Dear all,
I believe that Version 3.1 of the Bruker NMR Suite is planned to be the
last to support the SGI workstation. So this may be a factor in your
decision.
On a related topic - what are people's thoughts about the stability of
the PC-NT system, in comparison with an SGI? Have people experienced
hard drive failures and system crashes which have required complete
re-installation of the operating system and software?
Best wishes, Ian Parsons
Tong wrote:
>
> "Jensen, Andrew J" wrote:
>
> > All,
> >
> > We are evaluating the PC version of Bruker's XWINNMR licensed software,
> > primarily for off-line processing in our offices. We would like your view
> > of this software, whether you like using it or not, what the limitations
> > are, and the future of PC vs SGI. Any information would be useful.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Andy
> >
>
> I've posted two similiar questions to Bruker Users' Maillist earlier this year and I attach the summary below. Please check the last part of this email. Hope this helps a bit.
>
> As time goes, it's said the stable Linux version of Xwinnmr3.1 was released. So maybe the balance is inclined to PC/Linux compared with SGI now.
>
> As for WindowsNT/2000, I have no experience of a NT/2000 version of Xwinnmr. Personally I like the ease of use but suspect the stability of the OS.
> Two weeks ago we bought a new PC for computing. To run Insight II display on the PC (via Exceed X client connected to a SGI workstation), we choose Windows2000, since OpenGL/glx module under Linux seems doesn't work with Insight II. We have tried to share the new large disk of the new PC to existing Linux/SGI box via NFS. Though the Exceed on the 2000 runs happily but the NFS seems problematic all the two weeks. At first
> continueous copying of large amount of data from Linux box to the new disk via NFS leads to hanging-up of the Windows2000, later we found some problem in some SGI applications that search the directory recursively on the NFS. The application just collapsed, saying bus error. These never happened on the Linux machines.
> We are considering switching back to Linux if we can find a way to display Insight II under the Linux.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Yu-Feng
>
> Dear all,
>
> I sent letter for comments on two questions 3 weeks ago and got only 7
> replies and two of them were asking for my summary :) So sorry for such
> a delayed summarization.
>
> My questions are:
> 1. Which is better for the console, a SGI O2/Irix based Xwin-nmr or a
> PC/Linux based Xwin-nmr?
> 2. Will the Eizo FlexScan monitor be re-usable if I plan to use a PC?
>
> The replies can be summarized to:
> 1. While SGI/Irix is stable and reliable, PC/Linux is also a choice.
> 2. An adaptor or a cable may be needed for the monitor, but it can most
> probably be re-used.
>
> The following are detailed quotations.
> ********************************************************************************
>
> For question one:
> Comments of Prof. Allen Bush from University of Maryland gives
> preference on Unix over NT, so I'll not quote his word.
>
> Bill Gurley from University of Tennessee comments:
> "Aside from the lower cost,I think you benefit considerably from the
> flexibility of linux, in terms of customizing the network setup, support
> for devices such as cd-writers, etc. ... Our SGI platform is quite
> stable. However, I find the linux operating system easier to deal with.
> Also, I think there is more active development with linux than with
> Irix."
>
> Perhaps comments of Dr. Michael Engelhardt from Bruker Analytik GmbH are
> most authoritative on Xwin-nmr:
> "This is true (that Xwinnmr for Linux is still in its alpha version),
> but we will offer a spectrometer release of
> our Linux version towards the end of the year. Stability is the same on
> both systems, as far as we can tell at this point. We surely have a much
> more experience with the SGI based system, but the program is the same,
> so we don't expect any major differences. Performance is clearly better
> on the Linux based systems, they are certainly faster !"
>
> John S. Harwood from University of Illinois at Chicago mentioned it's
> possible to buy a used/reburbished
> SGI's at significantly lower prices than new by visiting:
> http://www.mce.com/Specials/sgi.html
>
> Peter Grice from Cambridge mentioned that he uses Indy for his DRX600
> and changed to O2 only to use their flat screen, and he did not
> mentioned which version of Xwin-nmr he is using on Indy and O2 but
> mentioned that Irix 6.5.12 runs happily on the Indy.
>
> ********************************************************************************
>
> For question two:
>
> Allen Bush mentioned that
> "the problem is that they are fixed frequency monitors while most PC's
> expect multisync monitors. You can get PC video cards to support a
> fixed frequency monitor and I have used one with good success. Do not
> try to run a fixed frequency monitor on an ordinary PC video card --
> that is a mess with either linux or NT."
>
> Bill Gurley
> "I took a quick look at the Eizo web site. I really do not think there
> will be a problem in getting your Eizo monitor to work. However, you
> may need an adapter."
>
> Dr. Michael Engelhardt
> "I'm pretty sure that all you need is a different cable. We have all
> sorts of different computer systems and they all work with almost any
> monitor that we ever bought for our computers."
>
> Peter Grice mentioned that if my EIZO comes with the Indy for DRX600 it
> should be reusable with standard PC type cables. And his is presently
> connected to an Apple Mac!
> ********************************************************************************
>
> That's all :)
> And since I'm not the boss, I can't tell you which is the choice
> currently.
>
> Yu-Feng
>
> --
> Yu-Feng Tong||ͯÓî·å
> NMR Group, Dept. Enzymology
> Inst. Biophysics, Academia Sinica
> 15 Datun Road, Beijing, P.R.China, 100101
> _______________________________________________________________________________
> Life is an everlasting game of Weiqi(igo, baduk).
Received on Fri Nov 30 2001 - 08:50:32 MST