Except for a couple of minor details, we have decided on the new science database machine. We again want to thank the donors very much for making this purchase possible! We received $9K in donations earmarked for this server. We received another $1K during the donation drive period that was not earmarked. We're calling it $10K donated for the server. The machine we are getting is around $13K with tax and shipping.

We are planning to get a Silicon Mechanics iServ R515.v2.1 outfitted as follows:

CPU: 2 x Intel Xeon E5620 Quad-Core 2.40GHz, 12MB Cache, 5.86GT/s QPI, 80W, 32nm
RAM: 96GB (12 x 8GB) Operating at 1066MHz Max (DDR3-1333 ECC Registered DIMMs)
NIC: Dual Intel 82574L Gigabit Ethernet Controller - Integrated
Management: Integrated IPMI 2.0 with KVM over LAN
Ext. SAS Connector: External SAS / SATA Connector for JBOD Expansion (SFF-8088) - Integrated
Drive Set: 12 x 1TB Seagate Constellation ES (6Gb/s, 7.2K RPM, 16MB Cache) 3.5" SAS
3ware 9750-4i, 6Gb/s SAS/SATA RAID (4-Port Int) 512MB Cache & BBU
Power Supply: Redundant 1200W high-efficiency power supply with PMBus - 80 PLUS Gold Certified
Warranty: Standard 3-Year Warranty

This system has 24 drive bays, of which we are initially populating 12. We are giving it the maximum possible memory w/o going to 16GB DIMMS (which I think it will take but is not a normal option and would be very expensive).

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Sweet! Any decision on a name? Oscar was suggested for emotional reasons.

http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=61436
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=61385&nowrap=true#1032539

Wow! I'm impressed, Whatever the new server is named It will be a fantastic server no matter what.

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Savoir-Faire is everywhere!
The T1 Trust, T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, America's First HST

RAM: 96GB (12 x 8GB) Operating at 1066MHz Max (DDR3-1333 ECC Registered DIMMs)

Damn, I wish I had that kind of RAM.

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Contribute to the Wiki!

Very nice specs!!!!
That will do the job he has te do!!! ;) :P

But however, keep using the current server also even the older once, but let they do services the can do. This way you spreat the services on more servers! This way you have an extra backup! :)

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I do what I can and I can what I do! :P

But does it play Oblivion, Halo Reach or Crysis 2 with everything on very high? ;-)

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But does it play Oblivion, Halo Reach or Crysis 2 with everything on very high? ;-)

Nope, they did not include a video card in that machine!!!

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Thanks so much for the update, Jeff.

That looks like it is gonna be one powerful rig!!
96GB RAM and 12TB drive storage....meeeeeeeeeeowza!
And even a 3 year warranty to boot (no pun intended).

The kitties await the deployment ceremony with much anticipation.
Somebody needs to take pictures of the christening for Seti posterity.

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

If you read correctly, no motherboard either. But hey, that's peanuts. :)

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Yes, there's a motherboard. No to Halo Reach. Gotta maintain those boundaries.

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But does it play Oblivion, Halo Reach or Crysis 2 with everything on very high? ;-)

Nope, they did not include a video card in that machine!!!

But it has powerfull integrated Matrox G200eW. I'm sure they could warm up the beast with Wolfenstein 3D to say the least :-).
And of course there's motherboard too... Storform iServ R515.v2.1

edit: Sorry for the off top. Jeff, but what's the story with the limits right now? I keep getting the same reached limit msg all day and I haven't seen those in ages. BTW, it's only CPU related.

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Who the hell is General Failure and why is he reading my harddisk?¿

Math is not my best subject.. But it looks like you need another 3K to finish it? (and that has definately gotten bigger as time has gone on.. )

Shall we warm up the other thread again?

and wouldn't it leave more room with 6x 2T's? There seems to be very little price difference... even 12x 2T drives?

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Janice

Jeff...Eric...Matt...

There are some questions and upgrades we are working on in my donations thread in the NC forum...
Please follow it and respond with any input please.

The Seti faithful are working on a possible warranty upgrade, a suggested hard drive upgrade, and wish to know if we are still $3000.00 short of placing the order.

Thanks.

