The story so far: cass PM's
and we throw part ideas back and forth.I would love to start TR a Diskless folding Monstrosity..
Sayeth cass:
OK, parts list that I have now are:
the 1600 complete with MB and fan. and PSU (well the MB is yet to arrive.)
I will commit to 512M of ram to run the server too.
I have managed nics for pxe boot and plenty of cable.
after that all that is needed is:
a switch 16-24 port preferable. 10mbit works fine.
1 kbd, 1 mouse,
some HDDs currently my farm is only using 2.1GB (from du -h -c)
more diskless nodes.
I have some PSU's that is not a problem.
I will go ahead and get the server and rack started as soon as the MB hits my hands. I can get that online quick. Really all that is needed after that is a diskless node or two and the switch so I can build the "case" and get server/client coexisting peacefully.
My idea is to try and get a case that will house Server Switch, and clients with one power cord and Cat 5 connection. With maybe connections for 9 total diskless nodes. I can probably get that under 3 feet long and 18in sq.
I do not have any designs of hosting the thing permanently, but will host it while building/debugging. It should be easy to get someone to host it, just require them to run the server and 4 diskless units for Fbot and let them use 4 or 5 diskless slots for them self.
Now, I wouldn't mind hosting this, as i have room, power and network uptime in abundance, as well as the means to swap out any parts that might go awry. However, I have 3 of the 4 bots right now, and other people have asked to host (fish, I need your list of potential hosts here), though I'm not sure the interested hosts are interested in a big-ass diskless node. That's something we should work out.
Now I have a BEAUTIFUL 24pt managed 10/100 IBM switch, it's an awesome piece of hardware.... that's sitting in the car hole doing nothing but looking pretty. I'm shipping that to cass in the next day or two, as well as some tiny hard drives, a couple of video cards, etc so he has some pieces to build. What we need mostly is core components, boards, CPUs and precious RAM.
My goal is for the FB to be a top 10 contender eventually. So I'm here pleading like Sally Struthers... "Please, won't you do it for the children? for the small cost of an old piece of hardware, you too can help stave off the looming threat of Alzheimer's, and the more immediate threat of the Goons and Mac team..."