After Ken, Wirt, etc.:
>
> Now, there are some definite problems with the $14,000 "starter system"
> 918 configuration: the 32MB RAM is probably inadequate for a "real"
> machine, as is the 2GB disk (I wonder if that has been/is being changed
> to 4GB?). But I still think that the 918 is within a few kilobucks of any
> legitimately-comparable PC-based server, rather than twice the price.
>
> Steve
>

This thread suggests a packaging strategy of a "small business solution" that
would include the needed components. It might make this more cost effective if
it was sold through system integrators as simply part of the total solution
package. You'd might have to market it based on component prices going into the
bundle and hit hard on the value to the business - maybe even a guarantee on no
downtime or a 3 year hardware warranty like the Netservers?

Maybe HP (GSY, too) ought to offer a Model 10 Array integrated into the SPU in
place of the standard disks, then the system volume could be protected from a
disk failure without a lot of troublesome reconfiguration.

One big problem is that Mikey soft has taught the consumer that rebooting is ok
- even sort of desirable - as a trade off for ease of use.

The other big problem is that independent hardware stores and dentists are
becoming a thing of the past, and big corporations seem attracted to "modern
client/server" ERP like SAP R/3...

At best, if this package could be delivered with software that is as easy to
use and flexible as the better Windows products, but runs on desktop client
equipment that is as reliable as the 3000, then you'd have a winner. But easy
to use client/server software suffers from the client's reliability problems
more than the server's. Why should the small business customer pay a few more
bucks for a reliable server, when the big problem is the client? We must
educate the small business owners that reliability on the server (database)
*does* matter more than the client - ie rebooting the client is ok, but
rebooting the server should not be necessary.

The above implies a client/server data architecture that insures database
integrity across arbitrary client failures, so: Attention experts in 3 or 4 or
5 letter acronyms, which one is the best at doing insuring database integrity
on the server? Once identified, we have to be sure CSY supports it well and
bundles it and we have to teach it to 3000 programmers so it is nearly as well
known and understood as Image!

Richard Gambrell ([log in to unmask])