7. Retired Servers
Some systems have gotten retired...
7.1. chvatal: Homebuilt AMD K7 Duron Server
This server is long dead, replaced by Knuth.
It consisted of:
AMD Duron K7 processor
Some disks, cannibalized from predecessor systems, notably Knuth ;
NetGear Ethernet NIC, also cannibalized from an earlier iteration of Knuth
Various and sundry DIMM sticks scavenged from other systems
Due to overheating problems with a previous Knuth iteration, this machine had a whole lot of fans.
This machine ran Debian GNU/Linux,
Linear Programming by Vasek Chvatal was my main reference to linear programming whilst in both my undergraduate and graduate studies.
7.2. GrabBag of Hardware...
There is a bunch of hardware that may or may not be connected to anything...
- AMD K6-2 CPU
Running at 266 MHz
- S3
Virge video card, 4MB RAM
I had to use a version of SVGAlib modified for glibc2.0 and S3Virge (Trio64 mode) in order to get SVGALIB to work. SVGALIB is (whether fortunately or unfortunately) considered pretty obsolete these days.
- >BusLogic "MultiMaster" 946C PCI SCSI-2 Host Adaptor
To this has been connected:
Quantum "Fireball" SCSI-2 1GB disk drive
UMAX S6E Color Flatbed Scanner, used to scan pictures and for document imaging. MacWarehouse had a really good deal, pricing it at $130...
UMAX Scanner drivers are available that work nicely with this scanner.
ExaByte 8500 8mm tape drive - 3.5GB capacity uncompressed, SCSI-2, 7GB "claimed capacity."
This drive is a little less esoteric than the Tandberg, with the advantage that tapes are cheaper (note that there are video cassettes in the same form factor, thus bringing in further economies of scale), and I'm less concerned that if my apartment burned down that I'd not be able to find another drive.
I bought my unit from Computer Systems Consultants for the unprincely sum of $250.
- Memorex CRW-1622 CD-RW Recorder
Recording a CD:
cdrecord -scanbus
Cdrecord release 1.6 Copyright (C) 1995-1998 Jorg Schilling scsibus0: 0) 'SAMSUNG ' 'SCR-830 REV 4.01' '4.01' Removable CD-ROM 1) 'Memorex ' 'CRW-1622 ' 'D3.9' Removable CD-ROM 2) * 3) * 4) * 5) * 6) * 7) *</programlisting></para>
cdrecord -v dev=1,1 speed=2 /var/tmp/sapcd.img
See also:
- HP LaserJet 5L
Over my many years of involvement with computing, I have owned three printers; they have all seriously outlived (in usefulness) the systems to which they were originally connected:
Mannesman Tally Spirit 80
This is an Epson MX-80-compatible dot matrix printer. It hasn't been used since probably 1989, but is still in fine shape in my father's basement.
HP DeskJet 500
In active use through most of my time in Grad School, this 300 DPI ink jet printer provided superb service for many years. My brother Brad now uses it in Halifax; no doubt it will continue to be useful for a number of years.
I primarily used it in conjunction with TeX DVI drivers on my Atari ST.
HP LJ 5L
I use it primarily in conjunction with PostScript output produced by various Unix-based software; I use Ghostscript to render PostScript into the printer's native PCL mode.
Out of my experiences at SHL Systemhouse as an SAP Basis Consultant, I learned rather a lot about the care and feeding of Unix LPD print queues, where I "abused" them for various purposes. I have written a web page about Frequently Asked Questions about Unix printing that I keep answering over and over again...
7.3. godel: IBM Intellistation Pro Z
This used to be my the main server, consisting of:
- Intel Pentium Pro 200 (256K Cache)
- 64MB RAM
- Adaptec 2940 UW-SCSI Host Adaptor
I had some concerns that this would not function well with Linux; Adaptec has been known to make board and BIOS changes that have resulted in incompatibilities. No problems; apparently the batch that IBM acquired for use with this line of computers is compatible even with older AHA2940 drivers.
- 4.3 GB IBM UW-SCSI Hard Drive
- Matrox Millennium II Graphics Card with 4MB RAM
- Intel EtherPro 100BaseT
Which, as an on-the-motherboard component, fried itself in a power surge, replaced by a NetGear 310TX.
