UNIX Servers Typical Hardware

Posted by arlene

The server will have considerable power to support a large number of users, each with frequent access for complex uses. Some configuration possibilities are:

• Multiple gigabytes of disk

• Very high processing power
• 64 MB or more of RAM

The actual disk space will depend on user needs. UNIX platforms support very large disk capacity.

The processing power will come from one or all of the following:

• Parallel processing with symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) implemented partially in hardware, with up to 24 or more processors
• Modern computer chips with relatively large internal cache, using very high clock rates
• Very high speed internal bus

UNIX is able to manage the large amount of RAM necessary to support very high processing power. It is also capable of supporting smaller servers when the large computing power is not required. A server configured as follows can be very useful and still provide the power and flexibility of UNIX at a relatively low cost:

• Moderate processing power, such as single Intel Pentium or equivalent CPU
• One gigabyte of disk, or even less if it serves user needs
• 16 MB of RAM

Applications developed on UNIX can be moved relatively easily to new platforms that also use UNIX, in most cases requiring only recompiling and relinking the application programs.

A UNIX server system can support multiple server platforms in the network. The considerations for using multiple smaller systems as servers instead of a single large system are the same as for MS-DOS, except that UNIX supports both smaller and larger systems.

With UNIX, it is possible to install a configuration with no designated server system, where data is shared by all, but stored in individual work stations. In this case, protection against failure becomes optimal, since each platform contains only a small portion of the data and represents a small part of the computing power in the network.

There are some problems to be solved when not using a designated server system:

• Central control of data is more difficult.
• Administration of the system becomes more important.
• Security of data becomes more difficult.
• The location of data becomes more critical, yet is more difficult to control.

Some advantages of not using a central server are these:

• Cost may be lower, since only work stations are required.
• Data can often be located so that access is usually local, lowering the load on the network.
• Database software generally is designed to operate in a specified server platform.

The UNIX Servers Operating System

UNIX, as it stands, supports networking, including multitasking and background network server processes, called listeners. The general term often used to refer to such background tasks is daemons.

Networking software for UNIX servers provides protocol enforcement and addressing and transmitting/receiving functions. They are part of the transport layer in the International Standards Organization (ISO)—Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model.

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