Yep, without .edu discount, by the time the P-Pro (mid/late 90s) came out the value proposition was really bad.
For integer performance RISC had no benefits left by 1996-1997. 300Mhz P2 (in a Compaq workstation) was at parity with a 250Mhz R10k (SGI O2). The P2 as a fully assembled system was priced less than the R10k CPU alone.
Only the huge amount of cash available to dot-coms propped up Sun then. With all the "you need sun servers for dot-coms" beliefs.
My current employer made the same call (Linux on commodity PC) around the same time for the same reasons. It took ~8-10 years for competitors to stop using the fact it was Linux based for FUD. Now the only issue we get is Windows-only shop (very common in our industry) complaining that we're the only non-Windows system they use.
Almost certainly. Sun kit was very reliable (there's more to building a server than putting a PC in a rackmount case) and for 5 or 10 years after the dotcom bust, they were competing with their own second-hand kit at fire sale prices, which was still perfectly good for the job it was sold for.
For integer performance RISC had no benefits left by 1996-1997. 300Mhz P2 (in a Compaq workstation) was at parity with a 250Mhz R10k (SGI O2). The P2 as a fully assembled system was priced less than the R10k CPU alone.
Only the huge amount of cash available to dot-coms propped up Sun then. With all the "you need sun servers for dot-coms" beliefs.
My current employer made the same call (Linux on commodity PC) around the same time for the same reasons. It took ~8-10 years for competitors to stop using the fact it was Linux based for FUD. Now the only issue we get is Windows-only shop (very common in our industry) complaining that we're the only non-Windows system they use.