[Seaside] 64-bit hardware [was [ANN] (gem)Stone Soup]

[Martin McClure]

> Could we have a few comments on the 64 bit hardware?  I'm sure that  
> some folks understand the nuances but a few minutes on Wikipedia has  
> made my head hurt.

Yes, it'll do that. :-)

> 
> I assume that the processor needs to be 64 bit and this means either  
> AMD64 or Intel's Core 2 (Duo?)?

Correct. Any of the AMD 64-bit CPUs should work fine, as well as any 
Intel processor with their 64-bit extensions.

> 
> If I was going to setup a linux box using either RedHat/Suse  
> Enterprise x versions what would be an example hardware spec?

Wide variations are possible, but I'll give some examples.

Machines I use (and successfully run GemStone on) are these:

My home desktop, built myself, components of various ages up to 3 years:
   Athlon 64 CPU
   2GiB DDR 400MHz RAM
   1 350GB SATA 300 hard drive

My work desktop, a Dell Precision 390:
   Intel Core 2 duo 6600 dual-core CPU, 2.4GHz
   2GiB DDR2 667MHz RAM
   2 350GB SATA 300 drives

My laptop, a MacBook manufactured in February 2007:
   Intel Core 2 duo T7200 dual-core CPU, 2.0GHz
   2GiB DDR2 667MHz RAM
   1 80G SATA drive

I run Gentoo Linux on all of these (and the MacBook dual-boots with Mac 
OS X). Most other folks here at GemStone run Suse. Whatever you run, get 
the latest version.

Unless you're running a high-volume production system (please note that 
I do not define "high-volume", YMMV) a single-core CPU, 1G of RAM, and a 
single SATA drive should do fine. Last I checked, you could build one of 
these for about $700 using fairly high-quality components. Each of the 
commercial dual-core systems above cost about $1500.

Regards,

-Martin