DIY_EFI Digest Saturday, November 13 1999 Volume 04 : Number 640 In this issue: Re: Mail server stuff and wide band O2 Re: DIY_EFI Digest V4 #639 '870 > '165 conversion no-start and server issues [admin] was Re: My two Cents server requirements See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the DIY_EFI or DIY_EFI-Digest mailing lists. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 13:14:30 -0800 (PST) From: Orin Eman Subject: Re: Mail server stuff and wide band O2 > > > > I've got a Sun server up 24/7 via ADSL that could run the list, > > bandwidth permitting. I could also help with configuration or > > administration of a co-located machine, if that's needed. > The problem with ADSL (at least the ADSL I have) is the bandwidth. Mine > is 1.5M/s in, but only 384K/s out. That's probably the opposite of what > the list server needs. It would be enough out. But what is the CIR on the line? (Committed rate - the bps they guarantee on the link between the CO and your ISP. It can be as low as 32kpbs! These links are usually ATM or frame relay. We get to play with uncommitted bandwidth, but if the network gets busy, it will slow us down, often by dropping packets...) Orin. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 16:22:40 -0500 (EST) From: William T Wilson Subject: Re: DIY_EFI Digest V4 #639 On Fri, 12 Nov 1999, DIY_EFI Digest wrote: > William, would there be any problems with your dynamic IP changing? > Don't forget, the 120MB/day figure was only for email, there's also > WWW and FTP traffic. John says 128k/s is the minimum, which is 10% or > so of most home type high speed connections. I'm surprised the WWW/FTP traffic is so high. I had no idea :} Is that a peak use or an average use? The system that would be doing the hosting is just a Pentium 166. It's got relative buckets of RAM (128MB) however. The IP address never changes. Another word: It is absolutely irrelevant whether FreeBSD or Linux (or Solaris) is used for this purpose. FreeBSD was more stable than Linux... in 1995. This is no longer true, both of them are now quite bulletproof. I have been using Linux since 1996 (including as the sole operating system at an ISP) and have managed to crash it a total of once (while pushing the limits of some hardware drivers). I've actually had more disk failures than OS crashes. End of holy war. :} ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 16:20:20 -0600 From: gabe Subject: '870 > '165 conversion no-start and server issues > > I get up to DFW a couple times a year for visits so upgrades won't be a > problem. I've been browsing Dell and Compaq WWW pages and it looks like > we can get a Celeron 64MB type machine for about $1000. I keep hearing > about Linux pre-installed but the only OS options I've seen are 98 and > NT. Guess we'll need a red-hat CD also. I'll let John handle that if > we go this route. > > As far as one-list and the other free services, the main problem I see > is limited file space (5MB) and lack of CGI support. I think we'll run > into that at most of the free services which is why I think a dedicated > machine is the way to go. > > Our current machine (according to uname -a) is an "i686", whatever that > means (PPro? PII)? It was staggering under the load of non-digest > diy_efi, so the machine requirements apparently aren't trivial. Would a > 300-600 MHZ Celeron 64MB machine handle things? > > - --steve > > - -- > Steve Ravet > steve.ravet@xxx.com > Advanced Risc Machines, Inc. > www.arm.com > > ------------------------------ > A homebrew machine could be much better and cheaper than a bargain basement unit from Dell, I know I or probably quite a few others here could put together a pretty powerful/stable system for less than $1000 if asked. On to my question for the group.... I have an '83 GMC pickup that I recently put an '85 305 TPI system in, it is a completely stock setup with an '870 ECU. The other night I converted it to a 1227165 ECM it came from a 4 cyl S10 I believe (also used in '86 - '89 TPI camaros and firebirds). I cut the original memcal in two, left the 2 chips from the 4 cyl in and put my '89 TPI EPROM in place of the 4 cyl EPROM and changed the pins in the harness that needed to be changed. Problem is the truck would not start. It would hit once then die. If I removed the EPROM and left only the two other chips from the original memcal, it would start and run, not very well mind you, but it would run. Putting the EPROM back in causes it not to start. The EPROM was burned by me, I verified it, everything seems OK. Does anyone know if the 4 cyl (other 2 chips in the memcal) will cause this? Or am I fighting a greater problem or maybe an ECU that the magic smoke has escaped from. The new ECU came from the salvage yard. Thanks Gabe ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 18:42:57 -0500 From: "John S. Gwynne" Subject: [admin] was Re: My two Cents | gather all the offers and put them in one mail message or possibly setup a | site possibly with Charles to display all the choices then Charles if you | are willing to setup another Database to Poll everybody's Thoughts on each | of the Choices. Basically like Listing the choice and giving is a 1 through | 10 or whatever choice then we can see what we like and don't. Polls.... I don't think that will be necessary. Keep the offers and input coming, they are greatly appreciated. Please let Orin, Steve, and myself come up with a plan and direction to move towards. We will of course keep everyone posted for your valued comments. I, for one, am glad to hear of all the offers. There have been many more than I anticipated. With these available choices, we need to determine what will serve these list the best in the long term. We are not in an emergency situation; the lists will not die a silent death. But, it is time to find a new home. Thanks for your cooperation, john gwynne ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 19:20:15 -0500 From: "Clare Snyder" Subject: server requirements For a mail server I would tend to spec something other than a Celeron - nothing against the Celeron, I sell a lot of them - but it is not targetted for this use. Go for a full Pentium II or Pentium III machine with a MINIMUM of 128MB of RAM. 256 is better. Use Linux if you like, but the robustness and ease of administration of an NT small business server can't be beat. Full remote admin over the web in your browser. By robustness I mean throw in 2 18GB UDMA ATAPI (ide) drives, mirrored, and even hear in Canada with our CanukPesos the storage component is only about 500 clams. That is with top line Fujitsu drives - if you want to use WD or seagate the price may be lower, but you only get what you pay for. Buy a good brand name motherboard - I use DFI and won't touch Acer, Asus, or Gigabyte. Don't nickel and dime the small stuff - the difference between "real good" and "dung-pile" is only a few percent overall. Excellent may cost significantly more. Get a good fast ATAPI CD - I'd go for a CDRW and use it for archiving as well. More durable than tape. You don't need fancy graphics or sound. ------------------------------ End of DIY_EFI Digest V4 #640 ***************************** To subscribe to DIY_EFI-Digest, send the command: subscribe diy_efi-digest in the body of a message to "Majordomo@xxx. A non-digest (direct mail) version of this list is also available; to subscribe to that instead, replace "diy_efi-digest" in the command above with "diy_efi".