The Chicken(s) and the Egg(s)

Finaly, time for an update on my hobby farm project...
My chickens are now fully grown, and they are none too small. The silver waterer pictured here holds five gallons, and you can see how big the birds are standing next to it.










Here is a better picture of my rooster. He is not a small bird; I'd say he's easily as big as a house cat.
















And, finally, I'm getting eggs on a regular basis. Right now I'm getting about four a day, and as you can see from this picture they are quite large too.

The Server Rack: Almost a real server rack!

Pictured here is a shelving unit that came "free" with my property, albeit in rather decrepit condition, in my workshop. I knew as soon as I saw it (even before I bid on my property!) what I wanted to do with it...
Well I finally did it!
After about a week of drilling, fitting, frustration and procrastination I finally repaired the shelf and moved four of my servers onto it.
The names of the computers are, from top to bottom and left to right: Dell-Orean, Volatile, The Hive and Quadrajet (the SCSI enclosure is there solely for storage).
And yes, Quadrajet (my genuine IBM server) is the massive monolith beneath the two mid-towers and SCSI enclosure! It really is that big!

Hopefully more updates about lower-tech stuff soon...

Inside The Hive: Information Technology, Redneck Style!

Look at the captions on the images... I think that's about all I need to say....

The Server Rack: The Hypervisor and VMs (or, in English, playing with Pretend Computers)

When most people get bored, they watch TV... Me, when I get bored, I waste my time on Wikipedia. Fortunately this introduces me to all sorts of innovative concepts. Unfortunately this almost always costs me money, as I invariably get involved in various oddball projects...
About a month ago I came across something called a hypervisor, or Virtual Machine Supervisory Operating System. This is a concept that I have known about for a very long time, but until recently have mistakenly referred to as VMS. What a hypervisor does is allow a computer to run multiple instances of an operating system, or several discrete operating systems, simultaneously... Mainframes have been equipped with hypervisors for the last thirty years, however this technology has only recently appeared in the microcomputer (PC) market.
In my research (or, more correctly, browsing) I happened upon the VMware website. Years ago I had experimented with VMware (then a PC emulator), with disappointing results. However more recently they came up with a true hypervisor called ESX, which recently has been released as freeware as ESXi. But, as is usual with me and freeware, it isn't exactly free...
Pictured above is my new server: The Hive. I gave it this name because, when it is fully configured, it will be "a swarm of virtual PCs, waiting to be unleashed." It is built from the scraps of at least three dead PCs; the case and hard drive are from my last desktop PC (which died due to a defective front-panel USB connector). I later painted the case with bronze hammertone paint when the Media Center lived in it, the board and memory are from my brother's last PC (the board is his SECOND warranty board, which he said is "dead to him", but with a CPU purchased from EK Computers for $25 works just fine for me). The remainder of the system (video board, fans, power supply) were gathered from my collection of parts.
Unlike my previous "science projects," this one did not go easy... It took no less than a month of experimentation, aggravation, playing games with computers (as opposed to playing games on computers), frustration, and so on... But I finally got it working.
Here is the inside of "The Hive." This is my brother's premium gamer ATX motherboard, an EVGA Socket AM2 nForce 590 SLI board with integrated dual gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 1394 (FireWire), USB 2.0, AC'97 audio, dual PCI-e 16x slots (for graphics cards), Serial ATA (SATA) and a myriad of other features. Of course for ESX server 3i, most of this is basically useless (at least when one is using mostly surplus parts)...
For starters is graphics... ESXi uses the now basically unheard-of resolution of 80x25. This means that the screen only displays 80 columns and 25 rows of text, with only ANSI (or text-terminal) graphics. This renders the long PCI-E 16x slots basically worthless, and I use an ancient SIS 2MB card that I had laying around for the console.
In addition to this the 8.1 surround AC'97 CODEC audio chip is completely useless (ESXi has no support for audio whatsoever), I am unsure as to weather or not 1394 is supported... However many of this board's features are both usable and beneficial to ESXi. For starters, this board supports dual-core processors and dual-channel memory. This allows two applications, or "guest operating systems" to access resources simultaneously. Both the SATA and Dual Gigabit Ethernet features are supported, as is the USB 2.0 interface (for attaching hard disks by USB).
Unlike a typical PC, an ESX server is used entirely over a network. The image displayed on the monitor above is the only thing that ESXi EVER displays on the attached monitor... However the VMware Infrastructure Client (VIclient) gives full access (including a virtual console) to the hosted operating system.












