[Linux-aus] Fitness for purpose - selecting the right platform for the job

[Gordon Hubbard <gordon@customtech.com.au>]

Hi, FYI

Gordon.

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Fitness for purpose - selecting the right platform for the job
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For a generation the engine room of the data centre has been a general 
purpose computer.

But increasingly the IT workload is being handled by dedicated or 
special purpose computers performing work such as:

    - interactive desktop applications
    - i/o intensive work such as database management
    - computationally intensive work such as image rendering

not to mention the various network applications that have a mix of
workload characteristics.

And the systems administrator is faced with a wide variety of platforms 
to run this work on. There are a variety of hardware platforms available 
(including x86, x64, SPARC, PowerPC) each with it's own benefits and 
characteristics. Add to this the various operating systems (both Open 
Source and proprietary) and you can see that we are spoilt for choice. 
But one thing is certain - there is no one single solution that meets 
the needs of every organisation.

Given this huge choice, what are the best criteria to use to match a 
workload with a platform? How can a system administrator balance the 
requirement to select the best platform for the job, with the cost of 
investing time and effort in the selection process.

Join us at the AUUG Systems Administration Symposium, where this will be 
the topic of discussion at the panel session: "Fitness for purpose - 
selecting the right platform for the job".

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Online registration is available at:
http://www.auug.org.au/events/2005/sysadmin/

The full symposium programme is available online at
http://www.auug.org.au/events/2005/sysadmin/

The symposium will be held in Sydney on Wednesday, 6 July, and Abe 
Singer's tutorial, "Logging Infrastructure and Log Analysis" will be 
held in Sydney on Tuesday 5 July and Melbourne on Tuesday 12 July.

Attendees of both the Logging Tutorial and the Systems Administration 
Symposium receive a $100 discount.



-----------------Business Class Linux & UNIX Solutions------------------
Gordon Hubbard <gordon@CustomTech.com.au>    Custom Technology Australia
3 Spring Street, Sydney, NSW              T 02 9659 9590, F 02 9659 9510
PO Box 514, Beecroft, NSW, 2119, Australia  http://www.CustomTech.com.au
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