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to P Ness
Re: Team Helix Foldinator Donations....OK, makes sense to call it the project for now ... and we should start another thread to have a name the project contest And NY makes sense too. Thanks. |
actions · 2003-Jan-22 8:10 am · (locked) |
ScottMoOnce in a Lifetime MVM join:2000-12-15 New York, NY |
A couple of other notes from The Crunchenstein project:
I'm merely the host of Crunchie 1 (the first 12 boards) and didn't do any of the preliminary testing. I basically set them up and let 'em rip. The biggest problem I've encountered is the hard drives. They were donated and that saved us quite a bit, but many died in the first weeks of use. From October through December the 11 boards (the server uses 2 new HDs in a RAID configuartion) went through 18 hard drives (including the 11 still operating). I set one drive up and then used Norton Ghost to clone it. Then I kept cloning. For the last month or so the stack has been very stable.
Still, given that amount of work, the donated drives are the way to go. WinNT van be had for $30.00 on eBay, and will fit in any drive 400MB+. The last Crunchie purchase I did was to get 4 850MB drives for $25.00 (on eBay). Its really cost effective to use them, even if they are older. |
actions · 2003-Jan-22 9:54 am · (locked) |
Optimum1Hey Macleod, Get Offa My Ewe Premium Member join:2001-08-22 Minneapolis, MN |
Optimum1
Premium Member
2003-Jan-22 10:14 am
The dirty little secret of used hard drives is that it really take VERY little mis-handling to thoroughly eff them up. Drop one 4" to your workbench on a its corner, and you just may have sealed its death sentence. Since most OS's try to work around physical disk errors, you may not notice immediately -- but if the head has become misaligned, it could be prematurely wearing out the surface of the disk, and ticking like a time bomb. It would be MUCH better if such damage were immediately noticeable, but as luck would have it, they don't fail until you've put several hours building them into a system you intend to rely on... All that said, you are again correct --- they are still worth using, since they can be obtained so cheaply. I have been a believer in imaging software (like Ghost) for years, as a convenient safeguard against lost hours reinventing the wheel. It's just not smart to manage identical configurations any other way. They whole issue of disk reliability brings back the topic of diskless workstations --- for the cost of TWO hard drives, you can create a Linux NFS server that stores ALL the data on a RAID1 array. It's braindead easy to do with any of the current Linux distros. I recommend it wholeheartedly BOUNCE ON! |
actions · 2003-Jan-22 10:14 am · (locked) |
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Can we set these blades up as diskless Linux machines? Seems to make great sense ... fewer moving/failing components and we don't have to pay for M$ windoze licenses. Is the setup proven for folding? Is it less admin time once configured? |
actions · 2003-Jan-22 10:23 am · (locked) |
Optimum1Hey Macleod, Get Offa My Ewe Premium Member join:2001-08-22 Minneapolis, MN |
Optimum1
Premium Member
2003-Jan-22 10:38 am
For FAH, I highly recommend it --- especially now that they have optimized the cores such that Windows no longer has a significant speed advantage. The administration of the diskless systems is really, really easy. They literally run until I turn them off -- one board stayed up for over 4 months until a brown-out freaked it out. I also have mine setup so that EMIII can read all the client directories, allowing me to keep tabs on all those boards. Since I know they "just run", and I can watch their progress, their administration is zilch. Another advantage: the stripped down Linux environment they run in has almost NOTHING competing with the FAH client, ever. It truly makes the board 100% dedicated, without any additional or unnecessary processes running to distract it from its mission. It's very elegant //steps down from soapbox// |
actions · 2003-Jan-22 10:38 am · (locked) |
FKrooG2Working my way back Premium Member join:2000-09-28 Tha Zone
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FKrooG2
Premium Member
2003-Jan-22 11:06 am
I agree with Optimum1 on this...
The BOUNCE project is being created to do just this...
Diskless blades is the way to go if you ask me. An another cool effect of going diskless is you can run more that one mobo off a single power supply... |
actions · 2003-Jan-22 11:06 am · (locked) |
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to Optimum1
Well ... it sounds like we have a winner! In fact, it sounds almost too good to be true |
actions · 2003-Jan-22 11:38 am · (locked) |
MstrBlstr0 Premium Member join:2001-07-14 Corpus Christi, TX |
to FKrooG2
It has been my intention all along to setup a BOUNCE server to run the FAH blades from...
But, lest we forget GAH CLassic can not be run from BOUNCE. So, in this instance for the GAH Classic blades they will have to have a HDD and OS.
