I picked up a set of 8 very nice core 2 duo desktops at the surplus auction today for $25-$50 each. A select few of these computers are better than ALL of the current systems at my apartment. In the next few days, I'll be upgrading 1) the "FFO" server, 2) the web server (which was itself upgraded only 2 months ago), 3) the Terulia test server, 4) my personal-use/BYOND/programming PC, and 5) setting up a second test server for cross-network testing and server splitting, etc.

The other computers (the spare core 2 duos, a Pentium 4, and 10 rack-mountable servers) plus the ones being replaced, will be wiped/refurbished/sold and/or scrapped as needed by my roommate, so I won't be messing with them personally.

Total cost of the 19 computers was $425.

I'll also be looking at getting a network switch to replace the current system (7 ports in series); having asked around at the auction, I think I can get a 24-port locally for $10.

I haven't been doing any work on Terulia lately since I was originally supposed to graduate this semester; that's been pushed back until spring, so once I get the work-related obligations under control in a week or so, I'll have some down-time to work on things.

Sorry for the recent outages; I'm not sure if it's because my roommate is not very bright, because my router was being hacked remotely, or both. It should be under control for now, though.

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I see, well good to know that you got some stuff that will help with FFO and Terulia. :P



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*** TFS/TRC server *** upgraded 12/9/13

old:
Pentium 4 HT @ 3.40GHz (Passmark CPU Mark = 402)
effective 3GB DDR2 RAM @ 533MHz

new:
Core 2 Duo E8500 @ 3.16GHz (Passmark CPU Mark = 2292)
4GB DDR2 RAM @ 800MHz

*** Terulia test server *** upgraded 12/14/13

old:
Pentium 4 HT @ 2.80GHz (Passmark CPU Mark = 334)
2GB DDR RAM @ 400MHz

new:
Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.00GHz (Passmark CPU Mark = 2168)
4GB DDR2 RAM @ 800MHz

*** legacy FFO server *** deactivated 12/15/13

old:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 6000+ @ 3.03GHz (Passmark CPU Mark = 1586)
2GB DDR2 RAM @ 667MHz

current:
moved to the Terulia test server (port 2446)

*** general home use PC for BYOND, etc. *** 12/16/13

old:
Pentium 4 HT @ 2.80GHz (Passmark CPU Mark = 334) overclocked to 3.08GHz
2.5GB DDR RAM @ 266MHz

new:
Core 2 Duo E8500 @ 3.16GHz (Passmark CPU Mark = 2292)
8GB DDR2 RAM @ 667MHz

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To continue where I left off...

Following the earlier posts in this thread, I setup all of the acquired desktops and managed to sell a handful of them. Unfortunately, all of the remaining spare computers were stolen by a former house-guest. He luckily didn't take the Terulia test server, my personal/home computer, or the web server.

Since then I have moved to a new location with much more reliable internet and a generally nicer environment. You've probably noticed (since you're reading this), that the website is back up following an extended downtime.

You may have also noticed that I've started working on Terulia again. All of my work at the moment is going toward facilitation of server splitting, because without this feature, the game will hit the same brick wall that prevented FFO from being more populated in its prime.

Today I went to another surplus auction, did quite well, and got very lucky. The total cost was $305. For that price I acquired 2 good, working projectors, a pallet of UPS batteries (some of which presumably work, as of yet I don't know), a pallet of mostly Pentium 4 computers, and a server rack with 3 RAID arrays and a blade server. Perhaps best of all though is that one of the RAID arrays had its full complement of hard drives, so I ended up with 16 bonus 250GB SATA hard drives. The rack also included a gigabit switch, which is something I've been passively seeking for a while now. not bad for a bid of $10 on a rack no one wanted.

Although my existing servers are not blades, I will me moving them to the rack for easy access and convenience. As a result, there will be a short downtime - probably in a couple of days. The new PCs have been triaged, and the ones worth fixing up have been set aside. Most of these will be sold; a couple will be retained for Terulia testing. In short, I will be more active in developing Terulia, and I think my acquisitions today will help move things along in the long run.

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Congratulations, good to see that you're getting what you need to improve your games ^.^

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This evening, I will be moving the servers and components into the rack, testing the gigabit switch, testing the Xeon blade, and probably upgrading the TFS file server from 80GB to 250GB. Expect a substantial (several hours of) downtime.

still no word on the BYOND bug that's periodically disabling the forums.




update: The rack has been set up, the gigabit switch is fast as hell and incredibly convenient, and the TFS file server has been updated. It appears that the old file server drive was beginning to fail, so the timing of the replacement was very good. The blade sounded something like a jet engine when I tested it, so I'm scrapping it for parts.

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