[rescue] Re: Today's Rescue: Whee

[Gavin Hubbard]

> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11214&item=2303112348
> &rd=1
> 
> I'm gonna try and nab it this weekend.
> 
> --------------------------------------
> Andrew J. Weiss


Nice. I'm not sure if you're an expert on HP 9000 so here is some info for you based on the auction description and pictures.

The rack is an steel-sided HP E-series rack. Although it was the lower-cost option, IMO it is much nicer than the horrible plastic panels that HP shipped on their main-line racks. Unfortunately the posts in the rack use round cage nuts - not the standard square ones. Other than that, they're quite nice. They are very heavy though (cast iron base) I hope you're able to arrange your own trucking (-: On the plus side, 32U is a great size for appartment dwellers and people with low doors/ceilings.

That D-class server in the bottom is basically a mini-tower mounted in a rack. It is mounted on a rack conversion kit that has heavy-duty full-suspension positive-lock rails (very useful parts to have).

Speaking of the server, it is a dual processor 32-bit 100MHz PA7200 system. Not a speed demon, but D-class systems are very easy to upgrade if you can find a cheap donor system to supply a CPU/RAM board.

The DDS-2 drive and CD-ROM are nice to have. The CDROM is great for installing HP-UX locally while the DDS-2 is perfect for learning the (excellent) HP Ignite software.

The black box above the server is a disk array nicknamed the Jamaica box. It is a FWD hotswap array and is probably connected to the HSC bus FWD SCSI controller that was installed for the internal cage (maybe you are lucky and there are two controllers). You can crack open the drive sleds and install bigger drives if you want - some of the sleds have FWD disks inside while other have SE with a convertor board (and are much easier to upgrade).

The gold ring-binder in the space above the Jamaica box is the original HP service log.

I know you didn't ask for this information but it is a slow work day here and I'm nostalgic for all the HP 9000 gear I left in Melbourne.

Regards,

Gavin