- This machine may occasionally be running SAP R/3 for Linux.
With, initially, only 64MB of RAM to work with, it probably represents one of the slowest R/3 systems on Planet Earth. It really wants a lot more RAM than that...
The IBM IntelliStation Z Pro Replacement Parts List noted that it uses "EDO ECC DIMMs." The model number seems to be 6899... See also
PR440FX motherboard Supported Processors, System Board Memory - PC 300/700 and IntelliStation Series, 6899 - PentiumŪ Pro 200MHz System Board, 6588 and IntelliStation - 6888, 6898, 6899 Models 6899 - PentiumŪ Pro 200MHz Parts Listing, and 5V to 3.52V VRM-Connector
Kurt Godel set up a representation of a "general theorem construction system," the propositional calculus and provable manipulations of expressions using multiples and powers of prime numbers. From this, he established that not all statements that can be represented in the Propositional Calculus can be proven to be correct by "provably correct manipulations."
This proved that Bertrand Russell's attempt to build a comprehensive guide to the theory of mathematics, Principia Mathematica, was to be a project doomed to failure. You can't prove everything in mathematics.
This box has been running Debian since about 2001, and has been my firewall throughout that time.
7.4. dantzig: Digital Alpha
Compatible RAM variations:
SN-MSP01-HC - 64MB ECC SDRAM DIMMs
SN-MSP01-HD - 128MB ECC SDRAM DIMMs
SN-MSP01-HE - 256MB ECC SDRAM DIMMs
SN-MSP01-HF - 512MB ECC SDRAM DIMMs
Found on the web variously as:
AlphaMemory has quite favorable pricing for RAM for Personal Workstations.
$270 for 128MB
3DFX Voodoo 3000 graphics card, cannibalized from Knuth
Compaq/Digital has various updates to BIOS and other system components:
AHA-2490UW Dual SCSI Controller User's Guide
It's got a PCI bus, 53C810 SCSI, Alpha CPU running at 166 MHz, 96MB RAM, 340MB SCSI disk, and a 15" SVGA monitor. The specs are described in much more detail in my Alpha UDB/Multia web page; I've added only external components: a satellite Sony 2x SCSI CD-ROM, and a Zip drive. Note that 10Base2 and 10BaseT Ethernet is built-in on the motherboard.
It was upgraded to "Red Hat 4.1 Official Version" on April 6
1997 after a several-month hiatus wherein I had (unsuccessfully) tried
to move several times to version 4.0; as of April 1999, it more
recently runs the stable version of Debian
GNU/Linux.
It has been upgraded, adding a Diamond Stealth Video 3200, using the S3 968 chip chipset with 2MB of apparently fast RAM. This is compatible with the S3 XFree86 X server, and provides decent high resolution graphics.
$270 for 128MB
AHA-2490UW Dual SCSI Controller User's Guide
It's got a PCI bus, 53C810 SCSI, Alpha CPU running at 166 MHz, 96MB RAM, 340MB SCSI disk, and a 15" SVGA monitor. The specs are described in much more detail in my Alpha UDB/Multia web page; I've added only external components: a satellite Sony 2x SCSI CD-ROM, and a Zip drive. Note that 10Base2 and 10BaseT Ethernet is built-in on the motherboard.
It was upgraded to "Red Hat 4.1 Official Version" on April 6
1997 after a several-month hiatus wherein I had (unsuccessfully) tried
to move several times to version 4.0; as of April 1999, it more
recently runs the stable version of Debian
GNU/Linux.
It has been upgraded, adding a Diamond Stealth Video 3200, using the S3 968 chip chipset with 2MB of apparently fast RAM. This is compatible with the S3 XFree86 X server, and provides decent high resolution graphics.
 | Should Dantzig fall down, and have difficulty coming back up, here are some notable bits of configuration:
|
 | Dantzig "the Multia" is now defunct, due to a severe power surge. It has been replaced by a rather faster Alpha box by the same name... |
George Dantzig was the inventor of Linear Programming, a "mathematical programming" approach to solving optimization problems. This was one of the early techniques that popularized Operations Research in industry.
