The collected works of Dennis Nedry

Greetings to all.

I'm not really sure where else to post this. A while ago I was pinged by a close friend who apparently had a very large system up for grabs from a datacenter he works at. I could have sworn that they had policies for decommissioning this stuff (usually through IBM or some other corporation), but alas- I was informed that strings could be tugged and **if** I can arrange for pickup out of my own pocket, and I'd get a chance to actually own a real IBM z9 Mainframe ("OMFG").

I just got back from a day trip over there to take a peek at the unit, which was unfortunately still running as they've apparently yet to completely replace it with a z10. It's uh, big. I was basically pointed to what looked like a dual-cabnet chassis with a purple/blue stripe down the centre of one of the doors, and informed that was the unit I'd be looking to pick up in about a month. I got a peek behind one of the panels, which basically revealed a laptop running some sort of proprietary OS (OS/2?), some sort of fibre card cage on the bottom, and some peculiar looking components near the top with four very thick insulated "tubes" running to them- I'm assuming the thing has it's own compressor/condenser/evaporator for cooling.

Now, this is where I basically get lost. The expanse of my knowledge is limited to some foolery inside Hercules-390, IPL'ing the z/OS ADCD distribution and poking around in the Unix environment and ISPF.

In other words, I have zero hardware experience with this sort of iron.

I have no idea what sort of power this thing requires (aside from "lots"). I have no idea what sort of capabilities it has (aside from the 4x insulated tubes, which I'm assuming were running to 4 processors, or 4 groups of processors?), what the main storage size is, or what sort of disk drive gear it requires to boot (probably DASD?). Hell, I don't even know what the thing will boot- I'm assuming I sure as heck won't get z/OS with it, and I don't know if these machines boot Linux natively (though I do know Linux runs under z/VM, but again, z/VM isn't exactly torrentable).

So I guess my completely, utterly vague question is...

What could I do with this machine? Could I do anything with it at all?

Is this even something that can be hooked up to residential power? I can easily get a dedicated breaker panel installed, but I'm guessing something like this would run on 3-phase... Is 3-phase power something that can be brought into a residential building? Or would the power company laugh at me for even asking?

I have a feeling the answer is going to be "You should know this stuff, otherwise you're not fit to run a machine like that", but I gotta ask anyways. I'd love to be able to IPL an actual zSeries in my own house (garage), but I'm starting to wonder what sort of league this machine is really in. The largest system I've ever owned && run is a Sun 4800, which is like 1/8th the size of that z9. Likewise, I'd rather not dedicate my entire yearly salary to running said machine for a day, if that is indeed how much power it requires (google says the z9 tops at 18.3kW, minimum 9kW... Frankly, I have no idea what that rating means, since most of what I deal with is the 20A rated C19 server cords and the larger twist-lock wall sockets that most of my workplace UPS's plug into).

-DN

No, it's not that unit from Flickr. The tubing on the cooling system is slightly different, and I think there was only one laptop- but I could be wrong. The cable colors at the bottom were also different.

The machine is a 2094-S28, and though I can't get details on the exact specifications yet, IBM says that machine requires a minimum of 6.8kW and a maximum of 18.3kW of power, depending on the configuration, and dissipates 21.5kBTU of heat/hour to a max of 62.4kBTU/hour.

That's a lot of heat, and a lot of power, even at the low end.

I think bri3d is right on this one. They made it clear today that I would not be getting z/OS or anything that might contain any sort of software with it (probably due to licensing crap), nor am I getting any sort of storage systems or the equipment outside of the z9 EC cabinet. Apparently, my friend was under some pressure to let them format the laptop(s) inside the cabinet too- I'm pretty sure that would have rendered the entire thing useless as I'm guessing those are the HMC's and are required to IPL the entire setup.

So if I did pay to get it back to my house, hookup power, get some sort of cooling system probably installed on the side of the garage, buy some sort of DASD storage unit, I *might* be able to boot Redhat- quite possibly the world's most generic distribution of Linux.

Which really sucks, because I was looking forward to possibly playing with z/OS on real zSeries iron, but it looks like it would be cheaper by several magnitudes to just run out and buy a large HP x86_64 server or build my own if I /really/ felt the need to run Redhat, or run Hercules-390 on that if I really want to play with S/390.

Oh well.

Thanks for all the replies.

-DN

Woot!

Looks like I'm getting a zSeries after all!

