[Beowulf] Re: recommendation on crash cart for a cluster room:fullcluster KVM is not an option I suppose?

[Buccaneer for Hire.]

--- On Fri, 10/9/09, Rahul Nabar <rpnabar at gmail.com> wrote:

> (it raises an interesting thought I had: I wish the sales
> guys sometimes gave me a "dummy" service tag while I am
> evaluating hardware options to buy a new cluster. Often 
> times one doesn't really want to try-and-buy each option 
> (then I would get a service tag!) but yet one
> has questions that are not answered in the spec sheets or
> the manuals are hazy. The support-engineers are often the most
> knowledgeable about these nuts-and-bolts aspects I've found. 
> But in the absence of a service tag it's hard to get access 
> to them. )
> 
> Keeping the BIOS firmware up-to-date is a chore though. When 
> we are choosing Linux distros in the interest of stability a
> frequently updated firmware gets irritating. I guess it's a 
> tradeoff to enjoy bug-fixes feature-additions so maybe I shouldn't 
> be cribbing......

IF you go through a vetting process like we do, it takes a while to vett changes.  We can't just jump to new firmware just so they will do the support we paid them for.  

When they come to give you the dog-and-pony show, that's when I jump in and ask for things.  They are here to solve your problems-that's the first thing they will tell you.  If they help you succeed, you will stay in bed with them. That's a win-win situation.  

A node on a pallet waiting for you do upgrade firmware is absolutely worthless.  1000 of them even more so.