Potentially many rack-mounted servers
Dave Durant
I know HS has a group that refurbs rackmounts and sells them on to
bring in some money. Can someone point me to a contact ASAP as my
company is about to get rid up anything up to 200 servers in the next
2-3 weeks. I doubt there's space at HS so if anyone knows a place
these could be stored while their being processed that'd be great.
Does HS have charitable status yet because that would really make
things easier.
Sam Cook
I know HS has a group that refurbs rackmounts and sells them on to
bring in some money.
[snip] anything up to 200 servers in the next 2-3 weeks.
I doubt there's space at HS
so if anyone knows a place these could be stored while their being processed that'd be great.
Does HS have charitable status yet because that would really make
things easier.
Robert Leverington
Personally, I would be hesitant for us to take on any more servers at
this point (I don't know what Jasper and Martin think about this).
While selling servers is great for fundraising, 200 servers could
potentially net us �20,000, the effort required is also very large. I
would estimate that each server takes about 3 man-hours to process.
With only three of us working on this "full-time" it has taken us 6
months to do two-thirds of the servers we recieved. Admittedly there
was the added complication of dban-ing the hard disks, but this was
completed within the first week of getting the servers.
I am not really motivated to auction off any more servers beyond the few
we have left from Last.fm unless 4-5 more people got involved in the
project and are willing to dedicate a decent amount of time to it. I
think that, realistically, in order to process and sell 100+ servers
within a reasonable timeframe (1 or 2 months) we would need at least
10 people actively working on the project.
Robert
Philippe Bradley
Sam Cook
Personally, I would be hesitant for us to take on any more servers at
this point (I don't know what Jasper and Martin think about this).
While selling servers is great for fundraising, 200 servers could
potentially net us £20,000, the effort required is also very large. I
would estimate that each server takes about 3 man-hours to process.
With only three of us working on this "full-time" it has taken us 6
months to do two-thirds of the servers we recieved. Admittedly there
was the added complication of dban-ing the hard disks, but this was
completed within the first week of getting the servers.
I am not really motivated to auction off any more servers beyond the few
we have left from Last.fm unless 4-5 more people got involved in the
project and are willing to dedicate a decent amount of time to it. I
think that, realistically, in order to process and sell 100+ servers
within a reasonable timeframe (1 or 2 months) we would need at least
10 people actively working on the project.
Russ Garrett
> Does HS have charitable status yet because that would really make
> things easier.
In the best case, gift aid should be back-datable to a point starting
mid-to-late next month, but this is by no means guaranteed.
--
Russ Garrett
ru...@garrett.co.uk
Tim Storey
t
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux)
iEYEARECAAYFAk3uP6MACgkQmUrfmTU1ohUN9ACdFZTjWiPYWNZVocj6nxKBo/B7
N+EAoKEnS3OwR3XgiCn8zNwKgqG+kX44
=YeRk
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
Rufus Cable
Robert Leverington
> > months to do two-thirds of the servers we recieved. Admittedly there
> > was the added complication of dban-ing the hard disks, but this was
> > completed within the first week of getting the servers.
> >
>
> How much prep does each server need? testing and cataloging I guess?
1. Generating the hardware information data (now automated, probably can be considered testing it)
2. Adding to the data table (usually involves opening it up to check the RAID card and cables)
3. Photographing
The auction listing description is automatically generated from the
data table now, so listing is just a case of waiting 10 minutes for
the pictures to upload.
Then once that's done any packaging needs to be ordered (we do this
JiT at the moment) then shipping arranged.
> > I am not really motivated to auction off any more servers beyond the few
> > we have left from Last.fm unless 4-5 more people got involved in the
> > project and are willing to dedicate a decent amount of time to it. I
> > think that, realistically, in order to process and sell 100+ servers
> > within a reasonable timeframe (1 or 2 months) we would need at least
> > 10 people actively working on the project.
> >
>
> How many more do you think would be needed to actually sell them and how
> long would that likely take do you think?
One person can probably catalog about 2 servers an hour (if there are no
problems encountered). The rest of the process (photographing, auctions,
and shipping) gets progressively more efficient as the number of servers
being sold at once increases.
So I would estimate that 5-10 people volunteering for 2-5 hours a week
could potentially get 40-50 done in a week. Though I feel this is
potentially a gross overestimate.
The main concern about having 200 servers in the space is that it will
take up an extremely large amount of room (for reference, 60 Last.fm
servers occupied approximatley four columns of servers... so 200 would
be at least 13 columns).
There does seem to be a lot of interest in this though, which is really
cool.
I'm personally not going to be able to put a lot of physical time in to
this for 2 weeks due to exams.
Dave, how long do we have to take this offer up from you?
Robert
Billy
Thank you, Dave, for giving us this opportunity.
I've not done this sort of thing, but i'd be happy to help, if someone
shows me what to do.
If it's basically automatable, then it's possible to set it up as a
standard job, that any member could do, same as the dishwasher, the
tidying, and the bins.
The edge cases will need documenting, for the machines that don't
fully work.
Storage will be an issue, but if it will help cover the shortfall in
the rent/rates, then it's worth doing.
