Value of a small VAX farm

From: Geoff Roberts <geoffrob_at_stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au>
Date: Thu Mar 8 00:08:11 2001

----- Original Message -----
From: <healyzh_at_aracnet.com>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2001 12:06 PM
Subject: Re: Value of a small VAX farm


> I've got a friend that was actually trying to get a stripped 6000
working
> in his apartment, and by stripped I basically mean the cardcage and
PS! He
> works crazy hours so I've not talked to him in the last few weeks, so
am not
> sure how that project is going.

Interesting approach. Probably possible. The cabinet is about 50%
cooling fans with the main Low voltage DC switchmode PSU's at the top,
and the 300vdc supply and the AC switchbox at the left rear. It may or
may not contain a battery backup unit (UPS type thing that 'freezes'
everything in memory and stops the cpu on failure, with a 'resume' on
supply restoration. Tin box with SLAC batteries in it.
It would probably be fairly easy to distribute a stripped 6K into some
other mounting, and lose the big, heavy cabinet.

Biggest headaches would likely be
1) Cooling
It doesn't produce that much heat compared to some of the older Vaxen.
(Around 600w is typical)
 So I would think some careful planning anda couple of strategically
placed smaller fans would be adequate.
 Dust ingress into the backplane could be an issue in the longer term,
so some filtering would advisable, as done by
the main cabinet design.

2) Interlocks
This might take some time to sort, as the PSU's are interlocked to the
card cage and various other spots, which stop it
powering up if they have the front glass panels open, and /or the air
stops etc.
I have a 6000-210 dismembered, with all it's bits and pieces. It got
dropped from a forklift, still worked, even though
interestingly bent and twisted and minus doors and thing. Might have a
look and see how hard it would be.

Drives could also get interesting, though you could net boot it I guess.
Theres enough room in a 6k cab to fit a couple of RA9x's
easily, and other stuff with a bit of thought, so the guts of the
machine itself are not *that* large.
Build it in and make a working Vax feature wall? Now that's an
interesting concept. Hmmm. ;^)

Cheers

Geoff Roberts
Computer Systems Manager
Saint Mark's College
Port Pirie,
South Australia
geoffrob_at_stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au
netcafe_at_tell.net.au
ICQ: 1970476
Received on Thu Mar 08 2001 - 00:08:11 GMT