This is a screenshot of VIclient running on my Vista-based laptop. Shown is the console for a Windows 2000 Server virtual machine. On the left of the console is a list of all of the configured Virtual Machines. The ones highlighted in green are currently running. As you can see this single computer is currently running three operating systems, with a fourth shut down. With ESXi the number of operating systems that can be run simultaneously is limited only by the available resources of the host PC; and in all actuality the number of VMs can exceed the available resources of the host PC, at the cost of performance. Configured properly this PC may be able to run nearly a dozen separate operating systems at once!

Well that's all I have on this project for the moment... There may well be more later...



Just a note: the name "LIABnet" on the top picture refers to the computer gaming group comprised of most of my friends and myself, called Losers in a Basement. LIABnet is my part of Losers in a Basement; though all of us are very computer literate and most of us built our own computers, I am the "server guy" of the group, and host the Losers in a Basement Network, or LIABnet.

Hand Tools: The Scythe Pt. 1

As promised this post is about something somewhat lower-tech than PBXes and server computers...
While working on clearing weeds on the railroad, and thinking about hacking down tall weeds with a machete I had joked about using a scythe for a similar purpose. However after doing some research I started to feel that maybe the old-fashioned tools and ways may not be so obsolete as many would believe.
I purchased this antique, American-style scythe about a month ago, and over the course of that month as I have taught myself to set it up, sharpen the blade properly and to properly wield it I am increasingly of the opinion that with the proper skills a scythe can do the work of a bush-hog with similar (if not less) physical effort on the part of the user.
Unlike machetes and similar tools a scythe works by slicing plants; when used properly a full-length cutting stroke (a swath) uses no more energy than a miss. A machete on the other hand requires a "concentrated" swing in order to cut down plants, all but preventing prolonged use.
Since I took this photo I have put the first two coats of linseed oil on the snath (handle) , peened the blade once and applied a coat of linseed oil to the "solid" rust covering the non-cutting portions of the blade (this is to prevent further rusting. In the old days metal tools were intentionally rusted and finished with linseed oil, a process called browning. Of course a "proper" browning job is considerably more involved than simply oiling a rusty tool, see my second note below).

Pictured here are my four scythe blades. The top three blades were given to me by my grandmother. Of these three, in order, one is physically worn out, the next is severely damaged but repairable (I have already partially repaired it) and the third is quite literally in like-new condition and only needs peened and sharpened.
The topmost blade is sadly unsuitable for anything except a decoration. It has simply been worn out, and deserves to be attached to a similarly worn-out snath for display. A sad but distinguished end for any good tool if you ask me... Now I just need to find a worn-out snath with a good blade...
The second blade is severely damaged, but is quite salvagable. All of the cutting edge is in excellent condition, however the entire blade is slightly twisted and (when I aquired it) the tang was bent a full 45 degrees. As an amatuer blacksmith repairing the tang was easy, however I have yet to get a chance to try to un-twist the blade. Once this blade is fully repaired, peened and sharpened it will once again be prime to cut literally acres of grass and weeds on end...
The third blade, which has been stored better (and I believe has barely been used) is in literally like-new condition. All it needs in order to be usable is to be peened, sharpened and oiled.
The fourth and final blade is the blade that came with my scythe. When I first purchased it the blade was nearly destroyed, and required a substantial amount of filing to remove the damage from the cutting edge. However after peening this blade and tuning my snath it is finally able to cut grass again. Even before this it had proved it's weed-cutting abilities, which are now truly spectacular.

A note: In this post I repeatedly talk about "peening" blades. Peening is basically cold-forging. This is the "proper" way to resharpen a scythe blade, as it both greatly reduces wear on the blade and work-hardens the cutting edge (increasing it's sharpenability without making the rest of the blade brittle). Peening the blade literally forces the edge back into the correct profile, minimizing the amount of steel that needs to be removed to obtain a suitably sharp edge.