I've got a garage's worth of storage space available, so if people are
willing to help move them, then most of the storage is sorted.
Next thing to do, is to get an idea of the machine specs, and check
the current prices for that spec. Then we'll know whether it's worth
the effort.
Martin Dittus
On 7 Jun 2011, at 16:44, Robert Leverington wrote:
> On 2011-06-07, Sam Cook wrote:
>> How much prep does each server need? testing and cataloging I guess?
>
> 1. Generating the hardware information data (now automated, probably can be considered testing it)
> 2. Adding to the data table (usually involves opening it up to check the RAID card and cables)
> 3. Photographing
Much time was also spent on setting up automation systems and debugging broken hardware; dealing with potential buyers during the auction, packing, shipping, post-sale stuff (just got an email by someone whose server arrived badly damaged; there's loads of scope for things to take more time than expected.)
This was exacerbated by the highly heterogenous hardware selection; a more uniform hardware pile would simplify things substantially.
My perspective: as I'm getting more and more busy with other things I've less time to spend on this. I would still be available to help out even after the Last.fm pile is gone, but can't help to manage things in quite the same way as before. If however someone volunteers to coordinate the process I'd be happy to help out.
m.
Jasper Wallace
>
> I know HS has a group that refurbs rackmounts and sells them on to
> bring in some money. Can someone point me to a contact ASAP as my
> company is about to get rid up anything up to 200 servers in the next
> 2-3 weeks. I doubt there's space at HS so if anyone knows a place
> these could be stored while their being processed that'd be great.
We don't have large amounts of space, so 200 machines would be too much,
idealy we'd take:
10-20 machines, all with: sata, as new as possible, less than 5
years old, with mounting rails, known to run, and all with the
same hardware (or half with one spec and half with another), we don't want
a large mix of machines.
additionally if they support amd-V or the inetl hardware virtualisation
stuff that would be nice too, cos thats what some people have been asking
for.
> Does HS have charitable status yet because that would really make
> things easier.
see russs's reply later in the thread.
--
[http://pointless.net/] [0x2ECA0975]
Jasper Wallace
> On 2011-06-07, Sam Cook wrote:
> > > With only three of us working on this "full-time" it has taken us 6
> > > months to do two-thirds of the servers we recieved. Admittedly there
> > > was the added complication of dban-ing the hard disks, but this was
> > > completed within the first week of getting the servers.
> > >
> >
> > How much prep does each server need? testing and cataloging I guess?
>
> 1. Generating the hardware information data (now automated, probably can be considered testing it)
We've had problems with - e.g. tyan 2882 and 2882-D mobo's using the same
dmibios identifiers
> 2. Adding to the data table (usually involves opening it up to check the RAID card and cables)
If we're going to carry on doing servers we need to stop using the wiki
and start on a decent asset tracking system, my scripts for sorting and
searching the listings rely on being able to parse the wiki and the wiki
changes too much to keep up[1], rolling our own app or using something off
the shelf would help.
[1] wiki's in general seem to suck for doing anything even slightly
structured with them.
--
[http://pointless.net/] [0x2ECA0975]
cepm...@yahoo.co.uk
and knock them out at a lower price? As for the hard drives, we have a
large quantity in stock ready wiped and checked so could just do a swap
and deal with the new ones at a later time....
I also could make space available in one of my lockups, four or five
servers wide and as high as they can be stacked safely, perhaps more if
required. ( It will encourage me to throw out some of the useless old toot
that is in there now) :-) and I would be willing to put some time into the
sorting effort.
Phil
Dave Durant
Right - I should have supplied more information to start with so here
goes.
We have ~300 servers going in total. I will have a breakdown of
roughly what they are by the end of the week. They are being offered
to anyone here for personal use or to go to charity / school
connections employees have. I expect ~200 to be left after that. Any
that are given away will be scrapped via a company that gives 50% of
their value back to us to give to charity.
Getting the severs in the first place may prove a small challenge if
HS is not yet an officially registered charity but I can say we're in
the process of applying (that's correct, isn't it?).
As I've said before if some kind person like Phil is offering storage
space it become a question of persuading Nokia that they are going to
a good home. It would be really useful if someone like Sam, Jonty or
equivalent could pop in for a chat to explain HS to people here.
I'll be in touch when the list of servers is made available and we can
discuss what / how many would be ideally sensible. Is it worth
creating another list just to cover the folks working on this or
should we leave it on the main list?
Jasper Wallace
>
>
> I'll be in touch when the list of servers is made available and we can
> discuss what / how many would be ideally sensible. Is it worth
> creating another list just to cover the folks working on this or
> should we leave it on the main list?
Keep it on the main list please.
--
[http://pointless.net/] [0x2ECA0975]
Dave Durant
Hi,
Okay - some more concrete information coming through.
My work is likely to allocate 50 blade servers - 25 G4s and 25 G4Ps to
Hackspace.
If (cepm...@yahoo.co.uk) has space to store these while volunteers
make them fit for purpose to sell then that would be great.
