Ok
> a BUSLOGIC 958 UW scsi
> 2 UW SCSI disks 3.2 Gb brand not known yet
Ok. For performance you may want to use md to strip all but the root
partition.
> 128 Mb RAM
Make sure that mainboard can cache 128Mb - I think it can
> 3COM PCI 3c509 ethernet controller
3c509 is ISA. 3c590 is PCI, 3c90x is the current card. Driver on
http://www.cesdis.gsfc.nasa.gov
> 2 Pentium Pro 200's 256 Kb cache
180's with 512K cache would be better if you can get them. You want
all the cache you can get on an SMP box
> I hear different things about SMP, 2.0.0 works or
> everything above 2.0.14 doesnot, another article tells
> me the guy is running 2.0.18.
2.0.14-17 dont work SMP. 2.0.27/28 are the current kernels.
> What do I have to do so the kernel recognizes my SMP board
> will a normal kernel with working SMP automatically do SMP
> or do I have to change a SMP=1 line in the /usr/src/linux/Makefile?
Set SMP=1 in the makefile and build a kernel
> Is there a difference between UW SCSI disks, and I mean
> are there bad ones, that don't work right or can I use any brand?
Look for good data rates (head read rate) and seek rates.
> I have a Debian distribution from july 96 with upgrades
> from about october 96, and all patches 2.0 and 2.1
> am I going to have trouble with this distribution should
> I go RedHat or Slackware, I would think the kernel is
> the most important and not the utilities?
That'll work fine. You need no different utils for SMP
Alan