NANOGers home data centers - What's in your closet?

Sat Aug 13 18:47:51 UTC 2011

On Fri, Aug 12, 2011 at 7:28 PM, Charles N Wyble
<charles at knownelement.com> wrote:
> I'm curious what other NANOGers have in their home compute centers? On
> the extreme end of course we have mr morris :)
> with his uber lab: http://smorris.uber-geek.net/lab.htm

In my basement:

I use a Sparcserver 690mp cabinet from 1992. 19" with 10/32 threaded
holes. The interesting thing about this cabinet is that to the side of
the main 5' rack, there are an additional set of two 3U spaces turned
90 degrees so the equipment is mounted on its side. Great for mounting
the switches and routers.

Holds 3 of my HP-based Linux servers (3ghz, 2 to 4 processors each,
single core), plus a sun box and a linux server for two of my friends.

I also have a Sparcserver 1000 sitting on top of the cabinet although
I haven't powered it up in years. 8 processors, 4 motherboards, 2 gigs
of ram. Got it on a lark... When I attended GA tech way back when,
they replaced the campus mainframe, a Sequent S81 (called "hydra"),
with a Sparc Center 2000 (called "acme"). The Sun couldn't handle the
load -- it kept crashing. Eventually they supplemented it with a pair
of Sparcserver 1000s. Between the three machines, things stabilized.
So I joke I that I have one third of my college mainframe in my
basement.

I use a mix of APC SmartUPS 3000's and 1400's picked up at flea
markets and the like, never for more than $20. Modified to take
batteries about double the ordinary amp-hours.

5kva gasoline generator with a pull cord. Need somthing better.

Multihomed with a legacy /23 from down in the swamp using BGP via
tunneling over Cox and Verizon Fios physical lines. Argued with ARIN
to get the AS number -- I had to register myself as an organization
and it took some effort to convey that that yes, and individual human
being (not a company) owned and ran a multihomed network. They wanted
proof of the organization's existence so I sent a copy of my driver's
license.

Firewall box is separate, sitting by a desk. Cox firewall runs in one
VM; Verizon firewall in another, both on a single machine bridging
ethernet ports into the VMs. I keep the firewall separate because of
all the cables coming in and out. The cabinet needs only two cables:
one power and one ethernet. That way I can wheel it around easily
without shutting it off.

I have a spare Sparcserver 690mp cabinet that I will never need but
can't bear to throw away. Anyone in northern VA need vintage cabinet?
Beware: it's steel and *very* solid.

Regards,
Bill Herrin

-- 
William D. Herrin ................ herrin at dirtside.com  bill at herrin.us
3005 Crane Dr. ...................... Web: <http://bill.herrin.us/>
Falls Church, VA 22042-3004