Hi all,

Well, from what I can see on the management side, it looks like we are in need of a new server. Our current server is a hand-me-down and is about 4-5 years old. Although it has been a great server, the technology is limited and we need to make a move to an enterprise-class machine.

There are various reasons for something in the enterprise-level, but, most of the reasons have to do with manageability and disaster recovery. The enterprise machines will support things like remote management, redundant power, redundant operating system (RAID), lower profile, lower power consumption, etc. While I am sure you will see a small performance upgrade, my BIGGEST reason for the new server is reliability.

Most of you have seen the website go down every so often. While I can't say that a new machine will fix all of the problems, it will allow me to start with a fresh operating system and some new supporting services. Simply put, not all of our issues with crashing are hardware related, but, I really want to start with a machine that has absolutely ZERO hardware problems.

That said, our new machine is set to arrive next week. Here's what we are installing:

HP ProLiant DL360 G5 Entry

Rack - 2-way - 1 x Dual-Core Xeon 5130 / 2 GHz - RAM 1 GB - SAS - hot-swap 2.5" - no HDD - ATI ES1000 - Gigabit Ethernet - Monitor : none - 1U

I've added two 72GB hot-swap 2.5" SAS disks that will be used for our operating system. They will be installed in a RAID1 or hardware mirror. If we have a drive failure... the site will NOT crash in this configuration.

I also have a need for more memory. But, I am tapped out. It would be nice to have at least 4GB of memory (it comes with 1GB) and two more hard disks to hold our backups.

If any of you feel inclined to help with this cause, we could use the donations. Or, if you would rather purchase some memory, hard disks, or whatever... we'd appreciate the donations. You can use the "Support Us" button from the top menu.

I don't plan to move the club over to the new server for a few weeks, but, please let me know if you have questions or concerns.

-- Mike

Made my donation last month without being prompted, just because I appreciated the help I received in my Zcar purchase!

Same here, made mine a couple of weeks ago :classic:

I wonder when the red name thing started?

So I'll ask the obvious : How much money is needed , and how much was donated so far ? This is a direct numbers question, leaving guilt and appropriate slaps on the back for Mike and previous members that have donated ? No , I haven't as of yet , and I'm not sure I am in favor of the red name indicator . Just the hard bottom line please . Thanks !

Red Name? I also contributed, but I didn't get a red name. Don't care, really. The object is to get the site some $$$. Thought I should mention it though as I was harassing people to pony up. Cheers, Mike

Ok, I just went and kicked in a donation, it is the least we can do to support this wonderful site. My name turned red instantly!

I shall wear it proudly!

The red name thing must be quite recent. As noted, I also know of several monetary supporters whose names are not red. And I don't know for certain what triggers it, either. I made a new small donation via PayPal last night, but no change in my name. But as was also noted here, I really don't care. I know I donated, and that's all the matters to me.

btw, what OS are you going to run? may i suggest linux?

The site currently runs on Fedora (Core 4, as I recall), and I can confirm that it will continue to run on Linux, the final distro is yet to be determined. Probably Fedora or CentOS, as both Mike and I have Redhat certifications. Mike's is a bit old, mine is for RHEL5. So a Redhat-ish distro makes the most sense.

So I'll ask the obvious : How much money is needed , and how much was donated so far ? This is a direct numbers question, leaving guilt and appropriate slaps on the back for Mike and previous members that have donated ? No , I haven't as of yet , and I'm not sure I am in favor of the red name indicator . Just the hard bottom line please . Thanks !

Bottom line is flexible. The donated server is new, and up-to-date hardware. But it is fairly bare bones right now. It should have another 3 GB or so RAM, and 3 or 4 more SAS drives. It has a slot for a second dual-core processor as well. The drives are the most important, RAM second, and another processor third. We may also need a license for the remote management software. I haven't priced any of this out yet, but I'd guess $1500-2000. Which isn't at all out of reach considering how many of us there are.

^thanks for the update on the OS, Arne. Fedora is a good choice because there is a company to turn to if there's needed support. I'm running ubuntu (which is a debian distro) and the hardy heron release is coming up in a few months and will be an extended support distro for servers (2013 IIRC).

are you looking at solid state or SATA drives? i would think that solid state would be ideal for long term dependability (and since there's not MUCH needed space, price shouldn't be astronomical).

Mike thanks for all your work on the site. Over all these years I know it is hard to keep up the enthusiasm that you have. We all appreciate the site for sure. Gary

are you looking at solid state or SATA drives? i would think that solid state would be ideal for long term dependability (and since there's not MUCH needed space, price shouldn't be astronomical).

SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) drives. Most cost effective by far. The current server has over 70 GB data on it. We need to keep it all (pictures, mostly), and have room to continue to grow.

Thanks!

This site is a great! I'm really glad to have found all of you who love old Z's and are so willing to help others.

I attempted to make a contribution, but only shows thru PayPal, which I do not have. It mentions another payment option, but did not see a tab or button to do so otherwise. Can I just use a CC payment?

Hi all... just to clarify, your username will will turn RED if you use the tool provided by clicking on "Support Us" from the top menu. If you simply send a donation to our email address in Paypal, it won't turn red. Our system has the ability to do this automatically, but, only if you use the link as mentioned above.

I originally had the system indicate a red username for 1 day. If you create a recurring subscription (once per month support), your username will always be red.

The Paypal system can take credit cards even if you don't have a Paypal account.

I really appreciate all of the donations so far. I haven't had time to count them yet.... I'll do this soon so we can figure out if there's enough money to buy the extra options we need for the server. I'm planning to work with Arne to get the right gear for the site. So far, RAM and an extra few hard disks are the best option for us.

-- Mike

Update: I just changed the system so it will show your username in RED for 1-month after entering a single donation. Users who donate more than $50 will show up in RED for 1-year.

I also went back and modified the users who recently donated ... your names will appear in RED for 1-month.

If you donated and your name is NOT in RED (and you want it to be RED), please send me a PM so I can modify your username.

Thanks!

-- Mike