7.5. salesman: AMD-based Toshiba Satellite 2105CDS Laptop
For on-the-road operations... It fairly regularly got "scraped off" to try things out, and has been known to run BeOS, FreeBSD and Debian Linux.
A tool that builds a hardware report about laptop features.
www.davidwatson.org: Redhat Severn Beta On Emachines M5310
If quality is there, I might pick up one of these; they seem nice...
7.6. wolfe: AMD5x86-133 VLB System
This machine used to be my main server, but is presently disused.
It has gotten fairly seriously "hacked on" and has been used to supply spare parts for other systems, so that any correlation between the configuration mentioned below and reality may be purely coincidental. It's liable to either disappear or to spontaneously turn into a PCI bus machine. But there are some useful notes here nonetheless.
- Amptron VESA Local-Bus motherboard, 2x8MB 72pin SIMMS
- AMD 5x86 CPU running at 133 MHz
This chip is pin-compatible with Intel 80486es, and internally represents a "fast clone" of the 486. (The similarity may go further than mere "similarity;" AMD's early chips were identical to Intel's as AMD was a "second source" for the products.) The claim I hear is that this is about equivalent to an Intel P5 running at about 75MHz. I'd tend to agree.
- No-name EIDE/FDC/Serial/pllel card
As it only supports 500KBit/s FDC data transfers, this prevents my tape drive from using it with the high-capacity QIC 3020 format.
I attempted to "upgrade" to a SIG VLB/EIDE/Multi-IO card with the faster FDC. (Picked it up at Computer City; model #CN4205.) Unfortunately, it did not happily co-exist with Linux for some inexplicable reason.
- Exabyte TR-3 tape drive, connected to Exabyte Accelerator Card
More information on this can be referenced at Linux Floppy Tapes.
My attempts to get the TR-3 tape drive working are now pretty stagnant as I now have an array of other backup devices, including SCSI tape drives and a CD burner, with corresponding improvements in performance and usefulness.
See also FTAPE Page for more details.
- Maxtor 1.7GB IDE drive
- Panasonic "SBPCD" CD-ROM; LaserMate interface
- Generic NE2000-compatible Ethernet card
With all the "plug-and-play" configuration entertainment that ensues...
- Diamond Viper (2MB/VLB) video board.
The Viper uses the Weitek "P9000" chipset which is unfortunately not supported by SVGALIB. To ease X configuration, I (when I, rather seldom, run X on it) run the Accelerated-X X server.
This machine is very much a hodge-podge of components acquired from various places Old IDE disk drives, CD-ROM, and video card were raided from an old system, case and monitor came from an Addison-based surplus store called CompuSurplus, newer IDE drive bought at some "outlet" computer store. It's all been in pieces and all been dysfunctional at various points in time.
Once legacy files get dumped off, this machine ought to become a "test bed" for OS experimentation; I'd like to try out some combination of:
Wolfe and Dantzig created a scheme known as Dantzig-Wolfe Decomposition that splits large linear programs into a set of subproblems (that are themselves LPs) that are connected together using a "master problem." These pieces are all smaller and more easily solved than the original LP.
7.7. On the Road
When on the road, I used a PalmOS PDA.
1MB ROM (containing Palm OS and built-in applications)
2MB RAM expansion
4.7 x 3.2 x.7 inches
5.7 ounces, including installed batteries
160 x 160 pixel reflective, pressure sensitive LCD screen
Proprietary RS-232 serial connector (readily connected to a more normal DB25/DB9 RS-232 serial connector)
I've got a web page of Pilot Links, but my brother, David runs the vastly more voluminous PDA-Archives web site.
7.8. escher: UMAX PPC/603e 
SuperMac C500LT/200 w/ PowerPC 603e, 16MB RAM, 2.0GB HD, 8X CD, 1MB video RAM
To be deployed real soon now, this might
run MacOS, BeOS, or LinuxPPC 
. Uncertain at this point.
Afterthoughts: It's currently in mothballs, as 16MB RAM isn't enough for Linux/PPC, and is a bit flakey running MacOS.