James G. Sack (jim) wrote:
Sparkplug Version III is ComingFor some time now, many of us have noticed that our kernel-panic server has been overworked. It manages not only a half-dozen mail lists, but also our public web interface including a wiki, as well as providing personal folders for website members. Resource demands have grown as the web software has gotten fancier over the last couple of updates. The server constitutes an important part of our mission of Linux promotion, advocacy, and education, but the web interface experience is judged somewhere between barely tolerable to useless because of performance. Our existing hardware ("Sparkplug II") has survived 5+ years[1], and it is thought that picking quality equipment will allow us to match that for "Sparky-III". The proposed equipment will emphasize CPU horsepower with a pair of dual-core 64-bit Xeon 5130's, then memory with 4GB of 667MHz DDR2 ECC (leaving room to expand to 8GB), and finally disk with a mirrored pair of 400GB SATA-2 w/ NCQ. All of this goes into a serious rack-optimized package -- probably an Intel Server System SR1530HCL[2]. Josh has generously volunteered to manage the acquisition through his regular commercial channels -- and assemble the works as well! The estimate totals out to about $2700. A general consensus of the steering committee (see archives[3]) is that this is an excellent expenditure to further our mission objectives. If all goes as planned, we should be able to migrate to the new system in a few weeks. We are looking forward to not only improving our present operations but to gaining resource headroom that allows us to consider adding more member benefits and possible public benefits. [1] It appears the basic system dates to Aug, 2001. A drive and software transplant occurred in Apr, 2004 for upgrade purposes (not repair). [2] http://www.intel.com/design/servers/boards/s5000vcl/index.htm [3] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-steer - - - Regards, ..jim
That looks good to me. -a -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-steer
