On Mon, Jun 04, 2001 at 10:58:26AM -0400, Paul Abrahams wrote:
Chris Reeves wrote:
On Mon, Jun 04, 2001 at 06:33:23AM -0500, TRBishop wrote:
On Monday 04 June 2001 03:04 am, Dave Smith wrote:
On Sun, Jun 03, 2001 at 03:02:41PM -0500, tb64710@alltel.net wrote:
I was given an old desktop machine last night. Compudyne.....with a 386-enhanced mode is a specific mode of Windows; it could still have a 486 processor. Run "MSD" (MS Diagnostics) to find out what is actually inside.
Thanks for the info. I'll have a look around before I toss it.
It'll definitely be useful for something...
I have many of those sorts of beasts. HD between 100 and 200 MB, RAM varying from 4 to 8MB and processors from 386/DX 20 to 486/DX 33. Useful to have. I wish all of mine had hard disks though. I might have some RAM if you want, but chances are that the RAM doesn't work :(
Turn it into a firewall - it's probably up to the job... The main server here is a 486/SX 33, upgraded to 12MB of RAM, with a 105MB hard disk. It happily copes with DNS, mail, DHCP, firwalling, routing, demand dialing, SSH, NTP, etc. which all runs on a modified version of SuSE 7.0.
How many firewalls do you need? More generally, Chris, what are you using those oldies for?
Sorry. Probably one of the key parts of my argument was the fact that I had a whole pile of them. They're on their way to becoming a Beowulf cluster. In the case we're discussing here, its best use is as a firewall (which was the original intention I think). If you deal with a lot of email (as I do), you can use these things as email stations. Stick one beside your main machine so that you can monitor email whilst working, or stick one in another room that you're in frequently. They can be handy things. Admittedly if most of what you do involves graphical programs, then it's not much use. However in my case, window manager essentially looks after 12 desktops of xterms, with Netscape, Licq, and a couple of multimedia progs the only exceptions. Hence most of what I do can be done on an old 386 ;-) Basically you can use an old machine as a dedicated machine for something you do a lot of or that requires 'monitoring' (e.g. email, IRC, MUDs, etc.) that would benefit from being on a separate machine. I suppose I just think of 'old' computers differently, since that's all I really use (my main machine is a P166MMX). Sorry, Chris -- __ _ -o)/ / (_)__ __ ____ __ Chris Reeves /\\ /__/ / _ \/ // /\ \/ / ICQ# 22219005 _\_v __/_/_//_/\_,_/ /_/\_\