[Cialug] Free hardware

[Daniel A. Ramaley]

You probably do remember when they put it in. Summer of 1997 students 
came back to Drake with ethernet in the dorms and brand new POP mail 
(didn't you help install the ethernet?). I think that ES40 server was 
installed at that time to replace the previous QuickMail that employees 
used and the console-based PMDF mail that students had on acad.drake. 
So... the machine is 12 years old. It has been out of service for a bit 
more than 1 year. For 11 years it single-handedly processed all the 
mail for ~15000 POP/IMAP accounts. Now it is time for it to go. <sniff>

On 2009-09-16 at 14:07:16, Lathrop Preston wrote:
>I feel old... I think I remember when they put that box in...
>
>On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 2:01 PM, Nathan C. Smith 
<nathan.smith at ipmvs.com>wrote:
>> I feel old: hearing about a retiring AlphaServer and being surprised
>> it has USB ports.
>>
>> -Nate
>>
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: cialug-bounces at cialug.org
>> > [mailto:cialug-bounces at cialug.org] On Behalf Of Daniel A. Ramaley
>> > Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2009 1:57 PM
>> > To: Central Iowa Linux Users Group
>> > Subject: [Cialug] Free hardware
>> >
>> > We're decommissioning another server. For those familiar with
>> > Drake, it is Acad3, otherwise previously known by aliases
>> > related to e-mail: pop, mail, smtp, etc. There are 2 main
>> > components that we are giving away either separately or together:
>> >
>> > An external drive array with twenty-four 18 GB disks. Two of
>> > them are blinking, suggesting they are bad.
>> >
>> > An AlphaServer ES40. I don't know the exact specs, but i
>> > recall that it has multiple CPUs, many GB of RAM (on the
>> > order of 12 to 16 GB), and six 36 GB disks. It currently runs
>> > VMS, but should be able to run Linux or *BSD without any
>> > problem. It has floppy drive, CD drive, PS/2 ports for
>> > keyboard and mouse, USB, but no VGA. It uses an Ampex dumb
>> > terminal for basic I/O; at your option you are welcome to
>> > take the terminal. I haven't opened the machine, but suspect
>> > most PCI video cards would work if you wanted to get a
>> > monitor connected.
>> >
>> > Currently the disk array is being wiped. After that, we'll
>> > wipe the internal disks in the machine. After that, it is
>> > free for the taking.
>> > If interested, please e-mail me. Off-list to avoid clutter is
>> > fine.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dan Ramaley                            Dial Center 118, Drake University
Network Programmer/Analyst             2407 Carpenter Ave
+1 515 271-4540                        Des Moines IA 50311 USA