Sun Fire X4100

                Since Oracle’s acquisition of Sun back in 2010, the popularity of Sun servers has remained roughly the same. What kind of loyalty does that illustrate, that even after a company’s merger and the discontinuation of several product lines, people remain loyal to the product? Obviously, the majority of people with Sun products have found their investment to be a good one. As the Sun market continues on, the demand for Sun servers and parts has only risen. Are you currently checking into getting a Sun server for your next model? The great part about Sun servers is their extensive degree of manageability and affordability. Not sure which Sun server is right for you? There are plenty of entry-level Sun servers out there, but among the most popular is the Sun Fire X4100. Check it out below.

Rack Optimized

The Sun X4100 is a rack optimized server model. Rack servers have the advantage of vertical scalability. Why take up more room than necessary with multiple tower servers when you can “stack” servers atop one another in a rack or a cabinet? The Sun X4100 is a 1U model, taking up one unit of vertical space. While some rack servers take up to six unites, the 1U remains a nice and slim model, easily incorporated into existing server arrays.

Performance

The Sun Fire X4100 features support for AMD Opteron 254 processors. With two processors each clocking in at 2.8 GHz with a 1 MB L2 cache, the Sun Fire X4100 is great for mission critical processing and cuts down on down time due to processing bottlenecks. The dual processor capability is also backed up by a minimum memory configuration of eight gigabytes, and a maximum DDR SDRAM of sixteen gigabytes. The X4100 also supports two seventy-three gigabyte hard drives with spindle speeds up to ten thousand RPMs. SCSI drives with that high a spindle speed offer some of the fastest data writes on the market, making for even faster performance.

In addition, these hard drives are also hot-swappable. Hot-swappable means you can exchange a hard drive without needing to power down the server. This is especially important considering potential downtime caused by hard drive failures. It would be much better to keep a server running from a single hard drive than power down to perform maintenance on a failing or broken hard drive.

Purchasing

Owing to the limited availability of Sun equipment, finding a Sun Fire X4100 can sometimes prove to be quite difficult. You may be able to find a server online via various ecommerce sites, but you run the risk of defective equipment. A more direct and reliable method involves visiting a refurbished reseller. Refurbished computer stores often stock systems and parts, and can configure whole systems from components to order. When purchasing a refurbished Sun Fire X4100, always make certain it has been tested for quality and has received a warranty for all work performed on it.

The Worst Three Computer Breakdowns

                It’s an inevitable fact of computer ownership; sooner or later something will break. It might be a physical break, a banged enclosure or a chipped panel perhaps, or maybe a software error that renders your computer an unresponsive paperweight. Either way, you should be prepared for all possibilities, be they easy fixes or something a little more troublesome. Whether the computer you’re using is a business optimized server or a simple desktop deployment you keep in your home office, there are certain breakdowns which translate into “worst case scenario” regardless of the make or model. So you can be prepared for these worst case scenarios, here they are: the three worst computer breakdowns.

Number Three: Melted Processor

The processor is essentially the brain of any computer, crunching all the numbers and performing all logical operations which it receives. Without a processor, the computer can no longer compute, rendering the whole namesake of the machine into a “name only” designation. A fried processor can result from any number of problems. Processors are relatively fragile, and if by chance your computer’s fan failed along with the safety protocols, the internal components would get hot enough to damage the processor. Why is it so bad? A processor can’t easily be repaired because of its very small size, and often requires replacement.

Number Two: Hard Drive Failure

Depending on your level of preparedness, a hard drive failure can either be a minor inconvenience or a potentially expensive, high-risk problem. Since most hard drives consist of moving components (a disk spinning at speeds up to fifteen thousand rotations per minute, for instance) when a hard drive breaks, it can result in irreparable drive damage. Computer professionals can attempt to recover data from the disk itself, but sometimes the damage exceeds the ability of technician retrieval. Consider losing all of your business data in one fell swoop. It’s a potential business ender if not a major impediment to success. Most business have several redundant drives for their important data, but data which isn’t backed up regularly runs the risk of being lost forever. For this reason, a hard drive failure is number two on our list.

Number One: Fried Motherboard

If the processor is the brain of a computer, then the motherboard is like the secondary nervous system. It conducts all the electrical signals for the computer. A fried circuit board may potentially fry any other electrical component attached to the circuit board, making it the number one worst computer breakdown. We had a motherboard which shorted due to environmental factors. We ordered a new 42w7652 motherboard as a replacement and were lucky enough not to need to replace much else. A motherboard short is the worst computer breakdown because it may, in certain circumstances, entail many more repairs. The 42w7652 is a central hub for every computer component and peripheral. If something happens to a motherboard, every component is rendered worthless until a replacement can be found and connections made. Keep an eye out for these problems and you’ll be quick to react should anything happen.