[TriLUG] Slightly OT: >> ULB

[Brian A. Henning]

This is just a guess on my part (but it makes sense to me...), but could it
mean "Ultimate Linux Box?"

Given that hypothesis, I think the object is to build the best possible
fully-Linux-compatible machine.

Personally, you'll not likely find me shelling out $3k for a computer any
day (unless I happen to make $millions some day)..  I don't have any actual
figures or statistics, but it seems like computers depreciate worse/faster
than cars..

~B


-----Original Message-----
From: trilug-bounces at trilug.org [mailto:trilug-bounces at trilug.org]On
Behalf Of William Sutton
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2004 2:50 AM
To: Triangle Linux Users Group discussion list
Subject: Re: [TriLUG] Slightly OT: >> ULB


I'm curious, first as to the definition of "ULB" and second as to what
you're trying to do here.  However, it's possible to build a box with the
specs listed.  I personally have a box that contains

- Iwill DPL-533
    - http://www.iwillusa.com/products/ProductDetail.asp?vID=152&CID=91
    - Onbard 10/100/1000 broadcom nic
    - capable of up to 8 Gb SDRAM
    - 4x/8x AGP slot
    - 1 PCI-X/133 slot
    - 1 PCI-X/100 slot
    - 1 64 bit PCI/66 slot
    - 2 32 bit PCI-33 slots

- Matrox G450 dual vid card
    - http://matrox.com/mga/products/mill_g450/home.cfm
    - AGP 4x
    - 32 Mb RAM

- 1 GB RAM (2 512 sticks)

- 2 Xeon 2.0 GHz processors

- SBLive Value PCI

- Adaptec 2940 SCSI-2 card
    - 1 external 68 pin connector
    - 1 internal 68 pin connector
    - 1 internal 50 pin connector

- 2 SCSI HDDs (~ 18 Mb)

- SCSI CD-ROM (Plextor 12/20 Plex)

- SCSI CD-R (Plextor PlexWriter 8/12/20)

- Floppy drive

- Zip drive

- Charcoal ATX form factor Antec case

- Vantec Stealth 520 W power supply (Xeon capable)

- 2 ViewSonic E90fb 19" Monitors

- PS/2 keyboard & mouse

Notes...I haven't kept track of how much it cost to put all this together,
but it's in excess of $3000 :)  Also, DRI doesn't seem to be supported
under Linux for the chipset on the mainboard (works fine for the Matrox on
other boards, just not the Iwill).  The Iwill board variant I have is an
ATX form factor board, and is guaranteed to run under Red Hat 9 by Iwill.
The system does run very stably under Red Hat 9, but was prone to constant
lockups under Gentoo (not sure why).  Gigabit is supported under Linux,
and shows up on my gigabit hub.  If you're interested in details, I'm
thinking about bringing it to the installfest.

William

On Mon, 19 Jan 2004, z wrote:

> On Monday 19 January 2004 12:59 am, Jon Carnes wrote:
> > As a counter point, I purchased several "quiet" fans from a specialty
> > site (that specialized in selling quiet components) and they worked
> > quiet well.  :-)
> >
> > You may have also noticed the machine I demo'ed with at the last TriLUG
> > meeting - noticed it for how quietly it ran.  Jason Tower built that
> > machine, and it is so quiet, I have to put my hand behind it to make
> > sure the fans are working (they are!).
>
> This makes me think that we ought to pull all of our collective knowledge
and
> come up with TriLUG's very own ULB. After reading the ULB article in Linux
> Journal this year, I was very disappointed to see them go for the "latest
and
> greatest with little support" over the "best of the compatible"
components.
>
> The criteria could be defined as follows:
>
> 1. Case
> 	- mid/full tower  or other format
> 	- quiet
> 	- atx mb compatible
> 	- accept full length cards
> 2. Mother board
> 	- dual processor
> 	- intel or amd
>  	- USB 2.0
> 	- capable of 4GB ram
> 	- linux compatible
> 3. Graphics Card
> 	- non-proprietary linux drivers available
> 	- single or dual head
> 	- min 32MB ram
> 4. Hard Drives
> 	- SCSI/ATA Controller
> 	- minimum 40BGb
> 5. Sound Card
> 	- ALSA compatible
> 6. CD-RW/DVD-RW
> 	- SCSI/ATAPI
> 7. Network Card
> 	- 10/100/1000 Compatible
> 	- Non-proprietary drivers
> 8. Keyboard/Mouse
> 	- USB
> 	- Wireless
> 9. Speaker System
> 	- ?
> 10. Monitor
> 	- Minimum 17"
> 	- Flat Screen
> 11. Other?
>
> Anyone care to try?
>
>

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