Another note: Many antique tools are "rusty," however unlike most rusty tools the rust is always small-grained and even. This is because the tool has been "browned," that is intentionally rusted and preserved. A full browning treatment involves cleaning the tool to bare steel, applying a rusting agent (such as salt or salammoniac), allowing it to rust, removing all rust, reapplying the rusting agent, allowing it to rust, removing all rust and so on until the coat of rust is very even and "solid," that is that the rust won't flake off even when struck against a hard object. At this point the tool is finshed with linseed oil, then waxed. In this manner the rust itself provides a means of preventing further rusting. It is amongst the oldest methods of preserving iron and steel, and in some cases is still used today.

That's all I have for now. In part 2 I will show the restoration of the long blade in detail.

The Server Shuffle Pt.2: Servers Shuffled and more PBX stuff

It's finally done.
The first half of the project, installing the Asterisk PBX software and my existing TDM card in the IBM server, went as well as could be expected. The only hiccup involved a dead CMOS battery, which concerning the age of the server (about 8 years) and the fact that it sat in my parents' basement for close to one of those years that isn't surprising. Replacing the rediculously overpriced battery ($5) fixed all of it's problems.
The other half of the project, transferring the Windows 2000 file server from the ICP Electronics computer to the dual Pentium-III workstation box (the former PBX) proved a lot more... interesting.
First, it appears that I had a bad IDE cable; I had as a last resort on the ICP box tried using "tube" cables to increase airflow, and one of the two storage discs apparently failed... After transferring the system to the new computer the problem continued... In frustration I gave up for the night, and the next time I tried the system I discovered that the fan in the switching power supply had failed... Fortunately I had a spare, and since by now I suspected that the hard disk failure was due to a cable problem I replaced the tube cables with standard ribbon cables. Problem solved. Now I just need to finish working that computer through the entire Windows Update cycle and it'll be finished. This computer uses the failed Slot-1 processor form factor, which has decicive advantages over the previous (and current) ZIF form factor, mainly in the area of cooling. The large form factor of the processors (approx. 2.5x5 inches) allows plenty of room for very large heat sinks, which should eliminate all overheating issues... Of course this server could still stand to be upgraded (a redundant power supply would be nice, as would be ECC memory...), but it will work well for now. And probaly for much longer.

And now for PBX stuff...
As I stated in my last post I am now using my IBM Netfinity 6000R as my PBX. This is an obsolete corperate-class server computer incorperating a veritable laundary list of features. The system is highly robust, and capable of "tolerating" a failure of virtually any component (including CPUs and memory modules) save the motherboard and memory board. It incorperates four CPUs, three power supplies and uses error-correction memory. I also added a ServeRAID board, which provides hardware-accelerated RAID functionality. Using a RAID-5 array utilizing three hard disks it is possible to remove one of the disks, shoot it with a rifle, and replace it with an identical disk without the operating system even noticing! In addition to it's redundency this technology also provides a substantial preformance increase, effectively doubling the hard disk access speed.
In addition to all of that this server incorperates the "Netfinity Advanced System Management" board, which is literally a seperate computer dedicated entirely to making sure the server funcions properly. This "service processor" (located in the upper right of the photo) constantly monitors the system and using LEDs located throught the system highlights any defective component in the system... It provides real-time monitoring of any component in the system, a technology that is common now but at that time was only implimented in this class of server.
For analog telephony functionality I have added one (soon two) TDM PCI cards. These cards, also called Zapata Telephony cards (formerally abbreviated to "Zaptel" cards, a name no longer used due to a purely accidental copyright infringement) provide an inexpensive way for a computer to interface with the PSTN. At the most basic level these cards are 4-port modems, however instead of converting data into sound they essentially do the opposite, and convert sound into data. These cards accept four modules each; each module is capable of duplicating either an FXO interface (capable of answering a phone call) or FXS interface (capable of ringing a phone). It is VERY important to note that the interface and signalling on these modules are reversed: Forigen eXchange Station [FXS] represents a telephone, and answers a call; Forigen eXchange Office [FXO] represents the telephone company, and rings a phone. The modules are named for what they are to be connected to, not what they actually do).
What all this means is that using this software, a used server computer, and telephony interfaces aquired via eBay or other online discount sources it is possible to construct a truly full-featured Private Branch eXchange (PBX) for a tiny fraction of the price of a conventional Key Telephone System (KTS) used by many small businesses (as I personally know)... It is possible to create a 24-port Asterisk PBX, with or without digital connectivity (T1 or ISDN-BRI), for under $1,000 (utilizing a used server as it's base). By comparason a 24-port KTS would cost easily ten times this amount, and any other true PBX at least double that!
That's all I have for now... After this high-tech garbage I think the next post will be about something decidedly lower-tech...


