After assembling the parts, I put the machine together and have the following notes:

• The machine can take more RAM, but 4 Gigs is plenty for my purpose (training server working on MS certification on my own dime/time).
• The stock CD-R/W drive was pulled, and replaced with an IDE DVD-R/W drive (est. cost about $25) to allow me to simply toss an install DVD in the machine and go – sure, USB DVD drives are available (I have one), but it’s so much nicer to have a DVD drive built-in to the server, and for $25 – I couldn’t say no. NOTE: Just make sure the drive is set to Cable Select (CS), as is the norm in most Dell systems I’ve come across.
• There is room for a second CPU, but to add a second CPU I’d need to secure not only an appropriate CPU and appropriate heatsink, but I’d also need the right add-in VRM – if I could find all that for $50 or less on eBay, I’d happily jump, but beyond that, I have a Hyper-V server if I need more “umph”. For my training purposes, a single CPU is fine.
• I have a surplused APC SmartUps 1500 that I’ll add to the system to keep it running through power outages, spikes, etc. I’ll initially connect it via direct USB link, but the SmartUps also has a network card that I’ll configure as time permits.
• This server has lots of room for expansion cards (3x PCI-X slots, 1x PCIe 4x and 1x PCIe 8x, as well as a PCI slot occupied with a very basic video card, an ATI Rage XL), so I can add RAID or NICs easily – if needed.

My next update will document the actual install – any special concerns or issues I think you should be aware of on this particular server for Windows Server 2008 (locating needed drivers, BIOS settings, etc.). I will NOT be installing a Dell Utility Partition on the HDs, nor will I be using a Dell Server Assist CD for the install – I’ll just be booting off the MS install DVD.

Stay tuned…

Then, with the hardware in a known-good state, I decided to do a test install of Windows Server 2008 R2 (which is x64), but couldn’t use the included “system build” DVD that shipped with the system (it was cut before R2 was released), so I downloaded the current “system build” DVD, but it stalled, asking for a “Windows Server Install Pack” (or something similar), so I decided to try a straight install, ignoring Dell’s utility all together. Well, that didn’t go well either – the server has an unusual/unknown SATA controller, so even though the system was able to access the DVD to load the initial portion of the install DVD, it failed when it tried to ascertain what images are on the DVD (Standard, Enterprise, etc) – it asked for a driver for the DVD drive.

I went to the Dell site and downloaded the latest chipset driver for Windows Server 2008 R2, unzipped it onto a flash drive, then pointed the installer at the proper folder and the install went fine from there. The SATA controller is AMD HT1000.

I’ll figure out the Dell system build/install DVD issue when I go to make the final install, but till then, this will do fine.

You can use the ISO file of Windows Server 2008 R2 to create a bootable USB drive too. For this scenario you need to create a bootable DVD first or mount the ISO file. After you have gained access to the files on the DVD or in the ISO file, simply type the following commands on a system with the image mounted or physical DVD copy in the drive and the USB device plugged in:

diskpart.exe

DISKPART> list disk


Select the USB device from the list and substitute the disk number below when necessary

DISKPART> select disk 1
DISKPART> clean
DISKPART> create partition primary
DISKPART> select partition 1
DISKPART> active
DISKPART> format fs=fat32
DISKPART> assign
DISKPART> exit

xcopy X:\*.* /s/e/f Y:\


where X:\ is your mounted image or physical DVD and Y:\ is your USB device

Source: blogs.dirteam.com

I’m going to try this technique out later today on a small “appliance” server with a quad-core Xeon, 4 Gigs of RAM and no optical drive – this server is for running small appliances under Hyper-V in my home DMZ, and installing from a USB flash drive would be great.

More to follow?