Let me know about collection, how we're going to track the status of
them and, most importantly, if anyone wants to step up coordinating
refurbing and selling them.
Dave Durant
Robert Leverington
>
> Hi,
>
> Okay - some more concrete information coming through.
>
> My work is likely to allocate 50 blade servers - 25 G4s and 25 G4Ps to
> Hackspace.
Thanks for this.
A few thoughts:
Blade servers are a lot smaller than rack-mounts, I think this is
something we could make room for quite easily once the remaining Last.fm
servers are sold. (I'll be working on this next week now my exams are
almost over, so this should be very soon.)
Are these likely to be of a similar specification? Presumably they are
as they are blades, it should be a lot quicker to sell these then -
which would make it easier to justify keeping them in the space.
How useful are blade servers without an appropriate enclosure? Or are
these fairly standard?
How soon do we need to collect these if we take this offer up?
Cheers,
Robert
Martin Dittus
Unless there's an identifiable team of people who take responsibility for the pile I advise against accepting it.
m.
Dave Durant
Damn, sorry - slip of the keyboard. Is still rackmounts - I had blades
on the brain from something else at work.
Nicholas FitzRoy-Dale
On 23/06/2011, at 2:42 PM, Martin Dittus wrote:
> Also, before you assume it's safe to go ahead: The lab extractor story has shown that it's always easy to bring stuff, and everyone's easily excited about it; but once it's there it's much harder to find people who actually do the work and don't need to get nagged about it. We now have a massive lab bench that nobody has any use for, and nobody feels responsible for taking it away.
To be fair, people might still be excited about it if it actually had turned out to *be* a lab extractor bench. :)
Nicholas
Martin Klang
What about looking for another way of selling these servers, maybe through trade channels / auctions rather than eBay?
Or we could look for the type of companies that buy from trade auctions and solicit offers.
Selling them one by one on eBay seems, judging from the lastFM lot, to be a bit labour intensive.
Dave mentioned they're G4's, does that mean HP ProLiant? What type/size? Considering that 4u*50 > 1u*50.
/m
Adrian Godwin
all the work that was put in, but you could sell them much more
generically as '20 available' or whatever.
-adrian
Martin Dittus
Exactly my point. We are in agreement. The point is: who will take care of it once it turns out that it's _not_ as easy to sell as it was to accept the gift?
Thanks Adrian, Martin and others for the excellent ideas; but frankly we don't have a shortage of ideas. At the moment we have a shortage of volunteers for this project.
m.
Cepmender
As indicated previously, I am happy to store these and feed them into the system as required, so relieving the inconvenience of tripping over them and pressure to work on them quickly. The existing batch of servers have been a great boost to the HS economy and if these ones can improve our finances further then let`s have them. The team that are dealing with the LastFM stuff have earned a rest, if we have this lot are there any others willing to take a bit of the load? I can put some time into things like wiping/testing HDD, basic functional testing etc. but know sod all about the more detailed stuff. Phil |
asc
Could you supply specific details of the servers please, searching for
"G4s and 25 G4Ps" it is coming up with some vague stuff especially
since you specifically said these were blade servers rather than rack
mount 1u/Xu servers. Are you perhaps meaning rackmount 2u HP
DL380g4's ?
With blades (if Dave really does mean blade) I am not too sure if we
would be able to easily sell them. The reason being is that they
aren't useful without the blade chassis for two reasons:
1) Without the chassis you can't do anything - even powering them up
uses a proprietory connector. The only ports they present are nic's -
no vga, no power port, nothing else.
2) if a company has a chassis (not cheap) they can afford to buy new
blades. the reason a company would want new blades over old ones is
warranteed support which enhances the service they are presenting.
Blade infrastructure often goes hand in hand with virtualisation to
offer a highly resilient service at high density. Non warranteed
blade would somewhat compromise this ideal. What I am saying is that
demand might be low for these blades if they are in fact blades.
-asc
Nick Boyle
Jim MacArthur
Dave Ingram
> since you specifically said these were blade servers rather than rack
> mount 1u/Xu servers. Are you perhaps meaning rackmount 2u HP
> DL380g4's ?
>
> Damn, sorry - slip of the keyboard. Is still rackmounts - I had blades
> on the brain from something else at work.
So yeah... rackmounts :-)
Martin Dittus
I'm not saying "let's not do this", far from that. I'm just saying I strongly believe that a project of this nature requires someone to step forward and say "I'll take this on as a project." Not to do all the work, but to make sure that the work gets done; someone who coordinates volunteers.
I posit that as an informal affair with vague group ownership it has a very slim chance of actually happening.
m.
asc
> Really? We have 300 people. I'd most likely be happy to nip up at lunch
> every day, plug a different machine in and press a button. With all the
> great minds, am sure we could put together some sort of automated system, or
> something that would allow us to work remotely. This is a very kind offer
> and judging by the recent posts r.e. finance, not something we should give
> up lightly.
>
of on going commitment.
The offer and resultant money is greatly appreciated, but what we are
discussing is whether we have the resources to cope with the work
needed.
I think what we need to know first is the quality of the servers.
From that we would get an idea of the money earned and then weigh that
up against the work required.