Landed up going down there again to drop off some Sparc gear for my bud, and the "IBM guy" just happened to be sitting in his office twiddling his thumbs (apparently a very rare situation). So I landed up knocking on his door and chatting him up about the z9 EC. Not surprisingly, the unit does run off 3-phase power and requires dual 240VAC/60A circuits to boot. As I wasn't entirely clear what was going on before, the storage units (I think he called them a "shark"?) are being dedicated to the new machine, though it's not like I could have crammed them in the garage- they take up more room then the z9 itself and also require 3-phase power.

Went back down to the machine floor to take a look at a lone pSeries 275 and landed up walking past an already disconnected single cabinet zSeries machine. It had a red metallic stripe on the front rather then the blue/purple on the z9, so I asked about it... Turns out it's a z800/2066, with 16GB of RAM, ESCON/FICON connectivity options, HMC/Support Element (looked like a freestanding tower instead of a laptop), and it's licensed for z/OS (though again, no software included). There were also 4 DS6000 storage units installed in another rack, loaded with disk drives (not sure how many or what the size was- all I know is that it's apparently bootable, I'm guessing they're 36 or 72GB drives).

Turns out they're looking to get rid of this system, *and* the storage units too. Best of all, the z800 runs off single-phase 240VAC (still need a beefy breaker and some thick wiring though), and the DS6000 units run off 120/240 single-phase (dual C13 connectors on the rear).

The gear certainly wasn't free (I question if they were going to give me that z9 for nothing)- landed up paying $3750, plus time and effort to cart two racks, some sort of tape drive/library, two desktops (the p275 and HMC), a monitor, box of cables, and a bunch of documentation home. Got a truck lined up for next weekend, hopefully I'll be able to get a 240VAC line installed in my basement (which is thankfully walk-out) along with a window A/C unit to keep the z800 cool, along with a few ethernet lines up to my office so I can plunk the HMC down on my desk.

Either way, I'm told the machine shouldn't have any issues booting Linux, and apparently it's coming with everything I need to IPL it. Aside from the HMC which is preconfigured, the software is apparently my issue, so I suppose it'll be fun to get this machine up and running. Certainly the largest box I've /ever/ owned, and the fact that it at least boots Linux is nice (though z/OS would be nicer- I'll have to check out the z/VM trial).

The only real downside is that my 4800 got axed as a part of the deal- I don't have the need or desire to keep it around (it sucks up a fair whack of power and throws of enough heat to keep half the basement comfortable in the winter), and my friend said he'd gladly give it a good home... Hell, though, I'd trade a Sun 4800 for a frickin' zSeries 64-bit box any day.

Will try to post pics when I get the box in the basement and IPL'ing.

-DN

> Got any news regarding the system?

Um, ugh. Bit of a sore point with the other half at the moment.

I did land up getting the "equipment" shortly after I last posted (that was one hell of a day). It landed up being three racks- the z800, a rack with the DS6000's, and another rack with a quad set of IBM Ultrium libraries, all stuffed in the back of a large truck with not one but four P275's, the HMC machine, 5 Thinkvision LCD panels, and a few boxes of cabling, manuals, blank tapes, keyboards, and mice.

Apparently, my wife thought that "Three IBM racks" meant "Three IBM towers". Probably because I told her about the P275 and the HMC that were going in my office. So you can imagine the look that anyone would exhibit when they realize you've brought home more then a ton (?) of jet-black IBM equipment in three full-sized racks damned near the size of our refrigerator (each). The resulting footprint of all the gear in the garage booted out my car onto the driveway until I could figure out how to get it into the basement without marring the hardwood.

That really was only the half of it- because a few weeks later, we moved across Canada to Victoria, BC. All the house stuff fit in one truck (easily). I had to fly back the day after we arrived to rent a second truck, and haul all the IBM gear across Canada *again*, while the wife sat at home for two days with a refrigerator, microwave, our annoyed and confused cat, and not much else.

I've yet to work up the courage to phone an electrician and get someone down here to hook up a 240VAC mains in the basement for everything. Right now, everything except what I could cram in my office is sitting outside, on pallets, shrinkwrapped up. As much as I'd love to fire that stuff up right now, I have no idea what sort of wrath I'd be bringing upon myself if I launched into that hobby at this very moment. We're not quite settled into the new place so it hasn't really been a priority...

-DN

Greetings to all.