I think for now we need to focus on this and get the exact hardware that we are going to purchase...
I can not find the Biostar M7VIG Pro available yet, so I was thinking the Biostar M7VIQ.
Y'all need to decide though as I will not order a thing until this is more organized...
Optimum1, I don't see where you see three systems... I see two MOBO's, no procs RAM yes, Two PSU's but I have to wait on the one to arrive and order the other, HDD's I am still waiting on as well. |
actions · 2003-Jan-22 1:05 pm · (locked) |
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Optimum1Hey Macleod, Get Offa My Ewe Premium Member join:2001-08-22 Minneapolis, MN |
Optimum1
Premium Member
2003-Jan-22 1:10 pm
Two boards + roughly $300 is what I was figuring....all the other parts seem to be there. Correct me if I misunderstand |
actions · 2003-Jan-22 1:10 pm · (locked) |
MstrBlstr0 Premium Member join:2001-07-14 Corpus Christi, TX |
Yes, you misunderstand.... The total at the bottom is for all $$$ received or pledged... Does not mean that I have it in hand yet. This includes the donations of $$$'s to purchase the items above. If there is a $$$ amount posted by the item donated that means that it was a $$$ donation to purchase the item. Once there is a * by that persons name, then this means that I have received the donation and have it in hand.
If I am doing this wrong it would not be the first time that has happened and someone should please correct me.
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actions · 2003-Jan-22 1:29 pm · (locked) |
MstrBlstr0 |
Jeeez, don't I wish I knew a student.... » www.newegg.com/app/viewp ··· 2&DEPA=6 |
actions · 2003-Jan-22 1:41 pm · (locked) |
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to MstrBlstr0
said by MstrBlstr0:
If I am doing this wrong it would not be the first time that has happened and someone should please correct me.
You are doing a great job MB ... keep it up! |
actions · 2003-Jan-22 5:40 pm · (locked) |
FKrooG2Working my way back Premium Member join:2000-09-28 Tha Zone |
to MstrBlstr0
MB, I will test the classic version of GAH with Bounce tonight but if I am not mistaken, it does work with BOUNCE... |
actions · 2003-Jan-22 5:42 pm · (locked) |
MstrBlstr0 Premium Member join:2001-07-14 Corpus Christi, TX |
said by FKrooG2: MB, I will test the classic version of GAH with Bounce tonight but if I am not mistaken, it does work with BOUNCE...
I do not see how it could possibly work as I thought it was a Windows only version.... Unless you have Wine built in or something... I am talking the 0.99 Classic version not the GAH2 version. |
actions · 2003-Jan-22 8:02 pm · (locked) |
FKrooG2Working my way back Premium Member join:2000-09-28 Tha Zone
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FKrooG2
Premium Member
2003-Jan-22 8:32 pm
Quick question... Is this link not to the classic version of GAH? » gah.stanford.edu/clients.htmlI see a linux version there... [text was edited by author 2003-01-22 20:36:07] |
actions · 2003-Jan-22 8:32 pm · (locked) |
MstrBlstr0 Premium Member join:2001-07-14 Corpus Christi, TX
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OK, my bad then... When the heck did they do that... LOL
OK, if it works on BOUNCE let me know... COOL.... =o)
[text was edited by author 2003-01-22 21:33:44] |
actions · 2003-Jan-22 8:53 pm · (locked) |
MstrBlstr0
1 recommendation |
OK, people the boards are in.... This is what I am looking at from Newegg so far if all are in agreement... Any complaints post soon.... [text was edited by author 2003-01-23 12:01:02] |
actions · 2003-Jan-23 11:59 am · (locked) |
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This looks great to me MB. I like that you went with faster CPUs. I say, go ahead and order'em tonight |
actions · 2003-Jan-23 3:44 pm · (locked) |
Gargoyle |
to MstrBlstr0
Hey All ... don't forget the For Sale forum for some inexpensive parts that could be used in our project. Just a thought for your XMAS Foldinator shopping |
actions · 2003-Jan-23 10:52 pm · (locked) |
P NessYou'Ve Forgotten 9-11 Already Premium Member join:2001-08-29 way way out |
P Ness
Premium Member
2003-Jan-24 6:39 am
said by Gargoyle: Hey All ... don't forget the For Sale forum for some inexpensive parts that could be used in our project. Just a thought for your XMAS Foldinator shopping
you kidding...i love it over there.... :O) |
actions · 2003-Jan-24 6:39 am · (locked) |