I noticed you used the tentative words "most likely" :)
-asc
Billy
I'll help.
I have a pile of other projects that i'm chewing my way through, but
i'll help if someone else volunteers to organise it.
Besides, i've not had the chance to pull a Blade computer apart
yet... :D
Billy
Forgot to say, i've got storage space, about 1 garage's worth, so the
more important question is ,
What's the time limit?
When do you need a 'yes or no' by?
Mark Steward
I'll try and get more information on exactly what these are today.
Previously it was stated that we wanted to move these out "by the end
of the month" but I suspect there will be a little leeway. If someone
has a place where we can store these rather than at Hackspace can we
start discussing which days they are free and whether we need to hire
a van (or if anyone has one we can use), etc.
Lastly it would be really great if someone from the 'space (Jonty /
Tom?) could draft a quick thanks email to the folks at my place that
are handing these over.
Cheers.
Dave Durant
I'll try and get more information on exactly what these are today.
has a place where we can store these rather than at Hackspace can we
start discussing which days they are free and whether we need to hire
a van (or if anyone has one we can use), etc.
Lastly it would be really great if someone from the 'space (Jonty /
Tom?) could draft a quick thanks email to the folks at my place that
are handing these over.
Cheers.
On Jun 24, 12:47 pm, Billy <bi...@billycomputersmith.com> wrote:
Philippe Bradley
Martin Dittus
Yes I've seen the offers for help, we would still need someone to take on the responsibility of managing the server auction though.
Dave Durant
Okay, this is the situation - the servers are there for the taking,
but only at these times:
* Tuesday 5th 10:00 – 12:00 and 14:00-15:00
* Wednesday 6h – 10:00-12:00 and 14:00-15:00
While kind people have offered to store them we still have the
following issues in decreasing order of priority:
1) We still DO NOT have anyone that has volunteered to be in change of
either the REFURB or the SELLING process - without someone(s) stepping
up to run these it's pretty much IMPOSSIBLE to proceed
2) We need a method to move 50 rack-mount servers from SE1 to wherever
they're going to be store during the one of the periods above - I'm
happy to lug things but we need a van, driver and coordination with
the owner of the storage. If 50 servers won't fit in one van may
require multiple trips.
3) Getting the servers from storage to the space, coordinating the
volunteers to do the refurbing, eBaying, organising shipping /
collection, etc, etc.
From my PoV I'm keen to supply these and help out with the refurbing
but I don't have time to be in charge of the process - we need another
volunteer.
Martin Klang
Any word on what they are? Proliants?
2) I can take care of transport, got a small van and can do 2-3 trips as necessary.
Will need 1 volunteer to come with, another 1-2 people at destination to help haul them in would be good too.
/m
Billy
Martin, I'll come carry stuff. Shout me to arrange the practical
details.
Philippe Bradley
Dave Durant
I can help lug stuff too. However, I really need to know which of
those slots we're going to be using to do this.
Also, as I said earlier, if someone could write a nice note to Nokia
saying thanks for all the kit on behalf of HS it would make it more
likely we might get more stuff in the future (which is entirely
possible in 2012).
Martin Klang
WHAT KIND OF SERVER ARE THEY?
apologies for shouting.
Tuesday 5th 2-3pm works for me. What's the exact location?
/m
Dave Durant
Will copy you on email to current owners off-list.
Located at SE1 8HP.
If can confirm we have enough people to lug stuff both ends that date
sounds good.
Martin Dittus
We still don't have ANYONE who stepped forward to run this project.
To repeat Mark's last email: "I don't know how many times this needs to be said, but we *still* don't have someone who's take responsibility for organising them."
And insert a couple of swear words for measure.
If the servers end up at the space without consensus that we can take care of them (which atm we don't have) then they remain in your property, and become your problem.
http://wiki.hackspace.org.uk/wiki/Guides/Bringing_items_to_the_space#Donations_to_the_space
m.
Russ Garrett
> No. Don't proceed.
>
> We still don't have ANYONE who stepped forward to run this project.
Let me just echo what Martin said. As much as these could be
beneficial to our finances, the last thing we need is 50 servers
cluttering up the place for the next eight months.
This can't proceed unless someone (ideally more than one person)
volunteers to supervise it.
--
Russ Garrett
ru...@garrett.co.uk
Martin Klang
They appear to be HP Proliant DL360 1U machines. If they are G3 and G4 then they're probably single or dual Xeon CPU's around 3GHz.
Good, solid machines and a bit of an industry standard, but after a quick glance at ebay we probably shouldn't expect much more than £30-60 each.
We still need a volunteer to take responsibility for selling these off.
If no-one else steps up I will take this on. (Gaah! what am I doing!!!)
/m
On 29 Jun 2011, at 13:49, Dave Durant wrote:
Dave Durant
My understanding was that these are /not/ going to be stored at the
space - where there is absolutely not enough room for 50 servers. Off
site storage is arranged but /does/ leave the problem of moving them
about when the need to be worked on.