Let’s start off with a very simple proposition – we need a good, stable source of electricity. When major corporations decide to build major data centers, they’ve been known to locate near a good, reliable source of low-cost power, but I don’t have that luxury…little girl sucking daddys cock storys
satin gags
pool party girl bikini
moms fuking son
teen in black stockings
bikini thong swimsuits contests
free lolitas
www sexcam de
schoolgirl free gallery
girl teen beaches
korean mother’s facial scrub
commercial large lazy susans
shemales pissing
lesbians sucking nipples
slutty wives
sexy blonde slut
silk cut cigarette online retailer
gag punishment
live porn
hand
plastic surgery slumber party
wet nylons pissing fully clothed
free blowjob videos
lesbain teachers
guys hairy legs
tattoo ideas for girls
teen lesbian gangbang party
smoking age
where can you upskirt women in new york city
mountain view school district
artificial vagina masturbation
sexy girls at beach
flashing girls
anatomy of the throat
lg wf t502a washing machine
tight tshirt
fuck granny
latina xxx
pictures of naturally abnormal skinny legs
taylor rain swap
gay black boy studs
yeast infection penis
worlds longest penis
xxx picture mary kay & ashley olsen
xtra large grannies
sore throat caused by nexium
nipple stretch
teacher and student porn
redhead porn movies
wifey swallow cum
girl orgasm video
lindsey lohan nipple slips
topless beach girls
girls long tongue tricks
pussy fucked by machines
learn to suck your own dick
down n dirty hustlas panty fiend
oriental girls having forced sex
small asses
certified nurses aide registry
cute blond twink
huge cocks in tight pussies
office strip
canadian small business loan
cigarette making machines
nude male bodybuilder
amatuer bbw
girl hogtied and machine fucked
asian teen deepthroat gag
high school nude
k-series swap
black granny pussy
suck off black men
free videos granny fucks
alabama beach condo rentals
male nipple torture
slut galleries
ebony tranny gape
Discovering The Girl Next Door-4 CD-2
twistys bree olsen movie samples
enormous round boobs
beach party orgy
orgy of lesbain sex
used office furniture tampa
milf sucking dick
vanessa hudgens upskirt
male breast augmentation
hot girls kissing with tongue
wire stripping machines
12 year old girl in thongs
black moms id like to fuck
health insurance international student travel cover
used jura espresso machines
gang sex
little boys erection
nylon undies
wife orgasm
sexy blonde slut
lesbain teachers
free big boobs
giant cock blow job
shaved milf pussy
Mommy Loves Em Young CD-1
latina trannys
wild hot cunt fuck
free gay military men
school teachers nude
granny sex galleries
smooth shaved
brunette pussy fuck hard
hentai hot toon sex
shaved and close up
dripping hairy pussy
guys wearing nylons and panties
Mommy Fucks Best-2 CD-2
chinese oriental dresses pics
auto body frame machine
nipple suckling
lolita virgin
propecia quit smoking
preteen wearing thongs
horny united
yovo olsen twins
large mons pubis
horny hitchhikers
female hormones for male
skinny amateur bf big cock
moms fucking their sons
first time teacher sex
teen skinny dip
amateur ass to mouth
fat fuckers
big boob orientals
free xxx porn gallery
nipple stretch torture
shit in my mouth
tan stockings sex
anal sex party
extreme toys
nylon shell lined hooded jacket
hot sexy latina
granny fucks
mom horny
fishnet stocking gallery
wife monster cock
bridal shower themes
jockstrap hunks
girl coed
mens french maid outfits
ffm femdom male humiliation
o’smile gag gifts
wire stripping machines
old movies
naked muscle men
sluts in boots
jizz covered
maid stocking sex
teen smoking statistics
Naturally Exposed-3 CD-2
nipple pumps
hot latina sex
redhead amateur porn
blonde hentai orgy
best male orgasms
femdom golden shower
baltimore tattoo museum
dog training supplies
interracial lesbian rape
avril nude
office suck
men with horse cocks
fuck my step mom
shark tattoo designs
interracial thumbnail galleries
bbw with enormous breasts
extreme activities
cum in my throat
cum nurse
ladies large size shoes
military christian school ca
gay ass fuck amateur free
small wrist tattoos
hardcore throat jobs
new student orientation manual
cum stain
twink fuck
handwriting recognition tablet pcs education school student
black lesbians tongue kissing
ntsc secam dk dvd/vcr player
dirty dancing clothes
Bikini-Clad Cum Sluts CD-1
dog orgasm
shower voyeurism
men fuck
clitty tongue
petite gothic blowjobs
singing penis
log in and password for russian sex bombs
penis in pictures
free rape sites
sissy maid femdom
gay student sex
monster cum loads
free sexy stories
philadelphia breast enlargement recovery
lingeries office
14 year old average penis size
redhead amateur porn
lesbian moms
bridal shower themes
nude female maid
caught having sex at a concert
shemale group
free teacher student sex
teen smoking statistics
zyban smoking cessation trials
avril paparazzi
large volum positive displacement water pumps
catherine bell nude
twinks raw
My house is located in a neighborhood I like, with a school system I trust, and to be honest, electricity was not even on my list of things to consider when I bought my house. Happily, our power is pretty good, but it isn’t perfect – and because it isn’t, I invested in a few UPS for my planned datacenter.

