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Rowan Hawkins | 2 Mar 2003 06:26
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Re: SparcStation CD drive


If you didnt manage to get the auction, I have several of the slimline 
drives.  I just have not had oportunity to test them yet. They are the 
drives with brackets. The were pulled during an upgrade. 

They are spec'ed as follows:
Toshiba       XM-4101B
Sun Part#:    540-2500
Speed:        2x
Interface:    50pin scsi-2
Preset for ID: 6 & Terminated 

Rowan Hawkins

On Fri, 21 Feb 2003, Mark Round wrote:
:Hi all,
:I've just managed to get my hands on a SparcStation20. I'd like to add a CD
:drive to it, but I'm unsure as to what the best option is. It's got two 1Gb
:SCSI disks inside, but there is no internal floppy drive or CD. It has two
:purple blanking panels on the front right-hand side that I assume I could
:fit one in.
:
:Could I do this without getting extra SCSI cards, etc. for it ? Or would I
:be better off with an external SCSI drive attached to the back ? And if I
:were to do this, what sort of cables would I need ?
:
:Thanks in advance,
:-Mark
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John B. Lee | 3 Mar 2003 06:11
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low-cost, quiet, web/disk server (SS5?)

Hello, I'm looking into obtaining an older SPARC for use as a headless 
web/file server. As this will be residing in my bedroom, I would like 
to find something that is fairly quiet. I don't expect anything as 
quiet as my iBook, but it would be nice. :-) Could you folks suggest 
something? I was thinking one of the lunchbox or pizzabox machines 
(specifically, an SS5).

Also, other than eBay, where does one obtain such a machine? I'm pretty 
sure I don't need a CDROM drive (going to netboot the machine off my 
iBook and run the NetBSD installer sequence from there), but I think 
I'd like a fairly generous RAM complement. I plan on mostly static 
content, but I'd like to monkey around with Java servlets and EJBs.
--
John B. Lee
jbl2007 <at> columbia.edu
http://www.columbia.edu/~jbl2007/
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Phil Stracchino | 3 Mar 2003 19:19

Re: low-cost, quiet, web/disk server (SS5?)

On Mon, Mar 03, 2003 at 12:11:13AM -0500, John B. Lee wrote:
> Also, other than eBay, where does one obtain such a machine? I'm pretty 
> sure I don't need a CDROM drive (going to netboot the machine off my 
> iBook and run the NetBSD installer sequence from there), but I think 
> I'd like a fairly generous RAM complement. I plan on mostly static 
> content, but I'd like to monkey around with Java servlets and EJBs.

I may have a spare Sparcstation LX or SparcClassic, if that's of any
interest.  It would be without disk or RAM though.  I haven't tried
NetBSD, but I know the one I have up runs OpenBSD just fine.

--

-- 
 .*********  Fight Back!  It may not be just YOUR life at risk.  *********.
 : phil stracchino : unix ronin : renaissance man : mystic zen biker geek :
 :  alaric <at> caerllewys.net : alaric-ruthven <at> earthlink.net : phil <at> latt.net  :
 :   2000 CBR929RR, 1991 VFR750F3 (foully murdered), 1986 VF500F (sold)   :
 :    Linux Now!   ...Because friends don't let friends use Microsoft.    :
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Huge | 3 Mar 2003 12:47
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Re: low-cost, quiet, web/disk server (SS5?)


> From: "John B. Lee" <jbl2007 <at> columbia.edu>

> Hello, I'm looking into obtaining an older SPARC for use as a headless 
> web/file server. As this will be residing in my bedroom, I would like 
> to find something that is fairly quiet. I don't expect anything as 
> quiet as my iBook, but it would be nice. :-) Could you folks suggest 
> something? I was thinking one of the lunchbox or pizzabox machines 
> (specifically, an SS5).

Well, I've shared my study with, over the years, a SS1, 1+, 2, 10, 20,
LX, Ultra 2 and Ultra 10 and I wouldn't care to share sleeping
accomodation with any of them. In fact, when the '2 and it's disks
were on the floor, it was quite loud in the room below.

Since the noise is more-or-less "white" and continuous, I expect you'd
get used to it, but the disk activity in the small hours would be a
pain. Who'd want to be woken up at 10 past 3 every morning by root's
cron...?

10 3 * * 0,4 /etc/cron.d/logchecker
10 3 * * 0   /usr/lib/newsyslog
15 3 * * 0 /usr/lib/fs/nfs/nfsfind
1 2 * * * [ -x /usr/sbin/rtc ] && /usr/sbin/rtc -c > /dev/null 2>&1
30 3 * * * [ -x /usr/lib/gss/gsscred_clean ] && /usr/lib/gss/gsscred_clean

Regards,

H.
(Continue reading)

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Sheldon T. Hall | 3 Mar 2003 17:02

RE: low-cost, quiet, web/disk server (SS5?)

John B. Lee wrote on Monday, March 03, 2003 12:11 AM ...

> Hello, I'm looking into obtaining an older SPARC for use as a headless
> web/file server. As this will be residing in my bedroom, I would like
> to find something that is fairly quiet. I don't expect anything as
> quiet as my iBook, but it would be nice. :-) Could you folks suggest
> something? I was thinking one of the lunchbox or pizzabox machines
> (specifically, an SS5).

