VNMRj 1.1D
LX as the spectrometer host for an Inova500. Dell
came with Red Hat Linux installed, but required proper
partitioning and full reinstallation to configure Linux properly to run
w/VNMRj.
Troubles with Qtune. Reboots the Linux host a bit more frequently
than was required for the Sun. Overall positive experience.
8) Just a note that VNMRj 2.1A will not run with UnityInova
architecture. There may be a re-integration of older consoles at some
point, but no
definitive word on this.
My personal inclination is to hold off and see if the older consoles
will be supported in VNMRj 2.X for linux before making the switch.
At this time, we have one machine running VnmrJ 1.1D on a SunBlade
1500. My users are extremely reluctant to use the new VNMRj
interface. Our other two instruments still have Sun Ultra10's with VNMR
6.1C. We are considering the most economical and painless
transition to new hosts before the old ones give up on us.
Thanks for all of your input!
Regards,
Mary
##########################################
Mary R Starich, PhD
Facilities Mgr, Structural Biophysics Lab
NCI-FCRDC
PO Box B, Bldg. 538 Chandler St., Rm 120
Frederick, MD 21702
(W) 301 846 6452
(F) 301 846 6231
Received on Fri Jun 17 2005 - 19:45:05 MST