I’m lucky to live near a major university that has regular surplus sales, and I’ve been very lucky to get some good deals on some UPSes. I’ve picked up a huge APC Smart-UPS 2200 with an advanced monitoring card included (but dead batteries) for $5 – a great deal, but replacement batteries were about $140 at batterywholesale.com (RBC11). This UPS will power my core servers, hopefully for about 30-40 minutes, with PowerChute software gracefully bringing down my servers if the outage lasts longer.

I’ve also gotten a couple other UPS at the same surplus sale, and I have a Back-UPS RS 800 that I’ll use for network elements (switches, router, cable modem, small appliances) and a Smart-UPS 750XL for non-essential servers and other elements.

One other power “accessory” to seriously consider is remote controlled Power Distribution Unit (PDU) that will allow you to power-cycle a piece of equipment remotely, like the Baytech RPC3a that allows you to control up to 8 devices over either a serial connection or Ethernet connection. The only unusual thing is that the rear panel has “reverse” power connectors, meaning it requires those odd “extension” cords that wind up accumulating around server rooms (typically they were used to hang a monitor power connection off the power switch in a PC/AT system) – problem is, you can’t hang wall-wart power adapters off the BayTech unit I have.

And of course, I’ll need a couple dedicated power outlets, ideally two 20 amp circuits to feed the UPSes and other items. For some reason, when my house was built (about 1995) it never occured to the builder/homeowner to put any outlets in the basement. When I had an electrician come and help me run cable throughout the house, I asked him to run some power to my datacenter, but it is a single 20 amp circuit shared with the garage – good, but not ideal – I’ll have him come back and do the right thing soon…

As time goes on, and I actually start executing on my plans, I’ll post results instead of just plans and suggestions.

• Internet connectivity
• Power
• Network wiring and switching
• Router
• Web services (http, ftp, ssh, POP email, etc.)
• Servers
• Workstations
• and Other topics as they present themselves in the coming weeks

The purpose of this datacenter is simple, it is to provide a stable computing environment for my family, but it is also to assist me in my efforts toward attaining Microsoft Certification in various areas of interest (SQL Server 2005, Windows Server 2003 & 2008, and possibly Small Business Server 2008).

I recently started going through a heaping pile of hardware in the garage, and among the pile was a fairly tricked out Sun Ultra 10 desktop, and I decided to install the latest update of Solaris 10 (Update 4, 8/07).

Everything went fine – the system had a prior install of Solaris 10 (Update 3, I think), but I thought I’d drop the latest on it. Anyway, as I said, the install went fine until the system booted into the graphical user desktop. The system has a 440 Mhz CPU with a 2 Meg cache, 1,024 Meg of RAM, a 120 Gig IDE hard drive and an IDE DVD-R/W drive in place of the original CD-ROM drive. It also is a later revision of the system main board, one that has “Series 3″ frame buffer, the equivalent of a PGX-24 add-in board.Well, I had this system connected to an LCD panel with a native resolution of 1,280 x 1,024, and Solaris dropped back from 24 bit color depth to 8 bit color depth, giving the otherwise nice, clean desktop a fuzzy, grainy image, with pallette “flash” as applications are opened and closed. What caused this? An inadequate amount of framebuffer memory to support 1,280 x 1,024 at 24 bit color depth. Yes, in this day of video cards with up to 1 Gig of on-board RAM that some system have as little as 4 Meg of dedicated RAM for video.

Google proved to be my ally, and I came across this blog entry describing a problem someone else had trying to set their Ultra 10 to 1,280 x 1,024 at 24 bit color depth, I processed that posting, and determined that the problem I was having was that Solaris 10 was respecting the native resolution of my hardware, and simply dropped the color depth in order to accomodate the display resolution. Going back to the source (the Sun web site) and poking around a bit in the documentation section, I came across this document – Sun Frame Buffer Handbook for Sun Hardware – that should answer all questions, at least as regard “mature” frame buffers on Sun Hardware. 

After trying the command “/usr/sbin/m64config -res 1024×768x60 -depth 24″ I have a more acceptable default screen for my system – yay!

