Crays, SB1105, Texas state law (was: Re: Hardest to Find Classic Computers ....)

From: Doc <doc_at_mdrconsult.com>
Date: Sun Dec 16 20:02:32 2001

On Sun, 16 Dec 2001, Tothwolf wrote:


> Which division of UT is this?

I have no idea. I heard this from some folks on the prep side at IBM,
and they didn't know. I suspect it's either the accounting/bookkeeping
deprtment, or Engineering.
>
> > If somebody with contacts there made the right moves at the right
> > time, the Crays could probably be had. Maybe for next to nothing.
>
> UT can't legally sell any old/surplus equipment via a private sale. I've
> talked to people about this in the past. There are laws that force all
> agencies that get funding from the state of Texas to sell old/surplus
> stuff via an auction only. Prior to 9/1/99, all old/surplus computer stuff
> was sold to dealers and the public via an auction.

True. But anything bigger than a full-tower PC is VERY likely to get
designated, and sold as, scrap.

> > UT sends a HUGE volume of hardware to the Texas Department of
> > Corrections, who sorts out the PC & Mac hardware & refines the rest.
>
> Since 9/1/99, UT sends anything that fits the definition "Data Processing
> Equipment" to TDC. Most divisions of UT I'm familiar with include old
> Sun/VAX/Mainframe gear in the lots they send to TDC.

 I was the LAN Op at Building 5, PRC from mid-98 thru late last year.
That's literally next door to the cantral surplus barn. I was friends
with the guy who is now the director, who was the shop foreman then. I
can tell you first-hand that the Surplus department has a lot more
control over classification than the releasing department.
 Because of the TDC regs, UT will generally do backflips to avoid
outright retiring large IT equipment.
 There is some leeway as to what is designated DCE. If the unit is
suffciently outdated and slow (OK, by THEIR standards), it's likely to
be sold as scrap at auction.
 They can also donate equipment to approved entities. The angle I'd work
would be that, to donate the stuff to a museum. The "approval process"
is a little murky.

 Based on what I've
> heard from various warehouse personnel, they generally tend to interpret
> 'Data Processing Equipment' to mean the monitor and cpu/computer. They
> don't send TDC any keyboards, mice, or cables. I always wondered what TDC
> can actually do with this many (10s of 1000s+) incomplete/gutted
> computers?

  Landfill.
 The absence of peripherals is mostly due to the fact that a wide range
of state-supported agencies, including ISD's and other UT departments,
can claim any surplus before it gets shipped to TDC. The number of
viable computers that make it through that gauntlet is more in the range
of a few hundred a year, and working keyboards, mice & monitors are
premium fodder.


> UT is required to remove all data from the machines they send TDC. Most
> warehouses wipe the drives in the PC machines (only drives with
> fat16/fat32 format), and remove and scrap any drives that don't fit that
> profile. Some warehouses simply remove all drives and scrap them.

Uh-huh. I grabbed a PowerMac for our Imaging & Photo guy once that had
been in the UT clinic. There were psych profiles, legal petitions filed
because students had sought counselling for home situations that
involved harm to minors, case records, including names & addresses, you
name it.

> Scrapping always means rendering the drive completely
useless. Some
> warehouses drill holes in the drives, and some run them thru an industrial
> chipper. Even worse, they never remove the mounting brackets from the
> drives before scrapping them.

 I saw a lot of drives with lead solder dripped into the cable
connectors. I saw a lot more that were simply left in the machines,
especially the old workstations/servers. I don't think the people
responsible could really believe that anyone might want to power up a
unit that didn't say "Pentium".


> What I would really like to know is how TDC is supposed to reuse/resell
> these machines with no keyboards, no mice, and no hds/mounting brackets?

 A whole lot of people, including the ones getting that crap, want to
know the same thing. What kills me is that they would tenderly
palletize, wrap, and ship P90s worth ~$25, and use the forklifts to
handle the 7013 RS/6000s, the old TI mainframes, and stuff. Microsoftian
evaluation all the way.

   Doc
Received on Sun Dec 16 2001 - 20:02:32 GMT