I run an SS Classic for a general-putpose server, and it's quite OK.  Small,
relatively quiet, reasonable power consumption and heat production, etc.
The Classic/LX is pretty much the top of the lunchbox line; the LX has
better video, which you won't need, but otherwise, they are the same.

> Also, other than eBay, where does one obtain such a machine?

I got mine at the local U's surplus place, about two years ago.  They were
decommissioning a whole lab of 'em, and I bought three.  US$5.00 each.  Most
colleges have a surplus property office.

Call all the used computer places around you, too.  Most of those don't want
to fool around with anything but PCs, so sell Suns cheap.

All the lunchboxes are 9-10 years old or more, and not worth much,
commercially, but they make great home machines.

> ... I don't need a CDROM drive (going to netboot the machine off my
> iBook and run the NetBSD installer sequence from there), but I think
> I'd like a fairly generous RAM complement.
(Continue reading)

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Ken Hansen | 3 Mar 2003 15:52

RE: low-cost, quiet, web/disk server (SS5?)

> -----Original Message-----
> From: John B. Lee [mailto:jbl2007 <at> columbia.edu] 
> Sent: Monday, March 03, 2003 12:11 AM
> To: suns-at-home <at> net-kitchen.com
> Subject: [Suns-at-Home] low-cost, quiet, web/disk server (SS5?)
> 
> 
> Hello, I'm looking into obtaining an older SPARC for use as a 
> headless web/file server. As this will be residing in my bedroom,
> I would like to find something that is fairly quiet.

> Could you folks suggest something? I was thinking one of the
> lunchbox or pizzabox machines (specifically, an SS5).

Were I in your shoes, I would *seriously* investigate an Ultra 1 (any speed).

The SS/5-170 is a nice box, but the most RAM you can install is 256 Meg (8x 32 Meg DIMMs), and the RAM is a bit
unusual, compared with the (at least) 1 Gig you can stuff in an Ultra 1 of (relatively) more common SS/20 RAM.

You can place a 1.6" SCA drive in the lower slot of an Ultra 1, but without a hacksaw you can not do the same to an SS/5.

Depending on the Ultra 1 you have, you may be able to add a Creator card and make a nice desktop, if you ever
re-purpose the box down the road.

The Ultra 1 can take a standard SCSI CD-ROM drive internally, the SS/5 does not.

Both machines are suitably quiet, both take are SBUS based, and a nice Ultra 1 can be found for $100-150
nicely equiped (RAM, HD, framebuffer)...

If you can go a bit higher, an Ultra 2 is an even better choice, but the cost heads towards $200-250 quite quickly...
(Continue reading)

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der Mouse | 3 Mar 2003 18:15
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Re: low-cost, quiet, web/disk server (SS5?)

> Hello, I'm looking into obtaining an older SPARC for use as a
> headless web/file server.  As this will be residing in my bedroom, I
> would like to find something that is fairly quiet.

The best you're going to find in that regard is an SLC or ELC; they are
convection-cooled, completely fanless.

They are, however, somewhere on the order of the SS1+ in speed, though,
which may be a bit more "older" than you want to go.

They also are likely to be hard to find.  The SLC and ELC integrated
the monitor into the same chassis as the CPU, and tend to get thrown
out in toto when the monitor dies.

For something a bit more recent, I like the brick machines myself, the
IPX/LX/Classic family.  But make sure you find a quiet disk to put in
it; something like one of the infamous 2G Barracudas will make enough
noise to drown out the noise the machine itself is making....

/~\ The ASCII				der Mouse
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Courtleigh | 4 Mar 2003 21:32

Home Network Survey

Anyone using advanced systems and services on their home network, please drop me a line at
ccannick <at> sunguru.com.  I'm preparing an article on this and I'd be happy to showcase your work.

Thanks,

Courtleigh D. Cannick,CSA
Principal Network Architect, Information Mechanics Laboratory
Certified Solaris Systems Administrator
Certified Geographical Information Systems Analyst

"You've done a man's job, sir." -- Gaff

_____________________________________________________________
Where you'll find everything under the Sun for the Sun.......www.SunGuru.com

_____________________________________________________________
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der Mouse | 4 Mar 2003 23:52
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Re: Home Network Survey

> Anyone using advanced systems and services on their home network,
> please drop me a line at ccannick <at> sunguru.com.  I'm preparing an
> article on this and I'd be happy to showcase your work.

Ummm...what counts as "advanced systems and services"?  In some ways my
systems are pretty advanced; in other ways they're at least retro, if
not antique.

/~\ The ASCII				der Mouse
\ / Ribbon Campaign
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Colin Morey | 5 Mar 2003 00:33
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No Output from IPX

I've been given two IPX's from my old uni, as far as i know they both
work, one is missing a disk, attaching a keyboard and monitor (PC, via
adapter, capable of syncinf on screen and doing 2048x1536 <at> 80), tried
holding down stop-N with no visible difference, (i've left it for a
number of mins with no joy).

does anyone have any suggestion of what i could try, I don't believe
i've got a suitable serial cable for it, bu ti may be able to nobble one
from somewhere.

TIA,

Colin
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Gmane