We need a coordinator to arrange:
* Storage
* Moving them around
* Refurbs
* Selling on
Martin - if you are happy doing that then that's superb but it's
potentially a *big* job and while I (and other folks) are happy to
chip in with some time it's going to *remain* a big job for some time.
Need a final nod one way or the other ASAP as they are due to be moved
out of my work (in storage, /not/ Hackspace) next week.
asc
It is vitally important that you answer the below questions, by
frustratingly refusing to answer them you are making it very hard for
anyone to step forward and manage this project.
1) Please give us the specs of the machines.
2) Will they come with disks?
3) What is the age of the machine?
4) Will they come with rails?
5) Are they in running condition or are they being thrown away because
they are faulty?
-asc
Martin Klang
It is vitally important that you read the whole thread...
They're HP Proliant DL360's, probably G3 and/or G4.
I understand they're avec disque, size/quantity unknown.
We may be able to get rails.
/m
Martin Klang
I can do the following:
- pick up on Tuesday (with helpers!)
- store upstairs in unit 30
- some degree of coordination
Transporting to/from storage will make it _much_ harder to sell these.
Also storing them in my workspace means I'll be motivated to get them sold off, quickly!
What do y'all think about offering some of them to members to buy at tiny / donation price?
(on the obvious condition that they're not kept in the 'space!)
/m
Jasper Wallace
> asc,
>
> It is vitally important that you read the whole thread...
Grrrr
> They're HP Proliant DL360's, probably G3 and/or G4.
I haven't seen a post from Dave unambiguously stating the type(s) of the
servers, I've seen people guessing as to what they might be, which is not
the same as actually VERIFIED FACTS.
Dave: you are cc'd on this message, PLEASE, PLEASE, TELL US the
MAKE/MANUFACTURER/MODEL OF THE SERVERS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.
AT LEAST TAKE PICTURES AND POST THE PICS.
PLEASE, PLEASE, ANSWER asc's QUESTIONS:
> 1) Please give us the specs of the machines.
> 2) Will they come with disks?
> 3) What is the age of the machine?
> 4) Will they come with rails?
> 5) Are they in running condition or are they being thrown away because
> they are faulty?
> I understand they're avec disque, size/quantity unknown.
>
> We may be able to get rails.
If we cannot get rails the servers are next to USELESS cos then they can't
be easily be rack mounted!
as i and others have said:
We need to be certain that we know what the machines are.
We need to know how many of each type (and preferably as few types as
possible).
We NEED mounting rails.
If they need other accessories (custom cables?) we need them too.
Also check for things like:
Do they have a bios password?, if they do WE NEED IT.
Do they have some kind of built in management system (iLOM?, IPMI?), if so,
and if it has a password, we WILL NEED the PASSWORD(s).
--
[http://pointless.net/] [0x2ECA0975]
Russ Garrett
> Do they have some kind of built in management system (iLOM?, IPMI?), if so,
> and if it has a password, we WILL NEED the PASSWORD(s).
It's trivial to reset the password on (I believe) all flavours of HP
iLO as long as you have physical machine access.
--
Russ Garrett
ru...@garrett.co.uk
Katie Sutton
> MAKE/MANUFACTURER/MODEL OF THE SERVERS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.
Just spoken to David and prodded him to look at the list so you'll
hopefully get some kind of answer tonight...
--
Katie Sutton
http://tajasel.org
"The ‘Net is a waste of time, and that’s exactly what’s right about
it." ~ William Gibson
Tim Storey
I am of the opinion we should walk away from this.
That's my 2p
Mike
> On 30 June 2011 22:27, Jasper Wallace <jas...@pointless.net> wrote:
> > Do they have some kind of built in management system (iLOM?, IPMI?), if so,
> > and if it has a password, we WILL NEED the PASSWORD(s).
>
> It's trivial to reset the password on (I believe) all flavours of HP
> iLO as long as you have physical machine access.
>
With physical access to a machine, all security is null and void.
Mike.
Martin Klang
just got this from David's colleague:
> Around 10 of the G4 are 2U DL380, and I have ensured that all disk bays are full for you.
Regarding rails:
> There are no rails with them, again unless someone wants to go through a large stash of mixed rails to try and find the correct ones.
/m
Russ Garrett
> Regarding rails:
>> There are no rails with them, again unless someone wants to go through a large stash of mixed rails to try and find the correct ones.
Rails really are essential - rack servers are useless without them -
and as such I think someone does need to go through and work out which
rails are which.
--
Russ Garrett
ru...@garrett.co.uk
Martin Klang
you can get them on ebay - but they cost as much as the server!
/m
Simon Howes
Maybe we should just get all the rails and sell them instead?
*trollface*
Martin Klang
great idea and well volunteered!
/m
Sci
crops of polygons.
Martin Dittus
m.
Jasper Wallace
>
> just got this from David's colleague:
> > Around 10 of the G4 are 2U DL380, and I have ensured that all disk bays are full for you.
>
> Regarding rails:
> > There are no rails with them, again unless someone wants to go through a large stash of mixed rails to try and find the correct ones.
I'm going to be going to .ch in a week or so, but if there is some time
between now and then when i can come and help with this i'd be happy to.
