Used AIX or Solaris machines

November 8, 2005 9:56 AM

UnixBoxFilter: I need access to an AIX or Solaris box. Does anyone know of a service that will sell VPS-type access to such a beast? Alternatively, what are the best places online to look for used low-end AIX or Solaris workstations (preferrably in the EU). RISC CPUs are a must, so Linux or Solaris x86 can't work here.
posted by costas to computers & internet (7 comments total)

Are you looking to port & compile software, or just want to poke around?
posted by cmonkey at 10:00 AM on November 8, 2005

Universities are practically giving these things away. Google search.
posted by Mr T at 10:12 AM on November 8, 2005

Before you commit hari-kari go running to an old Solaris, you should note that Linux runs on Sparc.
posted by Plutor at 10:18 AM on November 8, 2005

Here is one provider of Solaris VPS services.

Depending on your actual need, you may want to check with your local Sun and IBM sales offices. Sun is slowly getting flushed down the toilet by IBM, Microsoft, Linux and Apple, so they should be eager to help you out if your project has business value to them (you are compiling software to sell on the SPARC platform, for example). IBM is actively trying to flush Sun out of the market, so they would be just as eager.

EBay is a good place to look for used servers, but it looks like ebay.co.uk doesn't have anywhere near the selection that ebay.com (USA site) has. Be aware that equipment sold on EBay maybe missing parts (hard drives, memory, operating system), so grabbing a machine of your own may be more expensive than borrowing one.

It would be useful to know more about what you want to do.
posted by b1tr0t at 10:30 AM on November 8, 2005

Wow, I didn't expect so many answers this quickly... I develop and configure data-mining systems for a living and these often require RISC-based AIX or Solaris systems (i.e. I need to use pre-compiled binaries from a vendor). OTOH, the customers I do the work for often don't want to provide remote access to their own boxes for extended periods of time, so I need testing and staging machines. From b1tr0t's VPS link, it looks like VPS is not practical for my purposes --I'd need 100GB disk space or so for a staging system, so I am down to a used box or striking a deal with IBM/Sun.

I guess I need to look for a secret stash of surplus Sun hardware from UK companies or schools or something...
posted by costas at 10:56 AM on November 8, 2005

Try ebay.
posted by devilsbrigade at 12:39 PM on November 8, 2005

This is not meant to be a plug - but I keep a list of vendors and resellers of Sun hardware on my website, sunhelp.org.

Too bad you're not in Houston, TX - I've got a quad-processor E450 taking up space in my living room.
posted by mrbill at 8:11 PM on November 8, 2005