BTW: TDM is an acronym for Time Division Multiplexing, a scheme for combining several (usually 23 or 24) analog channels into a single digital channel. The usual use of this scheme is the DS-1. More commonly called a T1, it combines 24 telephone circuits onto a single pair of wires (generally speaking, one of the channels is used for signalling, a scheme called ISDN-PRI). The TDM cards impliment TDM in software (either by de-multiplexing a T1 or by combining as many as 24 traditional analog circuits into a single datastream). By utilizing a Zapata Telephony card this data can be handled entirely by software, allowing applications like Asterisk to interface with the PSTN.

The Server Shuffle Pt. 1

Well I guess it's been a long time since I last posted, though a lot of planning (though not as much doing as I would like) has happened since then. So let's get started with one of my current dilemmas; my server situation...
Owing to the recent heat wave and my unwillingness to air condition an uninsulated house my file server has been experiancing severe reliability issues. This is mainly due to the extreme tight clearances on it's motherboard, and thusly the inability to install better heat sinks on it's CPUs. After some deliberating I decided that it was time to mix it up...
First of all I finally moved my massive IBM Netfinity server over to my house (it honestly weighs over 100 lbs fully assembled!). I made the decision that this huge yet design-constrained system will be my PBX, the current PBX will become my file server, and the existing server will be retired from active use.
The IBM Netfinity 6000R is a corperate-class server (albeit one that's 10 years old). It is a high-reliability, high-stability, highly-overbuilt system featuring 4-way SMP (that's QUAD CPU!), interleaved Error-Correction memory and hardware RAID capabilities. However owing to it's design it is essentially limited to a single consumer-grade hard drive. And seeing as I can't afford to upgrade my storage disks I decided not to relegate this system to that role again. I primarialy purchased it to use as a game server, a role it filled eagerly, however I have a strong feeling that any LAN gaming requiring this robust of a server is probaly long since past... The way I figure I have the thing, I may as well put it to use. Even though it is extremely overpowered for my telephony needs the additional power this system has may be of use if I ever get ambitious...
The existing PBX system is a workstation-grade dual Pentium-III motherboard that I happened upon. This will become the file server, and after some memory shuffling (to maximize it's available memory) it should fill this role happily. And hopefully it will be less suseptible to the thermal issues of my current server...
Which is an ICP Electronics Single Board Computer with an expansion/multiplexing backplane. The entire dual Pentium-III motherboard featuring onboard video, sound, USB and dual Ethernet is crammed onto a single full-length PCI card (about a quarter of the size of a standard motherboard). The Expansion Backplane allows this single-board computer to function as a standard motherboard (and accept both PCI and long since defunct 16-bit ISA expansion cards). For a long time this server proved very satisfactory, however owing to the extremely cramped conditions on the system board, and a design flaw on Intel's part (the CPUs that this board accepts have an extremely small heatsink contact area). Because of this in order to improve CPU heat dissipation I'd either have to upgrade to copper-core heatsinks (and hope that they fit) or place gold (!) wafers between the CPU and the heat sink... Both of these options simply aren't worth the money!
As of the moment I have moved all of the telephony hardware from the old PBX into the IBM machine, but haven't done much else. Currently I am suffering from either a cold or mild smoke inhalation (from cooking over an open fire for over 15 hours over the course of the weekend) and only got two hours of sleep last night. I hope to accomplish more on this project later this week... Until then...

(P.S. I have more planned to post, I simply want to wait between posts to make sure none of it gets overlooked)