CAcert System Admins discussion list

[Wytze van der Raay <wytze AT deboca.net>]

Hi Philipp,

Philipp Dunkel schreef:
> While I agree with the principle of trying to go by with what is around,
> I think it may be another option to find someone to donate the money to
> buy a machine. Could you try to estimate what amount would be necessary
> to purchase a machine that could do the job of the signing sever on the
> market right now.

What's currently sold on the market of new rack servers has specs which
well exceed our requirements, so entry level would be sufficient, which
means a price of around 800 - 900 euros from Dell, HP and the like.
Those machines do not have IDE anymore, so we'll be forced to copy disks,
and are also typically limited to just one serial port. Both not ideal
but workable.

> After that I could try to contact some people and maybe get a monetary
> donation for purchasing a machine.

In the current setup the donation would have to go to Oophaga, as the
owner of the CAcert hardware.

Regards,
-- wytze

> On Jun 30, 2009, at 12:11 , Wytze van der Raay wrote:
> 
>> On 06/28/2009 04:29 PM, Ian G wrote:
>>> On 28/6/09 13:16, Wytze wrote:
>>>
>>>> The signing server operation has been restored at approximately 21:00
>>>> CEST.
>>>> Problem was the same as reported on June 12: spontaneous reboot without
>>>> apparent cause. We suspect deteriorating hardware.
>>>
>>>
>>> I would point to Guillaume's note of a week or so back.  Basically, I
>>> would expect this sort of thing if the machine was overheated for a
>>> period of a few hours, like apparently happened a few weeks back.
>>>
>>> I've seen this before in overheating situations.  Basically the way
>>> forward is to replace the entire machine.
>>
>> As noted by me on 
>> cacert-systemlog AT lists.cacert.org:
>>
>>    Since we have experienced this problem now twice within three weeks,
>>    a replacement of the signing server's core hardware may be necessary
>>    to reduce system outages to an acceptable level.
>>
>> We've started to look for a replacement. Any offers for something that
>> fits the short requirements list below will be considered:
>>
>>> We are looking for something with the following specs:
>>>
>>> MUST HAVE:
>>> * 19" rack mountable, at most 4U (preferred: 1U)
>>> * cpu performance at least equivalent to Intel P4 1.7 Ghz or AMD
>>> equivalent
>>> * memory >= 512 MB (preferred: 2 x 512 MB or better)
>>> * >= 1 serial port (preferred: 2 serial ports)
>>> * USB
>>> * "reliable" (machine does not have to be new, but should be
>>>  good enough to run for at least two years without trouble)
>>>
>>> VERY MUCH LIKE:
>>> * space for connecting existing two IDE disks (3.5") to boot
>>>  and run from those
>>>  (if machine has only SATA: must have at least 2 x 40 GB disks)
>>> * double power supply
>>>
>>> DON'T WANT:
>>> * intelligent console and other funny stuff
>>
>> Regards,
>> -- wytze

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