This page collects information on the hardware we plan to install at a colocation provider as part of our new hosting infrastructure. Some older discussion and similar stuff is on NewSystemHardwareArchive.

1. System setup

Currently, what we know are the uses for the three machines we will base our infrastructure on. We also know our Abulafia machine configuration, and Justin Leitgeb's to-be-donated server configuration. What we need to come up with, is the ideal setup for the third machine that we will have to buy. So, the machine configurations and intended uses follow:

1.1. Justin Leitgeb's donation: Dell PowerEdge 2850

• Processor: 2 x 2.8 GHz
• RAM: 4 GB
• Disks:

  • 4 x 10K Seagate Cheetah SCSI drives, 73GB and

  • 2 x 10K Seagate Cheetah SCSI drives, 36GB
• Extra: RAID kit, with battery, etc., 256 MB RAID cache, 2 power supplies

Intended use: fileserver and host for all services that don't involve dynamic content provided by non-admins. No user logins.

1.2. HCoop's currently-underused machine Abulafia

• Processor: 1 x 900 MHz
• RAM: 512 MB
• Disks: 40 GB RAID 1 (2 x 40 GB 7200 RPM ATA drives)
• Extra: 3Ware 6400 PCI ATA RAID controller

Intended use: refurbished slightly to serve as a generic shell server and the only machine where usage not strictly related to "Internet hosting" is permitted.

1.3. Ray Racine's donation: Sun Fire v20

* Processor: AMD64

• RAM: ?
• Disks: 2 x 36 GB Ultra320 SCSI (hot swap)
• 1U

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• 3 year, on-site hardware support (only adds $119) (?)
• Penguin Model: Altus 1300
• List price: $2702.00

• Extra: Should be 1U. Goal is to make it processor intensive, and only disk-heavy enough to ensure a high level of uptime. Other considerations such as a preference for AMD and the vendor Penguin Computing that have been expressed on the list and in meetings should be followed here. More information from online configuration: [http://www.hcoop.net/~leitgebj/hcoop_servers/altus_1300_20060606_3.pdf (PDF)] [http://www.hcoop.net/~leitgebj/hcoop_servers/altus_1300_20060606_3.ps (PS)] -->

Intended use: dynamic web content and any other Internet services that involve running arbitrary code from members (including custom daemons, etc.)

1.4. Switch

We are proceeding under the assumption that we'll use ShaunEmpie's donation (see HardwareDonations), a Nortel (Baystack) 380 switch. He says:

It is not brand new but is working. Here is [http://vpit.net/es380-guide.pdf a guide] that I was able to find to give anyone interested a more in depth view of it.

VLAN Configuration Proposal:

With our new setup, I think it would be best to setup a few different
VLANs for different uses.  For anyone who is unfamiliar with the term, a
VLAN is a virtual lan.  It allows you to have completely separate networks
on the same switch.  This will allow us to setup a private network that
the public and peer1 would have no access to.  This could be handy for
database systems, NAS, backup servers, etc which you'd want to keep off
the public network.

Proposed Configuration:

VLAN 1.     Management VLAN - not used for normal traffic

VLAN 10.    Public VLAN - public/Peer1's network

VLAN 20.    Private VLAN - private subnet for inter-server traffic

For a starting point i think having ports 1-12 in VLAN 10 and ports 13-24
in VLAN 20 would be best.  The VLAN membership of a port can be changed
easily so these would not be set in stone.

The switch allows for many more VLANs than we'll ever need so if anyone
has a suggestion or need for another VLAN it would be trivial to setup.
Any questions/comments, let me know.

-Shaun

ES380 AC Power Specs:

• Input current: 1.5A to 100 AC
• Input voltage (rms): 100 to 240 VAC at 47 to 63 Hz
• Power consumption: 150 W
• Thermal rating: 1000 BTU/hr maximum

1.5. Serial console

Some device to simulate local login over the Internet could be a life saver. JustinLeitgeb mentions a special card that Dell sells that would work with his donation.