(I'm assuming they are somewhere in london).
> On 30 Jun 2011, at 21:09, Martin Klang wrote:
>
> > They're HP Proliant DL360's, probably G3 and/or G4.
> >
> > I understand they're avec disque, size/quantity unknown.
> >
> > We may be able to get rails.
> >
> > /m
>
>
>
--
[http://pointless.net/] [0x2ECA0975]
Dave Durant
Hi,
Okay - I'm trying to do the space a favour here, I really don't
appreciate being shouted at (either on this list or off it) when I
don't respond for 24 hours.
That said.
It looks like Martin Klang is happy to oversee the refurb and selling
on of these. Martin, shout now if that's not the case 'cause otherwise
you're going to be in charge of this project.
"cepmender" has said that he has storage space to put them so they
won't clutter up Hackspace. Martin has a van and is happy to shuttle
them around - although it would be great to have some volunteers to
help him do that so it's not just him and me.
To try and answer some of the questions posted above:
> 1) Please give us the specs of the machines
can answer that better than I can. If you have very specific questions
please ask Martin to ask the current owner at Nokia who should be able
to respond on Monday.
> 2) Will they come with disks?
speak to ensure that we get disks in each server. Also she's throwing
in 2-3 rank-mount VDU / keyboard units for good measure.
> 3) What is the age of the machine?
> 4) Will they come with rails?
through to find the correct ones. If we can't find enough for all the
servers then we can either sell them without rails or people can
actually just *use* them without rails (yes, this is possible - if not
recommended).
> 5) Are they in running condition or are they being thrown away because they are faulty?
in limited rack-space by better kit.
Dave Durant
Martin Dittus
On 1 Jul 2011, at 17:42, Dave Durant wrote:
> Okay - I'm trying to do the space a favour here, I really don't
> appreciate being shouted at (either on this list or off it) when I
> don't respond for 24 hours.
We understand that you're trying your best to make this happen, and the work is appreciated.
From my perspective however it looked like this: several people brought up concerns regarding the feasibility of the project, and you did not address them but instead seemed happy to proceed regardless. This happened several times.
And at the moment it's happening again: three people pointed out that servers without racks are worthless. (E.g. if rails should cost as little as £10-30 a pair it would already threaten the financial viability should we want to buy them ourselves; and it might make it unattractive as an eBay purchase.)
I'm sure you can understand that the prospect of a big pile of worthless hardware makes some people nervous.
m.
Martin Dittus
servers without *mounting rails*, sorry for the confusion.
m.
Dave Durant
Hi - sorry if that was a bit of an over-the-top response. Someone
contacted me off-list last night to inform me that people were 'angry'
about this which seems a bit daft when we're all trying for the same
aim :-).
> From my perspective however it looked like this: several people brought up concerns regarding the feasibility of the project,
> and you did not address them but instead seemed happy to proceed regardless. This happened several times.
to answer people's questions. That said - this is Martin Klang's
project now, unless he quickly says otherwise, and I'm just acting as
a supplier (and helper).
> And at the moment it's happening again: three people pointed out that servers without racks are worthless.
I believe I said above that there are at least two reasons why that
might not be the case. Firstly because people could buy them and put
them in existing rack cages (supplying their own rails). Secondly
because people could (and _do_) use these kind of servers outside of a
rack.
There is a pile of rails that contain some that may fit these servers.
Martin and I can go through them and see what we can find. Other rails
may become available from my work later - _or_ we could ask members if
there are any going free that they know of that could be donated.
> I'm sure you can understand that the prospect of a big pile of worthless hardware makes some people nervous.
actually going to be _in Hackspace_. As it is the only potential
downside at the moment (if for some reason it turns out the kit is not
viable - although I truly believe it is) is my, cepmender's and Martin
Klang's wasted time lugging the kit to Martin's storage space and then
disposing of them afterwards.
Sci
work on them. So they're actually "up for grabs"/hacking then?
~ Sci
Nz
http://www.twitter.com/nzhacker
On Jun 24, 3:57 am, Martin Dittus <deks...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Exactly my point. We are in agreement. The point is: who will take care of it once it turns out that it's _not_ as easy to sell as it was to accept the gift?
>
> Thanks Adrian, Martin and others for the excellent ideas; but frankly we don't have a shortage of ideas. At the moment we have a shortage of volunteers for this project.
>
> m.
>
> On 23 Jun 2011, at 18:28, Nicholas FitzRoy-Dale wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On 23/06/2011, at 2:42 PM, Martin Dittus wrote:
>
> >> Also, before you assume it's safe to go ahead: The lab extractor story has shown that it's always easy to bring stuff, and everyone's easily excited about it; but once it's there it's much harder to find people who actually do the work and don't need to get nagged about it. We now have a massive lab bench that nobody has any use for, and nobody feels responsible for taking it away.
>
> > To be fair, people might still be excited about it if it actually had turned out to *be* a lab extractor bench. :)
>
> > Nicholas
Robert Leverington
> I thought the current pile in the space was waiting for more detailed
> work on them. So they're actually "up for grabs"/hacking then?
