I'm a thrift shop addict. My house if full of it.

Sunday, I was perusing one of my favorite Community Thrift shops'
computer department and there was this big box with DELL on it. It was
locked, but the key was attached to the back of it, so I figured, at
least, I could get into it when I got it home. It was only $5.99, so
what the hell.

I'm now the proud owner of a Dell Poweredge 2600 Server running Windows
2003 Server with DUAL Xeon 3.0Ghz processors, 6GB RAM, Six 36GB 15000
RPM hot swap disk drives, two 60A power supplies that can crank a train
and have no idea what I'm gonna use it for...(c;] $5.99

Sitting on top of it, was the Quantum Snap Server high speed Ethernet
network storage with four (mirrored I'm sure) high speed drives that
plugs neatly into a special ethernet port, I believe, in the back of the
Poweredge. I paid $1.99 to the thrift shop for it.

Dual Core desktop? You want me to slow it down?!

I think I finally own a computer that won't balk the movie when email
checks its server....(c;]

What a beautiful machine. AND IT WORKS!

Now I have to choose whether to sell it for fun and profit or load
Ubuntu or Win7 onto it and use it for a super desktop beast. Starting
current from TWO AC circuits is 24A and running current specs at 6A, but
I don't know what load 6A represents loaded up with all this RAM, two
processors and SIX hard drives. How much load is that video card?
BRING IT ON!

Sure sounds neat all those drives and fans making the Boeing 777 whines
as we're on our takeoff roll down the big runway....(c;] Winding SIX
hard drives up to 15,000 RPM has a sound all its own! Subtle it's NOT!

================================================== ====

I once was given an IBM System 32 console, high speed chain printer, all
the manuals, OS and software for a small manufacturing operation. It
came with 4 dumb terminals, massive fixed drives in the main console.
It was simply taken out of service and replaced in running condition.
We did print a box of paper in fairly record time but I never had the 3-
phase 408VAC at some god-awful current to fire off the whole system.
Noone wanted it so we used a big ramp to put it into a big dumpster when
noone was looking a couple years later after stripping some great
capacitors and souvenir parts out of it. One of its disk platters is
the clock in my office, now.

This server seems to be more useful....


--
-----
Larry

We're gonna need more bandwidth..................................

Hah! That is great. I honestly can't imagine finding such a nice server in a thrift shop and getting it for so cheap. The thrift shop owners around here are rather savvy with tech, and will utilize ebay and craigslist to sell off many things for higher prices than normally would be possible inside the shop. I would say load up Windows 7 Release Candidate ( get it off TechNet for free here: http://tinyurl.com/832nco ) and give it a whirl. That thing should be quite nice and very responsive. The only downfall I think it would have is poor video support ( so no Aero or video accelleration ). Super speedy drives, networking, and two nice fast processors will make for a hefty workstation style machine.

DataCabbitKSW wrote:
> Hah! That is great. I honestly can't imagine finding such a nice server
> in a thrift shop and getting it for so cheap.

That server was dumped in the shop by the local utility company for
electric. They've figured anybody daft enough to plug it 24/7 in would
soon be paying them back handsomely.

-or-

CIA operatives are watching. Psst, Larry!!, swept it yet for bugs?

:-)

--
Adrian C

DataCabbitKSW <kwhittington@crimson-consulting.com> wrote in
news:31a821bbd68c5be0153f3938e24b3cf0@nntp-gateway.com:

>
> Hah! That is great. I honestly can't imagine finding such a nice server
> in a thrift shop and getting it for so cheap. The thrift shop owners
> around here are rather savvy with tech, and will utilize ebay and
> craigslist to sell off many things for higher prices than normally would
> be possible inside the shop. I would say load up Windows 7 Release
> Candidate ( get it off TechNet for free here: http://tinyurl.com/832nco
> ) and give it a whirl. That thing should be quite nice and very
> responsive. The only downfall I think it would have is poor video
> support ( so no Aero or video accelleration ). Super speedy drives,
> networking, and two nice fast processors will make for a hefty
> workstation style machine.
>
>

Sure runs Ubuntu Linux like a scared rabbit....(c;]

FINALLY I own a machine that doesn't balk the movie when checking the email
servers....



--
-----
Larry

Noone will be safe until the last lawyer has been strangled by the entrails
of the last cleric.

Adrian C <email@here.invalid> wrote in news:7bncc0F2435dlU1
@mid.individual.net:

> DataCabbitKSW wrote:
>> Hah! That is great. I honestly can't imagine finding such a nice server
>> in a thrift shop and getting it for so cheap.
>
> That server was dumped in the shop by the local utility company for
> electric. They've figured anybody daft enough to plug it 24/7 in would
> soon be paying them back handsomely.
>
> -or-
>
> CIA operatives are watching. Psst, Larry!!, swept it yet for bugs?
>
>:-)
>

Wiped it CLEAN to install Ubuntu. No secrets on mine.....



--
-----
Larry

Noone will be safe until the last lawyer has been strangled by the entrails
of the last cleric.

In news:Xns9C43D07F04ED5noonehomecom@74.209.131.13,
Larry typed on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:29:45 +0000:
> DataCabbitKSW <kwhittington@crimson-consulting.com> wrote in
> news:31a821bbd68c5be0153f3938e24b3cf0@nntp-gateway.com:
>
>>
>> Hah! That is great. I honestly can't imagine finding such a nice
>> server in a thrift shop and getting it for so cheap. The thrift
>> shop owners around here are rather savvy with tech, and will utilize
>> ebay and craigslist to sell off many things for higher prices than
>> normally would be possible inside the shop. I would say load up
>> Windows 7 Release Candidate ( get it off TechNet for free here:
>> http://tinyurl.com/832nco ) and give it a whirl. That thing should
>> be quite nice and very responsive. The only downfall I think it
>> would have is poor video support ( so no Aero or video accelleration
>> ). Super speedy drives, networking, and two nice fast processors
>> will make for a hefty workstation style machine.
>
> Sure runs Ubuntu Linux like a scared rabbit....(c;]
>
> FINALLY I own a machine that doesn't balk the movie when checking the
> email servers....

I always had this ability as far back as I can remember. For example,
one machine is playing a video, one is accessing email servers, one is
converting video from one format to another, and one is doing backups.
And none of them effect the performance of the other. And this is even
possible from cheap netbooks using 10 watts each. <grin>

--
Bill
Windows XP Home SP3 (5.1.2600)
Asus EEE PC 702G8 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC