I don't think a "physical" phone line is likely to be practical at this point (due to the extra cost), though I'll admit it would have other advantages. (You can't use the VOIP phone at the space to tell Colin that internet access is out, for example.)
But would it be possible to "relay" a signal received over the internet connection to the RS232 port to trigger a soft shutdown remotely? I know this wouldn't always work, and probably requires some sort of home-brew connection, but it'd be better than nothing, right? On Wed, Aug 29, 2012 at 10:20 AM, Mark Jenkins <[email protected]> wrote: > > $400. > > That means we'll be fundraising for that first before fundraising for the > next generation $2,500 system which would have IPMI stuff included. > > Can you get these things with serial console support as well or would we > still need a separate emmbeded solution for that? > > > But it would indeed be cool to have one this generation server over the > DIY approach, and I could support trying raise money for that before moving > on to the next big thing. > > But perhaps others might not be enthused to give us $400.. some points on > where this may not seem worthwhile enough: > > > > The features we will not be able to do with a DIY solution: >> - "safe" power on-off (press the power button and wait for shutdown, >> rather than hard power off >> > > Host OS has to still be functioning enough to respond to a soft power off. > I don't think it will be too often that we lose the serial console but the > host OS remains otherwise fine enough to perform a soft shutdown. We can > come on in for those situations. > > > - external modem connection (we could hook up a 56k dialup server to use >> this server as an access point to dial in and troubleshoot ISP or router >> issues) >> > > I don't think folks will be stocked about adding a another $25/month > ongoing cost (phone line) at this point. (see next post) > > And we're probably going to have a second internet connection sooner > rather than later. > > The general point here is that if things get really bad someone can just > come on in, it's not like we're colocating in another city. > > Worst case downtime before action is that things go down sometime just > before folks go to bed and nobody can get in until after work the next day. > (~16 hours). I don't think the frequency of that kind of outage weighted > against the level of importance of the things being hosted is such to > motivate folks to want to pour $400 into this. (but as I say, I'm all for > it if it does come to pass) > > Best case downtime before action is during most weekdays in business hours > where I'm a five minute walk away -- my employer let's me run off for that > kind of thing. > > > > - Virtual Media --- LOCAL virtual media (we can proably find a way to do >> virtual-media-over-ip, but this could be horrendously slow; It'd be much >> better to FTP ISO images to the USB key in this card, then run the boot >> sequence from there). >> > > This is for reloading the host OS or trying to solve a problem with with > booting the host OS via live media -- again I think if things get that bad > someone can come on in. > > But would indeed be great to have -- the only way to rig up something > similar via a silly DIY approach would be to have a USB key (already > preloaded with rescue system) on a USB hub, and to keep that power to that > hub off (remote power) until you need to do a reboot with the USB key > enabled. > > Okay, yuck, you're right on this, forget gurilla IPMI.... > > > > ______________________________**_________________ > SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List > Help: > http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/**index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss<http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss> > Archive: > https://groups.google.com/**group/skullspace-discuss-**archive/<https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/> >
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