[rescue] best rackmount Sun (used) for $1k

[Patrick Finnegan]

On Wednesday 02 August 2006 02:21, Bill Bradford wrote:
> On Wed, Aug 02, 2006 at 12:51:18AM -0400, Patrick Finnegan wrote:
> > Sending to NY, about $500-600 if it's going to a residence (per rack).
> > Subtract $100-150 if it's going to a business with a loading dock, or you
> > can pick up from a shipping terminal.
>
> Is it possible to turn one of the nodes into a working system without
> spending too much?
>
> Anybody wanna trade me a halfway-decent AIX box for a D1K full of 9G
> disks and the PCI controller card to go with it? 8-)

The main problem you need to overcome is that the system need a reasonably 
high-current 48VDC supply.  I'm not exactly sure how much current, but I know 
it shouldn't be more than 56A peak per node (and is probably much less).

You can almost certainly reduce the power requirements a lot by removing one 
(or more) of the 4 quad-processor CPU modules.

The first serial port is tied into a serial console "loop" which is basically 
a sync. serial line which connects all the machines in one frame to the power 
supply in the frame, which has a card that converts the sync. serial into an 
RS-232 async serial port that goes to the "control workstation".  The service 
processor also gets a +12VSB feed from that port (which you'll need to 
replicate, but it's low current, so that shouldn't be too difficult).

You *should* be able to use one of the other two serial ports on the machine 
(which are set up as DE-9 connectors) as a console port - it works with the 
service processor, and Linux, but I've not tried it with AIX.  However, it 
*might* work.  If I get some free time today (not sure how, but... maybe), 
I'll try doing an AIX install on one using an "alternate" console port.

Also, the machine is designed for a 24" rack-mount chassis, though it 
shouldn't be too unreasonable to stick it on a shelf on its side in a 
(reasonably deep) 19" rack, though it will make it harder to service... or 
you could just stick it on top of a short rack. :)

Pat
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