[rescue] Re: DG Aviion 3600R rack, AS4100

[Gavin Hubbard]

>> In one of my wanderings this week, I ran across a Data General Aviion
>> rack. It looked like it had two servers and a disk array in the bottom.
>>
>> My back reminded me that I'm not the slightest bit tempted to bid on 
>> it,
>> 2nd floor apartment and all, but it sure did look nifty. Each unit had 
>> a
>> DLT drive (i think they were 20/40 drives even) and it looked fairly
>> clean.

There are several companies out there who will buy used DLT drives for refurbishment. It can be a nice way of underwriting the purchase of the rest of the hardware :-)

>> Now the Alphaserver 4100 with three storageworks arrays and a tape
>> drive... that my mind overpowered my back on. But I probably will let 
>> it
>> go. What's a "B3052" in DEC terms, and is it worth noting if there's a
>> "B3052 Installed" sticker on it? It's looking like it's an updated PCI
>> backplane/motherboard? Or a 3.3 volt "saddle" ?
>
>   B3052 is a later-model PCI/EISA motherboard.
>
>   Umm, if you have a chance to get that machine, you should.  The 
>AS4100 is one of the nicest machines from any vendor that I've ever 
>used.  Properly configured, they're damn near impossible to slow down.  
>I once had occasion to play with an AS4100 with four 600MHz EV5 CPUs 
>with 8MB of cache each.  My God but that machine was fast!

I agree with Dave. The AS4100 is a really good platform and they are plummeting in value now that the ES40 platform (which effectively replaced it) is becoming so easy to find on the ex-lease market. They other thing to remember is that companies are moving off AS systems en masse and many are dumping their AS infrastructure.

Incidentally, if the Storageworks arrays have 18GB and 36GB disks in them you should be able to get some really good $$ for them (they were the largest sizes produced in that format and still worth quite a bit on the used equipment market).

Regards,

Gavin