From: eletanjm@nuscc.nus.sg (TAN JIN MENG)
Subject: Re: DISKLESS WORKSTATIONS
Organization: National University of Singapore
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 11:20:22 GMT

sip1@ellis.uchicago.edu (Timothy F. Sipples) writes:
: In article <1992Aug19.093919.29308@nuscc.nus.sg> eletanjm@nuscc.nus.sg (TAN JIN MENG) writes:
: >Actually, I would like to get rid of WPS,PM, DOS and Windows Emulation.
: >ie everything except the kernel ,OS DLLs, file system etc. If I put
: >PROTSHELL=cmd.exe will this do it? Will the memory usage be indicative
: >of the memory usage of the diskless workstation?
: 
: I'm not sure I understand.  The two aren't related -- a diskless
: workstation can run full blown OS/2 through Remote IPL (a LAN Server
: feature), including Win-OS/2, DOS sessions, etc.  Or you can run
: without those components -- it doesn't have anything to do with
: diskless or not.  (Being diskless just means that all the OS/2 files
: must be located on the server.)

Sorry I wasn't clear here. I just wanted to know how I can estimate the
memory requirements for a minimal OS/2.

: 
: As for your multiple processor project, you are correct, QNX costs a
: fair amount of money.  It all depends on what you want to accomplish.
: For example, do you want a "super server" which will farm out tasks to
: the least busy processor in the server, automatically?  QNX does well
: here.  SCO Unix on a dual processor Compaq SystemPro does this fairly
: well, too.  The recently announced multiprocessor version of OS/2 for
: IBM/Parallan servers (the PS/2 Model 295), due to ship in October,
: also would fit the bill.  Some NCR machines would also work.  The
: forthcoming Windows NT is reported to perform this task as well.  And,
: of course, you can "roll your own," writing appropriate drivers and
: task managers -- if you feel up to it.  :-)
: 
: There are a couple important considerations, however.  One is that
: there is absolutely no hardware standard for Intel-based systems with
: more than one X86 CPU.  Meaning that you'll be buying the software
: together with the hardware in one integrated package, and you will
: lose flexibility.  The other is that no one has really done a decent
: job in this area just yet -- the development isn't all that far along.
: 
: Perhaps you can clarify your requirements a little better.  What is it
: exactly that you want this server to be doing?  What sort of network
: do you envision?  What sort of tasks should it accomplish?
: 
: -- 
: Get the OS/2 FREQ. ASKED QUESTIONS LIST | Timothy F. Sipples
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There are 2 possible uses.

One is in a hospital environment where you have multiple beds 
and you have both data acquisition front ends and a compute
back end. The app is in real time expert system diagnosis.

The other is as a Super Compute server for 3D visualisation problems.

We're on a "cheap is good" kick here, so I'm investigating something
like this. The idea here is to get cheap single board computers with
network cards (in the case of the Super Server, we put them into one
cabinet) and with a cheap but solid OS as a base.

development on the OS/2 platform should be pretty easy too. The
environment is familiar and there is (likely) to be a multitude of
software (as well as supported hardware) available for this platform.

jin meng