They're waiting for someone to find the time to identify their
specification and then sell them.
If you want to do something with them in the mean time, by all means
feel to borrow them, as long as you let someone know.
BTW, half of the ones left are broken and will probably end up being
sold as such or given away.
Robert
Jasper Wallace
> On 2011-07-02, Sci wrote:
> > I thought the current pile in the space was waiting for more detailed
> > work on them. So they're actually "up for grabs"/hacking then?
>
> They're waiting for someone to find the time to identify their
> specification and then sell them.
Well we pretty much know what they are, they just need listing on ebay and
for someone to handle sending them off etc.
> If you want to do something with them in the mean time, by all means
> feel to borrow them, as long as you let someone know.
>
> BTW, half of the ones left are broken and will probably end up being
> sold as such or given away.
The P[1-5] ones should be working and really need to be put on ebay.
--
[http://pointless.net/] [0x2ECA0975]
Lester Hawksby
Any chance of getting a 2u case (innards welcome but optional) from one of the broken ones, for a small donation to the space?
Thanks
Lester
Robert Leverington
> Any chance of getting a 2u case (innards welcome but optional) from one of
> the broken ones, for a small donation to the space?
I'll let you know tomorrow.
Robert
Lester Hawksby
Lester
Robert Leverington
There are 2 2U servers left, and their working condition is unknown.
I've put one aside for you with a Do Not Hack sticker on it.
Robert
cepm...@yahoo.co.uk
On the basis of the below, I suggest that this project is still viable.
Phil
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
I think a fair summary of the correspondence so far on this is....
1/ There -IS- a potential for income to the space from the sale of these
units.
2/ The space already has an account with ebay through which they may be
sold.
3/ There -IS- space off site for storage of same at no cost to the space.
4/ There -ARE- offers of transport.
5/ There -ARE- volunteers willing to work on the servers to maximise the
potential gain.
6/ The servers only need mounting rails if they are going to be mounted in
racks.
Volunteers so far
Preparation
Philipe Bradley "I'd help if this goes ahead."
Mike (norgie.net) "I'd be willing to help with this too."
Tim Storey "I would be willing to help with this."
Rufus Cable "I'm also willing to help."
Phil Roy (cepmender)"I would be willing to put some time into the sorting
effort."
Billy "i'd be happy to help, if someone shows me what to do."
Nick Boyle "I'd most likely be happy to nip up at lunch every day, plug a
different machine in and press a button."
David Durant "From my PoV I'm keen to supply these and help out with the
refurbing"
Martin Klang "We still need a volunteer to take responsibility for selling
these off.If no-one else steps up I will take this on. (Gaah! what am I
doing!!!)
Storage
Billy "i've got storage space, about 1 garage's worth"
Phil "About 4 servers wide by as high as can be safely stacked, possibly
more"
Martin Klang "store upstairs in unit 30"
Transport
Hackvan (cancelled....)
Martin Klang "I can take care of transport, got a small van and can do 2-3
trips as necessary. Will need 1 volunteer to come with, another 1-2 people
at destination to help haul them in would be good too.
Billy "I'll come carry stuff."
Philipe Bradley "Likewise"
Dave Durant "I can help lug stuff too."
Robert`s estimation of tasks and time required to prepare the servers for
sale.
(edited)
Preparation
1. Generating the hardware information data (now automated, probably can
be considered testing it)
2. Adding to the data table (usually involves opening it up to check the
RAID card and cables)
3. Photographing
The auction listing description is automatically generated from the
data table now, so listing is just a case of waiting 10 minutes for
the pictures to upload.
Then once that's done any packaging needs to be ordered (we do this
JiT at the moment) then shipping arranged.
One person can probably catalog about 2 servers an hour (if there are no
problems encountered). The rest of the process (photographing, auctions,
and shipping) gets progressively more efficient as the number of servers
being sold at once increases.
So I would estimate that 5-10 people volunteering for 2-5 hours a week
could potentially get 40-50 done in a week. Though I feel this is
potentially a gross overestimate.
Dave Durant
Thanks for taking the time to do that great summary Phil.
Now, ideally my work wants us to ship these out on *Tuesday*. I'm free
most of that day so if people have access to transport / storage space
then please let me know.
However, I've not got the code to the room they are in and they all
have my name on so *in theory* we could do this later in the week or
even next week if people really can't do Tuesday.
That said - I'd really rather do it when requested by Nokia if we can
as folks there are going out of their way to make this happen and I'd
like to work to their schedule if possible.
Jasper Wallace
>
> Thanks for taking the time to do that great summary Phil.
>
> Now, ideally my work wants us to ship these out on *Tuesday*. I'm free
> most of that day so if people have access to transport / storage space
> then please let me know.
I'm free all day tuesday if you want some to help with lifting and sorting
(esp rails!). I don't have transport tho.
Whereabouts in london are they?
--
[http://pointless.net/] [0x2ECA0975]
Martin Klang
I'm up for doing this tomorrow.
My little van only takes one passenger, but would be great to have another person at this end to help bring them in.
/m
Philippe Bradley
could meet you at Nokia and/or the space to help with
loading/unloading, and then sorting.