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

I think is's a pitty, that a lot of the SETI-Crunchers aren't in the position to
DONATE! PayPal, is, for me, the only way.
I'm not going to explain why, but it's reality and sad, cause I think, they miss a lot of money, this way.
Gonna talk to my bank, if I can find a solution for this.

(Since I'm out of work, for a long time now,(serious health problems), my
income is far below normal, U.B. 30(%) of the minimum-wage, in the Netherlands!
Probably some are wondering why he is able to get a 470 and 480, official price,
€245 for a 470 and €410 for a 480, but I know the store-owner and can pay him,
by watching over his store and help with all kinds of repair-issues, so I pay 30%
of the retail price.)

Sometimes, I even feel a bit left out, by not donating, but that's my problem ofcoarse, but I don't like it.
On the other hand I think it's a shame, why SETI@Home get's so little funding, as this always has to have a direct purpose, as to where the funding is used for.
Just had to get this of my chest.

Anyway, wishing all a good weekend.
Fred.

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I think is's a pitty, that a lot of the SETI-Crunchers aren't in the position to
DONATE! PayPal, is, for me, the only way.
I'm not going to explain why, but it's reality and sad, cause I think, they miss a lot of money, this way.
Gonna talk to my bank, if I can find a solution for this.

(Since I'm out of work, for a long time now,(serious health problems), my
income is far below normal, U.B. 30(%) of the minimum-wage, in the Netherlands!
Probably some are wondering why he is able to get a 470 and 480, official price,
€245 for a 470 and €410 for a 480, but I know the store-owner and can pay him,
by watching over his store and help with all kinds of repair-issues, so I pay 30%
of the retail price.)

Sometimes, I even feel a bit left out, by not donating, but that's my problem ofcoarse, but I don't like it.
On the other hand I think it's a shame, why SETI@Home get's so little funding, as this always has to have a direct purpose, as to where the funding is used for.
Just had to get this of my chest.

Anyway, wishing all a good weekend.
Fred.

Fred, send a PM to uli, the cash donation specialist. There are ways.

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Gary, I am way ahead of you. I send a PM to him already. Where there is a will, I will find a way.

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Pluto will always be a planet to me.

Seti Ambassador
Not to late to order an Anni Shirt

(Re Gary & PayPal, it seems that someone in dire straights should not be encouraged to donate to this project. Saving a bit for future security might be more advisable.)

What is the plan for implementing the new server? Will an older one be decommissioned? Will any learning from the recent AC disruption be useful in planning for the server?

Considering recent activity on a "quick" fundraiser..

Is it a server yet?

We tried to take care of both what appeared to be a 3K shortfall, AND request a couple of upgrades. Please let us know how we did... and let us know when we are done with THIS server ;)

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Janice

Considering recent activity on a "quick" fundraiser..

Is it a server yet?

We tried to take care of both what appeared to be a 3K shortfall, AND request a couple of upgrades. Please let us know how we did... and let us know when we are done with THIS server ;)

I sent Jeff a PM asking for an updated set of specs and a timeframe, but have not received a response yet.
He may be busy with other things today.

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

Just want to chime in here for a moment and answer some questions - sorry if I haven't fully/properly parsed everything.

The name of the server will indeed be "oscar."

We will definitely keep the old server (thumper), which with all its many drive spindles is perfect for taking over the functionality of our older file server ptolemy (which in turn we'll probably decommission since it is certainly flaky).

For this new server we don't need bigger drives as much as spindles. Even then we're not sure if we just want to throw more spindles into one giant database RAID which may only serve to increase our failure vulnerability. Nevertheless, the donation totals increased over the weekend so discussions continue about what to spend this extra money on. Just get more drives and make a separate RAID? Will a second drive controller actually help? Should we get a couple solid state drives for increased i/o on less critical database functions (or make it swap space)?

In any case, we're pretty much good to go on this server once we decide if and how to spend this unexpected extra cash. We could always keep the server as is, maybe with an extended warranty, and then use the surplus thousands of dollars to go towards new server #2 (new web server? new mysql database server? who knows?) or towards another 12 drives to fill the empty bays if it turns out we do need them right away.

And, of course: thank you all, even if you weren't able to donate anything this time around!

- Matt

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-- BOINC/SETI@home network/web/science/development person
-- "Any idiot can have a good idea. What is hard is to do it." - Jeanne-Claude