Cheap Sun Sparc Servers for Learning Solaris 10

Using Solaris Sparc to Become a Sun Solaris System Admin

Nov 18, 2009 John Wu

Many old Sun workstations and servers are suitable for learning the Solaris operating system, but buyers need to use caution when picking out the right Sun Sparc server.

Solaris 10 is still in wide use today despite the domination of Linux in the Unix market. The large installed base of Sun customers remain after all these years, many of whom run Sun hardware to continue running legacy software. Many Sun customers trust the reliability on Sun's Sparc servers.

No matter the reason, this means is still demand for Sun Solaris system administrators including those who are familiar with Solaris Sparc OS.

Learning Solaris 10 on a Sun Sparc Server

Solaris 10 introduced many new major features such as ZFS, DTrace and Solaris containers (zones) that are not available in Solaris 9. Because of this, it is not worth learning earlier versions of Solaris. Unfortunately, this means those who want to learn Solaris 10 need to make sure their Sun Sparc hardware is supported in the operating system.

Solaris 9 dropped support for the sun4c architecture. Solaris 10 dropped support for the sun4m architecture and Ultrasparc I processors. This means the following popular Sparc servers will not run Solaris 10:

• Sun Sparcstation 1 and 2
• Sun Sparcstation LX
• Sun Sparcstation 5
• Sun Sparcstation 10
• Sun Sparcstation 20
• Sun Ultra 1
• Sun Ultra 2 (with Ultrasparc I processors)

However, the following old hardware are suitable for learning Solaris 10. Most of this hardware can be found cheaply:

• Sun Ultra 2 (with Ultrasparc II processors)
• Sun Ultra 5
• Sun Ultra 10
• Sun Ultra 30
• Sun Ultra 60
• Sun Ultra 80
• Sun Blade 100 and 150

The Sun Ultra 5 and 10 workstations as well as the Sun Blade workstations use IDE drives. The remaining systems on the list use SCSI drives using the SCA interface. It is easier to find IDE drives of large capacity than SCSI drives of large capacity using the old SCA interface. For example, Sun Ultra 2's came with 4GB SCSI drives as default, which will make it difficult to run Solaris 10 without worrying about running out of disk space.

Why Pick a Sun Sparc Server to Learn Solaris?

Solaris 10 comes in an x86 flavor, which is good for learning most of Solaris. However, a major part of being a Sun Solaris systems administrator is to know how to use the Open Boot Prom (OBP).

The OBP is used to define boot settings such as the boot device and system diagnostics. The OBP is still used today in Sun's Sparc based server lineup such as the Sun Fire M4000 server. The commands in the OBP are still very similar to those used in the older Sparc servers. For those who want to maximize their ability to land a job as a Solaris system administrator, it's important to be familiar with the OBP.

Those who wish to take the Sun Certified System Administrator (SCSA) exams for Solaris 10 should note that the OBP on the Sparc hardware is one of the topics covered on the exam.

Although the old Sparc hardware lineup seems confusing, the best rule of thumb is to use Sun Ultrasparc II servers or later to make sure it's compatible with Solaris 10. By learning Solaris on the Ultrasparc II (or later) platform, it greatly improves one's marketability as a Sun Solaris system admin.

Reference:

Sun Microsystem's Sun System Handbook for EOL (end of life) systems.

The copyright of the article Cheap Sun Sparc Servers for Learning Solaris 10 in Computer Software is owned by John Wu. Permission to republish Cheap Sun Sparc Servers for Learning Solaris 10 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Sparc Server for Sun Certified System Admin