BPRO vs B

[ouvarov]

to me it looks like pure marketing...
Well they put new processor into it and added memory - this is new, I see this.
What I am talking about is functionality.
I just posted another thread before today asking about multiple RAID arrays / volumes and about fault tolerance combined with load balancing.
As I digged further I realized that I need just released PRO version. Well besides stronger processor and more memory it looks like the functionality was just the matter of firmware suporting it. It looks like bigger processor and more memory are thrown there just to justify that these functions were not there in non PRO version. It seems to me if someone wants to make there non PRO box PRO they just need to replace (add more) memory module and replace processor. Install firmware for PRO version as it is available and here it is - PRO.
Other than processor and memory I think they didn't change anything in hardware (those who can compare please do) which, again, tells that these added features are only the matter of firmware.
I dare to state this knowing that with regard to networking in Linux it would be only the matter of configuring things right (as they already had according to specs either fault tolerance or load balancing). I didn't play much with RAID in Linux but something tells me that multiple arrays was also just the matter of appropriate configs.

Besides this, having in specs RAID1 and alowing only 2 HDDs to be used in such case? Doesn't make sense to me at all... Looks like it was there just to say "we support RAID1" without thinking what other 3 bays would be used for if such configuration is needed.

Would be intresting to see opinion of gurus who played with this units for a while and who knows what I am referring to in Linux.

[quick]

Hi....

>It looks like bigger processor and more memory are thrown
> there just to justify that these functions were not there in
> non PRO version.

You could say that , but it shouldn't be seen as just a faster processor and some more memory.

With these in place, you get:
* faster processing of raid-information

The box can handle the data faster than the old CPU. And when you have somehting like a RAID-5 and loose a drive, I guess the difference would be very visible.

* more memory

Also this will mean bigger disk/fs/buffers. A read-ahead algo could then easily be implemented to really speed up reads. And the writes could then go more often directly into the cache. So writes could get really more speed.

The more memory could better support the new stuff that Thecus has on the plan. Like iSCSI and other stuff.

Finally there are lots of users that like to put all-wheel-drive, bigger headlights and the like on their box (read custom modules to extend the basic thecus functions). More memory means bigger playground for the one that like to experiment.

So in my eyes faster CPU and more memory is a better box. And for a better box Thecus could charge more money.

I have not considered if the amount of extra money they charge for the PRO is worth the extra HW and functions. I am happy with my plain 5200-box ;D ......for the moment.

,