Table of Contents
Hardware Info
This is a description of the hardware being used for our servers.
Hardware
We bought 2 Compaq ProLiant 6400R systems for $650 from a member who posted them on our mailing list. Both systems are maxed out with RAM and CPU, and he threw in some spare CPUs and PSUs. We thought it was a pretty good deal for the price.
A Compac ProLiant DL580R01 was acquired November 2010 as possible BudLight replacement. Dubbed RedHook. Contains 3GB RAM, 4 CPUs, 4 HDs @36GB each.
| Serial numbers | |
|---|---|
| bud: | D008CJR3K042 |
| budlight: | D008CJR3K047 |
| redhook: | D131DYT1K002 |
It did take some work to get the servers up and running.
We tested the hot-swappable power supply units by pulling one while the system was running. Note that there are 2 plugs in the back that both need to be plugged in — 1 for each PSU.
More recently (early 2009?) another member donated a Sun Enterprise 250. This machine has 2G of RAM, 2 400 Mhz CPUs, a quad NIC, and six 36G SCSI drives. It, too, has dual PSUs. This machine is known as "bock".
Firmware Configuration (Compaqs only)
Firmware Configuration (Bud and BudLight)
To configure the RAID array and the hardware, we had to download, burn, and boot the HP SmartStart CD. SmartStart version 5.50 is required for these systems. SmartStart 7.x does NOT support these systems.
We first configured the drive array, to place 3 hard drives in the RAID 5 set, and 1 as a spare in the array. Then we created the system partition, to hold the Compaq System Configuration Utilities. We then installed the System Configuration to the partition, and the ran the System Configuration Utilities.
We set the system clock to GMT.
Firmware Configuration (RedHook)
Configuring RedHook required SmartStart version 7.1.
Configured drive array with 4 hard drives in a RAID 5 set, then applied LVM to the array.
To run the Compaq System Configuration Utilities, we inserted the CD in the CD-ROM drive and booted the system. When the system failed to boot, at the prompt "Press F1 to continue, F10 to run System Partion" (System Partition utility in Windows started but failed to run), pressing F1 resulted in successful boot from the CD.
Specs
| Bud and Budlight | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer: | Compaq (now HP) |
| Model: | ProLiant 6400R |
| CPU: | 4 x 550 MHz Pentium III |
| RAM: | 4 GB |
| HD: | 4 x 18 GB, attached to RAID controller |
| NICs: | Compaq NC3131 (2 in bud, 1 in budlight) |
| Case: | 4U rackmount (deep, probably 26") |
| PSU: | Redundant hot-swappable power supplies |
| RedHook | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer: | Compaq (now HP) |
| Model: | ProLiant DL580R01 |
| CPU: | 4 x 700 MHz Pentium III |
| RAM: | 3 GB |
| HD: | 4 x 36 GB, attached to RAID controller |
| NICs: | Intel Pro 100 (1 single, 1 dual, total 3) |
| Case: | 4U rackmount (deep, probably 26") |
| PSU: | Redundant hot-swappable power supplies |
| Bock | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer: | Sun Microsystems (soon to be Oracle) |
| Model: | Enterprise 250 |
| CPU: | 2x400 Mhz sparc v9 |
| RAM: | 2 GB |
| HD: | 6 x 36 GB |
| NICs: | Integrated hme, one qfe quad NIC |
| Case: | 6U (?) rackmount (deep, probably 26") |
| PSU: | Redundant hot-swappable power supplies |
Problems
Note that the Compaq servers will not start up without a keyboard attached.
Battery for RAID array accelerator card is bad on Bud, and probably going bad on Budlight. They need to be replaced.
On budlight, the physical drives show as negotiating as NARROW SCSI. This may be due to the bad battery.
The power supply fans on budlight would not start up when we installed the systems at Primary Networks. The BIOS POST noticed this (reported them as fans #5 and #6) and prevented the system from booting. We removed the fan module (which attaches behind the power supply) and re-seated it. The system then started fine. The fan problem has proved to be an ongoing issue.
On RedHook, battery for RAID array accelerator card was low on first startup, and is attempting to charge. Will check later to see if it gives good indication.
RedHook initial attempt to boot with Compaq System Configuration Utilities version 8.6 was unsuccessful (once we were successful at selecting the CD as boot source). Download page and ISO filename indicated 32 bit kernel, but CD refused to boot with indication it was using a 64 bit kernel. Fixed problem by downloading SmartStart v7.1 disk (see above for URL).
