Army.ca Server Hardware Replacement Program

[Nfld Sapper]

Well as of right now the replacement program stands at:

Server Cost $2268.30
Money Raised $1392.26
Still to go $876.04
Percent Complete 61%

Wow only 39% left.

<edited to finish sentence, damn gremlins...>

<edited to add>

Also drop some clams your way too.

 

[Mike Bobbitt]

Yeah, especially impressive since we started with about 39% done, not "to go"... and that was just Friday!

 

[geo]

Alms for the poor on the way to ya Mike

given that you have made a vow of poverty - running this charity - I have chipped in some funds......

Chimo!

 

[Shec]

After sponging off your site for several years now i've subscribed with the intent that it will defray the costs of the server upgrade.  To stretch my paltry $30 even further,  Mike,  don't bother sending me the coin or sticker. 

 

[Mike Bobbitt]

Folks... your generosity is overwhelming in every sense of the word. I honestly expected this would be a ~6 month project, but with the donations from this weekend alone we appear to have met our goal. I haven't added some items being mailed in to the total (Canada Post has taught me not to count my chickens...) but by all accounts we have already exceeded our planned budget.

That's great news indeed, and thanks to everyone who donated... especially a few who really took things to heart, but sadly wanted to remain anonymous. Don't worry, I won't forget any of the donations, big or "small".

The downside (if you can call it that) is that since I expected this to be a 6+ month project, I'm now the bottleneck... I wasn't quite ready to pull the trigger just yet, but I will be rapidly getting my act together over the next few days to get things in order.

In the mean time, I think we can stand down... we can already afford better hardware than I was planning for, so again, my sincere thanks for everyone who participated in the program. The ball is now in my court to turn your generosity into the best possible improvements for the site.


Thanks!
Mike

 

[GAP]

Why not continue for awhile until you can purchase the second processor and be done with the upgrade in one shot?

 

[armyvern]

I wasn't quite ready to pull the trigger just yet, but I will be rapidly getting my act together over the next few days to get things in order.

Thanks!
Mike

Please Mike,

Feel free to fire on Wednesday 11th April while I am busy travelling to St Jean!!  >

 

[riggermade]

Mike

I am glad to see that the users fully support your efforts and I for one did not figure it would take long to collect what you needed and am glad to see I was correct

 

[Kendrick]

Why not continue for awhile until you can purchase the second processor and be done with the upgrade in one shot?

The main reason would be that the 2nd processor is not really needed at the moment, and that it being the costliest (or close to) piece of equipment on the server, if we wait say, 6 months, the price will drop by 60%. 

 

[geo]

More Ram!!!
RAM is always good.

as an alternative, you might think about going for an array - multiple hard drives in mirror - hot swappable.

 

[Mike Bobbitt]

The current design already has 2x400Gb drives, possibly in a RAID-1 array, but not hot swappable. I think I'd need a custom drive cage for that, and of course a few more disks to get to RAID-3 or RAID-5. It was all supposed to be part of the long term maintenance plan.

As for RAM, you're right, we can always use that. I'll see what the final tally is once the numbers are in, but I suspect we're going to see a much better system than we'd anticipated.


Cheers
Mike

 

[Nfld Sapper]

As of 1153 hrs NDT

Server Cost $2371.33
Money Raised $1559.43
Still to go $811.9
Percent Complete 66% *

*Note this does not include any donation mailed to Mike.

Lets keep this up  op:

 

[riggermade]

Mike

I was just looking at the amount of money raised for this project and wa spleased to see how well it went.

I knew the subscribers here would not let you down

Steve

 

[Mike Bobbitt]

Indeed! We've exceeded our original goal and I'm now trying to find the best hardware for our buck out there. Thanks to all those who contributed!

 

[dapaterson]

A few thoughts off the top of my head for additions:

* A good UPS to let the system shut down gracefully

* Some sort of external backup device - because RAID isn't perfect

* Some sort of defence system - like sharks with frickin' laser beams on their heads...
        (And I guess the sharks will need a UPS as well, for the frickin' laser beams)

 

[Burrows]

How about we trick out army.ca with spinners and everything. 

SERIOUSLY.  WE CAN GET A GLOWING CASE FOR THE SERVER AND EVERYTHING. I can see it now!
"Today on pimp my webserver, army.ca goes from DELLed to chic shelled! Pimp my webserver will be back after these messages from our sponsors."

"Just can't get any good advertising online?  Try Honest Tess'!  For the measly price to CAD 25,000,000, Tess himself will use YOUR NAME in a post.  Yes folks, YOUR NAME, IN A POST.  Call today - 1-800-SCAM.

 

[RHFC_piper]

How about we trick out army.ca with spinners and everything. 

Two words;  Liquid cooling.


Then we could overclock the processors to a ridiculous speed...  This would have little to no effect on the forums, but the admin could post the benchmarks and that would make army.ca look like a bunch of l33t hAx0r's to the rest of the interwebby.  ;D (I will never use the term 'l33t' again as long as I live)


And if you could make the server bounce on some hydraulics, that would be even more sweet.  ;D

 

[Mike Bobbitt]

I was thinking of spending at least half the amount on a pearlescent paint job for the case, neon lights for the interior, matching coloured cables, and of course, shape the whole thing like a LAV.

 

[Mike Baker]

That is the way to go Mike  ;D

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Mike, I will mail a little coin on Monday,[when I finally get around to sending Dangerboy his touqe], however this means when I visit I get the real beer........no more 'maybe he'll leave' blueberry stuff. :clown: