Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/06/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I didn't read it and I won't, but please recall my explanation of a week or two ago that my computer setup is limited by time and not money. While I am honored by what I saw as a plan to help get more disk space, the issue isn't money. But I have been working on the problem, and I have some good news for LUG and Rollei folks. No need to read on unless you are interested in the do-it-yourself ramblings of an old-time datacomm geek. (Besides the camera servers that you folks know about, I also run some Anglican church servers. I've gotten to the point where they no longer physically fit into my home office. ) When I remodeled my house in 1986 I installed two 1-inch conduits from the garage to the house, thinking that someday I would need to install computers in a room in the garage, but in the 15 years since that time, earthquakes have destroyed both conduits--I can't even get compressed air through them in either direction. So, over the past month I have trenched from the garage to the house and run a new underground conduit that is 1/2-inch PVC inside hardwall 1.25-inch conduit. The conduit-within-conduit is designed to be more earthquake-proof. About an hour ago I finished, with the help of my 13-year-old nephew, the fishing of a 60-meter Category 6 cable through the new conduit. I believe that the only members of the LUG I have met in person are Jim Brick and David Labovitz, and I haven't seen David in 20 years, but Jim probably noticed that, um, I don't have the sort of body tone that makes trenching for earthquake-proof conduit an easy task. I'm beat. As soon as I recover and have some lemonade (it is hot here) I intend to crimp some RJ45's onto the ends of this cable and run a TDR test to make sure it is working. Then I will connect it to the house ethernet and get a hub online in the garage. (A TDR is a Time Domain Reflectometer; it's an instrument that sends a pulse down a wire, waits for an echo, and analyzes the echo in great detail to learn about the characteristics of the wire). I have also just bought a Chatsworth rack ( http://www.chatsworth.com/catalog/page15.asp ) and some shelves for it ( http://www.chatsworth.com/catalog/page39.asp ) and as soon as I satisfy myself that I know what I am doing I am going to drill four holes in the concrete floor of my garage, bolt the rack to the floor, attach an earthquake brace at the top ( http://www.chatsworth.com/catalog/page167.asp ) Once all this is done I will have a room in the garage into which I can install server computers. I will then have physical room to install the larger chassis that I need to hold the larger server that will have more disks that will be able to support the LUG for a long time. In fact, I'll have so much disk space that I might even be able to offer PAW image hosting to LUG members. I am really inspired by Kyle Cassidy's determination (to say nothing of his photographic skills) and if I can't produce pictures as nice as those, perhaps the least I can do is make it easier for others of you to show off your pictures. Brian Reid