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What do do with some old 'big iron'

O

OverlordQ

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 18, 2002
Messages
155
Just got an old compy, probably doesn't qualify 'Big Iron' but it is Big and it is pretty effing heavy.

Basically the case is a old IBM PC Server 500. pic of a 500 here

Still has 6 drives, Mobo, CPU Board, SCSI Card, 2 backplanes,+ RAM, but I can't get it to boot (and can't find diddly on IBM support site).

BasicallY I'm wondering what all would be sane to do to this thing.
 
Gut her out, and build in a set of 7 or 8 Mini-ITX mobos with their own compact 12v in PSUs.

Run the whole lot off as big an AT PSU you can find. Also, use laptop HDDs of moderate capacity to keep the weight down (so you can actually move it).

Mod in a network switch, and a KVM and build yourself a cluster in a box.
 
Skraggy_UK said:
Gut her out, and build in a set of 7 or 8 Mini-ITX mobos with their own compact 12v in PSUs.

Run the whole lot off as big an AT PSU you can find. Also, use laptop HDDs of moderate capacity to keep the weight down (so you can actually move it).

Mod in a network switch, and a KVM and build yourself a cluster in a box.
Click to expand...

Heh, that's exactly what I was thinking. The thing weighs like 80 lbs as it is now so, a couple HD's wont be that much :)
 
Skraggy_UK said:
Gut her out, and build in a set of 7 or 8 Mini-ITX mobos with their own compact 12v in PSUs.

Run the whole lot off as big an AT PSU you can find. Also, use laptop HDDs of moderate capacity to keep the weight down (so you can actually move it).

Mod in a network switch, and a KVM and build yourself a cluster in a box.
Click to expand...

Leave out the KVM and run ClusterKnoppix. Once installed, it basically builds the cluster without intervention and you won't need 8 sets of KVM cables everywhere.
 
do those via mini-itx processors actually pack a punch, or is this mostly just for shits and giggles? would it outperform a 2 node a64/p4 cluster jammed into a single case, for instance?
 
fluxion said:
do those via mini-itx processors actually pack a punch, or is this mostly just for shits and giggles? would it outperform a 2 node a64/p4 cluster jammed into a single case, for instance?
Click to expand...
In terms of bang per buck the VIA ITX platform is pitiful if you want to do anything that included floating point, but that was never the goal of these systems...
 
yah, it kinda seems like that would be the case, but while the author didn't specify what exactly was tested, supposedly this 12 node itx cluster is roughly equivalent to 4 pentium 4 2.4ghz for "basic" parallel tasks, which would *almost* make an 8 node itx cluster as viable as a 2 node "traditional" setup, but with significantly less power consumption

http://mini-itx.com/projects/cluster/

seems like a fun project either way
 
To the right of the 500 looks like a PS/2 model 95. I have one of those that I put a regular ATX mobo/psu in that I'm running a Tualatin ES CPU at 1.7GHz. I still haven't gotten around to stealthing the drives, but it's definitely a project I want to finish up and post eventually.
 
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