Gaffernet

My local area network has evolved a lot since I first networked my computers.  Here is a quick listing of what I have:

canberra - IBM PS/ValuPoint 486sx25 with 32 MB RAM, SCSI controller, dual CDs, running Debian Linux 3.1 sarge.  Acts as my backup mail server and I sometimes run irssi and screen so that I can chat on IRC from anywhere.  Has an internal Zoltrix v.90 ISA modem.  I also have an IRC server installed on this machine, and eventually hope to hook it up to the LOSURS metanetwork IRC network.  I keep this machine mostly because nobody would want it and yet it still runs pretty well.  You can do a lot with 32 MB of RAM and a *nix operating system.

hobart - Compaq Presario Pentium II-333 with 192 MB RAM, SCSI controller, DVD-ROM, BenQ DW1620a DVD+/- RW DL (16-4-16 +/-, 4x DVD+R DL), and 240 gigabytes of hard disk space, running Debian Linux 3.1 etch.  Web server, primary mail server, file server, and all-around nice guy.  Also acts as a gateway between the Internet, my LAN and my Thinnet network.  Has two US Robotics Courier V.Everything v.90 modems (one on my land line, the other on my VoIP line - and yes, it does work just fine on VoIP!) so that I can dial into a shell if I want.

devonport - Compaq Presario Pentium 133 with 96 MB RAM, Yamaha 8x CD-RW and running Windows 98 SE.  Runs peer-to-peer software.  Has a SupraFAX 28.8 v.34 external modem and a US Robotics 14.4 v.32bis internal modem, the latter of which will probably be removed the next time the system is disassembled.  I will probably be retiring this machine soon.

broome - Compaq Presario Pentium II-233 with 320 MB RAM, Cyberdrive DX082D DVD+RW (8-4-8 +, 4-2-8 -), and a CD-ROM drive, running Debian Linux 3.1 etch.  This is my only Linux box with X deployed.  Broome also has a GVC v.34 28.8 external modem.  I haven’t used this computer much; I built it to learn more about KDE and Gnome on Linux.

sydney - Pentium II-400 with 384 MB RAM, DVD-ROM, LG GSA-4163B burner (16-4-16 +/-, 4x DVD+R DL, 5x DVD-RAM), running Windows XP Home.  This was my main desktop machine up until recently.  It's now in the basement along with all of the other above machines, and serves as my secondary desktop machine.  I also have my Minolta Dimage slide and negative scanner on this machine, along with a SCSI card to run it.  Sydney has a US Robotics v.90 internal modem.

perth - Pentium III-450 with 768 MB RAM, 120 GB hard disk, BenQ DW-1620a DVD+-RW DL burner (see hobart for specs), LG DVD-ROM drive, Soundblaster Audigy sound card, running Windows XP Home.  This is my main desktop machine and it sits in my computer room upstairs.  Perth has a US Robotics Courier V.Everything v.90 external modem and an internal V.Everything as well.  (I like modems and they’re cheap.  J )

katherine - Acer Extensa 367D notebook running a Pentium 200 MMX with 80 MB RAM and a 20 GB hard disk (upgraded), with Windows XP Home.  Yes, I said XP.  It's a little sluggish but for www, email and word processing it's quite adequate.  I run XP because it better supports USB than 98SE does.  This is my second laptop (the first, darwin, a Pentium 133 with 64 MB RAM, has been sold).  One of its PC Card slots doesn't work right, but the other does and I use it with a TrendNet 802.11g NIC or a D-Link 100BaseTX wired NIC.  I also have USB NICs for it but now that I have figured out that the PC Card socket works, I use that instead (USB 1.1 only so I can't get a full 100 Mbps on this system unless I use PC Card).  This notebook also has a Conexant v.92 Winmodem.  It's my only v.92 modem.  I use this machine for IRC, PowerPoint and word processing when my wife steals my good notebook to play games, for travel when I want to carry a smaller machine (it’s a lot smaller than melbourne), and as a backup machine when I teach for the Insurance Institute or the university (less concern if it gets damaged or stolen).

melbourne - my present to myself for finishing my MBA in the spring of 2005.  It's a Compaq Presario R4025CA.  (I really don't adore Presarios as much as this page implies; all the other ones I own were given to me for free.)  This one has a 2 GHz Athlon 64 XP 3200+, 1 GB of RAM, a 60 GB hard disk, 802.11b/g and 100BaseTX networking, unknown chipset but well-working v.90 Winmodem, and a built-in NEC 8x DVD+-RW DL burner.  It has a 15.4" wide screen.  I love it.  I do everything on it.

mooloolaba – is a Sun Sparcstation 20 running dual TMS390Z processors at 50 MHz, with 96 MB of RAM, 3.9 GB hard SCSI hard disk, running NetBSD 2.0.2.  The processors each have 1 MB of cache, and because there are two of them, this machine runs a lot faster than you’d think for its specifications.  I’ve been chatting on IRC with irssi and screen via this machine.

unnamed - a VAXStation 3100 that I just acquired.  It appears to have about 1 gigabyte of disk space in a 3-disk DSSI RAID, 10Base2 and 10Base5 Ethernet connections, a 1x SCSI CD-ROM drive, and 16 MB of RAM, but I need a proprietary MMJ cable to hook up a terminal to it to find out for certain.  Luckily, cables are on the way.  I plan to install the latest version of OpenVMS 7 on this system and, if I can find the appropriate cable, cluster it with...

unnamed - a VAX 4000-100 with 128 MB RAM, approximately 4 GB disk space (DSSI RAID), SCSI port, 10Base2 and 10Base5 Ethernet networking, and the heaviest desktop case I have ever lifted.  This system was once a part of the cluster that formed meena at the University of Regina, but now she sits in my basement, awaiting an MMJ cable so that I can install the latest version of OpenVMS 7 and possibly cluster it.  If I can't cluster these machines, one of them might have OpenBSD deployed on it, although DSSI controllers aren't supported yet by VAX BSD so I'd have to network boot it and run it off NFS shares.

 

I also have some non-networked Commodore machines.  I own 4 Commodore 64s and a Commodore 128.  The latter is currently set up with 2 1571 drives, a 1541-II and a 1581 (capacities 340K, 170K and 800K respectively).  It runs CP/M 3.0+ as well as native Commodore 64 and 128 programs, has both 40- and 80-column screens and has acted as a console for hobart a couple of times.  I also have a Commodore 1670 1200 bps modem and a Pocket Modem (300 bps Commodore 1650 compatible modem) for it.  I also have an Amiga 500 with 9 MB RAM (1 MB CHIP, 8 MB FAST), running on a 40 MHz 68EC030 processor (GVP A530) with a 500 MB SCSI hard disk, running Workbench 2.1.  Amigas can take Ethernet cards but they are very hard to find for the A500.