I just picked up a mini-ITX motherboard, D210GLY made by Intel – a new player in the mini-ITX MB space. mini-ITX motherboards are small (duh! 6.75″ x 6.75″, and in this case, just about 2″ tall), and typically have low power requirements and can, in many cases be simply air cooled (no fans or other means needed to cool the system). I don’t have a particular application in mind, but I do plan on building up a small system with 1 Gig of RAM and a large 250+ Gig IDE HD and have some fun loading various OS on it. My main interests are in loading Microsoft WinXP and Sun Solaris, but Ubuntu Linux could be entertaining as well. There is no point to trying Windows Vista, as the on-board graphics solution does not support the new Vista “Aero” graphics interface (sure, I could add a nice PCI video card, but that defeats the purpose of a $70 MB/CPU solution, IMHO).

I am thinking this might make a decent desktop running any of the above three OS, and I want to test it out, for my own personal initiative – ODPG (One Desktop Per Grandparent), somewhat along the lines of the OLPC (or $100 Laptop), but with a market size of 4, not 4 Billion. ;^)

I wonder if I could run the OLPC software on the Intel MB? That could be fun – they list a Live CD image as being available for testing, but it is over 3 months old at this point (Aug. 2007).

Sorry for taking so long in posting, but last week I had a horrible idea, and I upgraded the software on my Motorola Smart Phone, the “Q”. The phone is odd, and I think in hindsight I wish I’d stayed with the T-Mobile Sidekick, but the ”Q” is OK. Well, I decided to update the software because the phone had some annoying habits – like an hour or so after unplugging the phone, it would suddenly alert me that the “Charging is Complete”, usually when I was wanting to do something else…

So anyway, to upgrade the software I had to use two different computers – I didn’t follow the instructions the first time, and “invalidated” the install of the hardware on the first laptop – once it tried, and failed, to install drivers for the phone, it would never try again (that’s a Windows thing, and I didn’t read/follow the instructions). h I pulled out a second laptop, installed ActiveSync 4.2 (downloaded from Microsoft), then I went to the Verizon website, downloaded their one-time update tool, and followed the instructions. After many restarts and much hair-pulling, I got the darn thing updated, caused all my contacts/emails/photos to be erased (I knew that was going to happen, cause I read the instructions ;^), the darn thing still chooses to alert me that the ”Charging is Complete” well after the fact. And I am having trouble configuring my Verizon Q to access my Verizon Email accounts (the email is from my Verizon ISP plan, not associated with my phone). I wanted to call Technical Support, but phone numbers for Verizon Wireless are very hard to find on their web site.

When I get the intestinal fortitude to take another stab at it, I’m sure I can get it all working, but until then, I’ll focus on other activities and try to forget what transpired – it took nearly 6 hours to get it all figured out and my phone updated… 

Yesterday I built-up a Sun Ultra 2 for a friend, and it was an interesting experience (details to follow), and a few things struck me: It is an old machine now (just over 10 years old now), it is still reasonably fast (with dual CPUs and up to 2 Gigs of RAM), and it is CHEAP. Ultra 2s are available for the cost of the installed options: An Ultra 2 with 1 Gig of RAM or more, two 300 MHz CPUs, a decent desktop framebuffer (Creator), and a SCSI hard drive or two can be had for under $50. Well under…

Don’t get me wrong, almost any current day PC can blow it out of the water, and a current PC stands a pretty good chance of running Solaris 10 as well, but there is some benefit (in my mind, at least) to the heft, solid construction, and bullet-proof design of these old workstations. As a straight web server with minimal scripting/database on the same machine, these things are unstoppable, but businesses are hard-pressed to justify the power they consume when compared to a current model PC.

My advice, if you are looking for a low-cost, rock-solid web server for small office/home office (SOHO) use, an Ultra 2 is a great choice, and you can run all your favorite open source software on it – Sun has a vast library of Open Source applications bundled up into what it calls a “Companion Software DVD“, and you can get free Solaris install DVDs for both x86/x64 and-UltraSPARC based systems directly from Sun that include not only the Operating System, but also a farily complete suite of Sun’s developer tools (compilers, frameworks, etc.). Solaris includes the Apache web server, and any other tools you might desire are just a few clicks away.

You can probably get a decent Ultra 2 for nothing if you look around hard enough – just make sure you have UltraSPARC II CPUs installed (300 or 400 MHz CPUs) if you plan to run Solaris 10, the latest relase of Solaris – if you have slower CPUs installed and can’t find/afford faster CPUs, then just run Solaris 9 – you will lose out on some of the newest features like containers and other capabilities found in Solaris 10, but for basic web serving, they are not really required.

Heck, Google got it’s start on an Ultra 2, though now they run on Intel architecture machines.