RE: sparc power efficiency, but also reliability.

> I agree that the Sun hardware is more robust than
> the chaos of PC hardware vendors.  At first I searched for an
> inexpensive and low power Sun to fill my requirements, but I don't
> see anything from Sun capable of 300GB sata disks for
> less than $500.  I don't run mission critical services at home
> so I have gone the path to reduce expenses (we didn't get
> a raise this year, while living expenses are rising).
>

I'm not so sure that's 100% true. Of course I don't think anyone's done
a study, but I routinely fire up 286 boards and old Compaq PCs and such
and they work reliably as well.

I think it's just the nature of older and simpler architectures that run
orders of magnitude slower than the current crop of stuff, and with far
lower thermals as well. 

So it's not to say that old Sun gear isn't well made, it's just that
older gear seems to have been inherently engineered with a larger
"safety margin"