[CCTECH] Accounting for classiccmp server donations

From: Jay West <jwest_at_classiccmp.org>
Date: Thu May 23 11:28:02 2002

There were a lot of changes to the proposed hardware after the fact that
caused the price to change. These were all due to the 1U case that we got.
Once the case was in, it turned out that the case only supported a slimline
(laptop style) cdrom, not a regular size one. Also, the heatsink/fan for the
proposed 1.2ghz cpu was too tall, so we had to use a smaller fan/heatsink
which also meant changing to a slower processor. The 256mb DRAM that was
donated was too tall, so I had to trade it in for two 128mb simms that fit.
Then the supplier ran out of the motherboard that I was quoted, so we had to
use a different one there.

Loosely translated, 1U cases are a royal pain (I also had to take a dremel
tool to the eject button on the floppy drive that someone donated to get it
to stick through the hole on the front of the case). In any event, here is a
complete accounting of who donated what, and what the exact costs were.

Donations (Hardware):
Pat 1.44mb floppy drive
James Rice 256mb DRAM
Jay West 4gb IDE hard drive
Jay West 20gb IDE hard drive

Note - Chad Fernandez was kind enough to donate a 32X cdrom, however, I had
to return it because of the 1U case issue above

Donations (Cash):
Stan Sieler $25.00
Paul Williams $30.00 (-1.47 paypal fee)
Bill Richman $50.00
David Mcguire $10.00 (-0.59 paypal fee)
Nick Oliviero $10.00 (-0.59 paypal fee)
Jon Engdahl $10.00 (-0.59 paypal fee)
Peter Turnbull $10.00 (-0.69 paypal fee)
Henk Gooijen $8.40 (-0.63 paypal fee)
Rich Beaudry $50.00 (-1.75 paypal fee)

Totals gross donations $203.40 less paypal fees (-$6.31) = net donations of
$197.09 cash

Hardware costs:
1U rackmount case w/slide rails $172.00
Mitsumi 24x slimline CDROM $50.00
Asus TUSI-M motherboard $66.00
(2) 128mb PC133 DIMM $72.00
Intel P3/667 cpu $110.00
Tradein for one 256mb DIMM $-72.00

Total hardware cost $398.00 less donations above (-$197.09) = balance
covered by Jay West $200.91cash

First, I want to GREATLY thank all those who donated hardware and cash. As
you can see, every little bit truely helped. I am at a loss to explain why
paypal charged different fees for some of the $10.00 donations. I do know
that the first few donations came in when my paypal account was a regular
account, and part way through receiving donations I upgraded it to a
"premier" account (at no cost). I did this so people could donate via credit
card as opposed to bank draws; perhaps that explains the differing amounts
due to some difference in account type charges.

If anyone wishes, I would be happy to provide scanned copies of my paypal
account history and the invoice from my vendor to substantiate the above
numbers.

I took some nice pictures of the fully assembled system, they are still in
my digital camera awaiting download. I need to go down to the datacenter and
take some pictures of the unit with it installed in a rack. Once I get those
too, I will post all the pictures on the web for those curious.

System specifics: Asus motherboard, 256mb ram, 4gb ide drive for the FreeBSD
v4.5 release operating system, 20gb drive for archives and webspace, 10/100
ethernet and video built into the motherboard, Pentium III cpu _at_ 667mhz,
1.44mb floppy & 24x cdrom. Packages installed - analog/reportmagic
webstatistics reporting, apache 2.0 webserver, bison1.3 parser generator,
cygnus gnats 3.113 bug reporting system (with wwwgnats for web based bug
submission), mailman 2.0.10 mailing list server, and python 2.2 language.
There's also a bunch of dependency packages (gd, gettext, jpeg, a bunch of
p5 stuff, etc.). I'm quite impressed with the case - it has a huge fan that
isn't a muffin style, it's more like a heater blower (enclosed turbo
housing) and it really pushes some serious airflow. The drive bays are easy
snap out the front (but not hot swappable). The top of the case slides off
by just pressing two buttons on top, no screws. Other than the installation
clearance problems, the case is a dream to work on. And yes, the front panel
has "cool factor" (read: blinkenlights).

Environment: The system sits inside one of the racks in our datacenter. The
datacenter building sits on two separate city power grids, so we're covered
if one grid goes down. The building is fed by five diesel generators
providing 7.5 megawatts (typically enough fuel for 3 days of continuous
power) and there is an external hookup to bring another generator in on a
tractor trailer flatbed if need be. Our room has it's own 30 minute online
UPS, mainly to carry through the 2 minute specification for the time it
takes the outside generators to come up to speed with clean power. All of
our gear (including the classiccmp server) is powered via APC
masterswitch's, so we can power on and off any device via any webbrowser
from anywhere. The room is fully protected with FM-200 fire supression,
biometric access controls, remote video survellience, etc. The classiccmp
server ethernet port runs 100mb ethernet to our managed switch, and from
there hits the outside world via a Cisco 7206VXR router. Our bandwidth
provider is in the next room to us, so that connection is a direct gigabit
cable. In addition, all the major backbone providers are in the same
building, so in the event of a serious connectivity issue, we can
immediately run a cable to anyone we choose (sprint, MCI, ATT, XO, Quest,
SWB, etc.). Needless to say, the classiccmp server is in a great environment
and well connected. And again I'll reiterate for those new to the list - I
would be happy to host any classic computer related website, ftp site,
mailinglist, etc. at no charge.

My sincere thanks again to those who donated!!!!

Regards,

Jay West













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Received on Thu May 23 2002 - 11:28:02 BST

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