I've got the chance to purchase a fairly loaded Sunfire v880z. I initially thought it was a fairly boring v880, until I walked around to the back and noted the presence of four 13w3 connects on the /left/ hand side of the chassis... Yeah, you guessed it, dual XVR-4000's. The system is coming from a medical lab, and although the drives have all been pulled, the caddies are included and they didn't touch the RAM or anything else in the system. I *think* it has quad 1.2ghz processors and something like 32GB or 64GB of RAM, I'm not sure- the unit was apparently powering a proprietary display system of some sort, and they didn't have any 13w3 monitors to boot into OBP to check it out when I was down there.

As much as I /want/ the system, I don't know what I'd /do/ with it. I already have a metric ####ton of Apple and IBM gear, including the three racks that make up my z800, still taking up a parking spot in my garage, yet to be unwrapped. Figuring that my office breakers are pretty much topped off right now, I don't think the Mrs. would appreciate an 880z sitting in the kitchen hooked up to the 20A circuits over there (figuring that's the only other place I can pull +20A/120VAC).

They're asking around $2200 for the box, but I might be able to badger them down to ~$1600.

ATM, I'm only really interested in the XVR-4000's, because I've never /seen/ one of these in person (owned a few XVR-1000's, nice cards- though I'm told the XVR-4000 will kick the shit out of those anyday). More then likely, I'd be tossing the whole box up on Ebay or piecing it out as soon as I get it back home.

So... What are these XVR-4000's worth these days? All I can find is that the original list price was just shy of $30K/piece. As I've implied, I've never seen these on Ebay before, nor am I sure if there are even people actively searching for them. I certainly don't want to buy the box and have to stick it in my garage with the IBM gear, since I've got enough unhooked-up stuff lying around already.

$1600 seems a little high for such an old(ish) system, but again, I have no idea what the framebuffers are worth.

-DN

Thanks for the replies.

That's sort of what I figured. I wasn't sure if they were still worth anything (given the power of modern day cards), I just knew they were rare, having never came across one before. As I recall the XVR-1000's used to sell for a pretty penny (back before PCI Express), though these days I've seen them go for $40/pop or lower. I wasn't sure if the 4K's were in the same boat, but it sounds like it.

-DN

Time Machine + Caldigit VR backup drive ( http://www.caldigit.com/CalDigit_VR/ ).

I wouldn't recommend Retrospect unless you need multiple backup schedules and different sets of rotating backup media. On a production XServe managing a few hundred Mac workstations, yeah- Retrospect might be the way to go, but a Mac Mini is a borderline disposable server. Invest in a decent external drive, fire up Time Machine, let backupd do the heavy lifting and you're covered in case the Mini implodes.

-DN

From the Unix Haters Handbook: "How to Make a 50-MIPS Workstation Run Like a 4.77MHz IBM PC."...

-DN

What is it, and why is it built inside a box that appears to be 4-6mm thick metal?

They do.

The latches that are visible hold the panel on the side of the computer. The same mechanical part has a pin facing downward into each drive bay. When the lever on the back side is closed, that pin pushes forwards to the front of the case- locking in the drive carriers as well as locking the case panel. You can see the T cutout in the drive carrier if you pull one of the drives. If you remove the panel then re-lock the lever, you won't be able to yank any of the disk drives out.

They probably designed it like that so the drives wouldn't slide out of the bays or make contact with the panel and cause it to vibrate.

-DN

This.

I was once vacuuming out a bunch of old antiquated terminal server gear which had a whole bunch of dust clumps all over the inside of the chassis. At the time I didn't think anything of it, and used the house vacuum to clear out the machine. Of course the vacuum hose wasn't grounded and happened to be made out of plastic, so the static charge that was built up by the dust moving down the hose was rather impressive- enough to leap a 2" air gap with a sharp bang straight into the PCB.

That piece of equipment never operated properly again.

If you want to vacuum computer equipment out, please please please invest in a proper ESD safe vacuum cleaner. They cost anywhere from $100 to $300, the most typical models (which were sold by 3M and about a dozen other companies) resemble a black toolbox with a handle. The hose on those machines is electrically grounded via a three prong power plug, and the entire assembly is rated to suck up something as fine as toner without igniting it.

If you don't want to do that, then buy a $5 can of compressed air and use that instead.

Please, please please don't use your house vacuum cleaner. You can permanently damage your equipment, even if you're being careful with it.

-DN