1/14/00 12:29:36 AM
Very interesting. That would be quite a find. Unfortunetly, I don't ever see
anything that big locally. I find small items at Goodwill, but I don't have a clue
about
anything big. I don't seem to hear about surplus auctions around here, although, I
know the state has them. I have bought a few larger items via Ebay, such as my
MTI SCSI tower. It has 4 full height removable drive bays ans twin 250watt power
supplies. It weighed in at 100+ pounds, as the walls are made of twin sheets of
steel with an air gap between them :-)
Chad Fernandez
Michigan, USA
John Oram-> 1/13/00 8:18:49 PM ->
>Chad:
>
>Below is old computer trivia about "big case" boxes:
>
>Since you all enjoy looking for old hardware, keep your eyes open for
>Banyon Tower computers. They look like an AS/400 mini-computer (nearly
>waist height, about arms length deep, and about 20" wide). The boxes
>were designed by Banyon as a 24/7/365, 99.99999% reliable unit (that is
>less than 6 hours of downtime in a 365 day - 24 hour year of operation).
>I have often seen 250 to 300 users attached to a single Banyon server (a
>'486-33 with 32 MB and 10 MB Ethernet). In 1991, with all the extras,
>they sold new for about $35,000 USD.
>
>Banyon "boxes" were built in the 1985 through early-1992 era. Early
>units were '386-20 MHz with 80387 co-processor (which have less than 24
>MB RAM). The later models were '486-20 MHz to '486-33 MHz based (which
>have less than 64 MB RAM) using standard SCSI architecture. Both '386 &
>'486 could handle up to four 5 1/4" full-height SCSI drives (most of the
>latter units are 650 MB max. - a lot of the early ones were in the 190
>MB to 550 MB range). They have up to two tape drives. Some of the later
>'486's had a floppy & some even had built-in CD's.
>
>The interesting design feature that lead to their high reliability is
>they have two 5 1/2 inch fans, a 500 watt power supply with built-in 550
>VA UPS. The boxes weigh about 100 pounds with two drives and nearly 150
>lbs with all the stuff in them. [ I have been told that Compaq built
>them under the Banyon name; but I have yet to speak with a "real Banyon
>hardware repair tech" to confirm that one. ]
>
>The Banyon OS was more like UNIX than anything else. The Banyon OS also
>required a special "hardware key with serial number" to operate. Banyon
>boxes will work just dandy as a server with Linux or FreeBSD. That can
>require some imagination on how to load an up-to-date "open source" OS
>(remove the drives + controller and use another computer is one option -
>adding a CD to the SCSI chain is another).
>
>We have been able to find them because the Banyon OS is now dead. Most
>of them are being replaced by Windows NT servers.
>
>Soooooo, if you think you need a real workhorse box and speed on the
>desktop to handle "Windows 9.x/NT/2000" is not your primary issue -
>start looking for a Banyon box.
>
>John O
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