Billy
I'll be down at the hackspace later today. We can arrange the
practical details then.
What do we have lined up for storage, should we drop them over at the
storage space i've got?
On Jul 4, 10:50 am, Philippe Bradley <philbrad...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Free all day, like Jasper. Assuming this stuff is in London one of us
> could meet you at Nokia and/or the space to help with
> loading/unloading, and then sorting.
>
Billy
I'm available Tuesday to help move them.
I'll be down at the hackspace later today. I'll catch you then, and
arrange for tomorrow.
Do we have anywhere lined up to store them yet, or should they go
straight to the storage space i've got?
Dave Durant
Hmm - list appears to be playing silly buggers today.
It's at SE1 8HP. Please let me know what time person(s) with van will
be here so I can make sure it's set up in advance.
My mobile is 07554 401 695 if you need to call me on the day.
Obviously we need to agree in advance where they're going to be going
- anywhere (not too far away) that isn't Hackspace itself.
Thanks again.
Dave Durant
Located at SE1 8HP. I'll confirm things are good to go for tomorrow.
My mobile number is 07554 401 695.
Please *confirm* that we not only have a chap with a van and people to
lug stuff but also access to the storage place at the appropriate time
tomorrow. We *cannot* take these to Hackspace!
Philippe Bradley
me a time to be there, I'll get there to help with loading, then
probably race the van (by bike or public transport) to the storage
(depending on where that's going to be) to help with
unloading/sorting. At least that way I don't take up limited passenger
space in the van for people this would be less convenient for.
Martin Klang
I am van man. I drive, I store.
The machines will be kept in unit 30, one floor up from lhs.
If Dave D is meeting us at the location (did I get that right?) then I can take one more person in the van.
I'm planning to leave hackspace at around 10am, ok?
m: 07950 354214
/m
Dave Durant
Cool. See you here sometime after 10am. Please call to let me know
you're setting off (07554 401 695).
On Jul 4, 3:59 pm, Martin Klang <m...@pingdynasty.com> wrote:
> I am van man. I drive, I store.
>
> The machines will be kept in unit 30, one floor up from lhs.
>
> If Dave D is meeting us at the location (did I get that right?) then I can take one more person in the van.
>
> I'm planning to leave hackspace at around 10am, ok?
>
> m: 07950 354214
>
> /m
>
> On 4 Jul 2011, at 13:12, Philippe Bradley wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > SE1 8HP is fairly close to where I live. If whoever is van man gives
> > me a time to be there, I'll get there to help with loading, then
> > probably race the van (by bike or public transport) to the storage
> > (depending on where that's going to be) to help with
> > unloading/sorting. At least that way I don't take up limited passenger
> > space in the van for people this would be less convenient for.
>
Billy
I'll be at the space before 10am
Jasper Wallace
>
> I'll be at the space before 10am
ok, i'll go directly there, does anyone have a better address than just
the postcode? Should i just call when i get close?
--
[http://pointless.net/] [0x2ECA0975]
Dave Durant
The postcode should resolve to the actual building in gmaps but do
call me to let me know you'll be arriving.
I'll endeavour to find you a parking spot.
Dave Durant
Okay! These have all been carried away. Thanks very much to Jasper,
Billy and Martin who did most of the sorting out and heavy lifting.
Martin - let us know what the plans are for refurbing and I'll see
about coming in to help out.
Would still be nice to have an email from someone like Jonty saying
thanks for the donation...
Mark Steward
Martin Klang
On 5 Jul 2011, at 13:54, Dave Durant wrote:
> Martin - let us know what the plans are for refurbing and I'll see
> about coming in to help out.
Nice one Dave. They're all piled up in unit 30 now.
Would be good to organise an inventory session for sometime in the next few days.
Thursday PM?
Also if someone who's been involved with selling the other lot of servers could explain what the process is, that'd be awesome - anyone?
cheers,
/m
Martin Dittus
Jasper will be especially useful to talk to from a hardware and automation perspective; note that he'll be gone for a few weeks so talk to him soon. Robert has great insight into all aspects of the project, and can also introduce you to the practicalities of eBay.
m.
Jasper Wallace
> I'm planning to be at the space tonight, I'll come visit you. I assume
> Robert and Jasper will be there too. Maybe we can have a quick "scrum"?
>
> Jasper will be especially useful to talk to from a hardware and
> automation perspective; note that he'll be gone for a few weeks so talk
> to him soon. Robert has great insight into all aspects of the project,
> and can also introduce you to the practicalities of eBay.
I'll be meeting Martin Klang on thursday morning to go thorough the
netbootyboxxy process.
--
[http://pointless.net/] [0x2ECA0975]
Martin Klang
I've spoken to a couple of people at indymedia [1] and they are interested in getting one or two servers.
As this is a Worthy Cause, and we got the machines for naught, I would like to suggest that we offer them two of the 1u servers (we've got 29 of them) for a donation at their discretion.
Whattya think?
/m
Jasper Wallace
Martin Klang
Okay so if no-one objects I'm going to offer them two 1u's.
/m