Seti Crack Rack?

[Tetsuo316]

OK, none of this has anything to do with the race I'm in; I'm just curious.

What the hell is a crack rack? I know that it's used for Seti or rc5 or whatever, and my understanding is that you need linux to run it, but what are the components, why does it need linux, and how is it different than just having a bunch of machines running the program?

 

[BurntKooshie]

the term "crack rack" was coined by a very productive member, named "MagicMan" (who recently departed from TA), in which basically, the only thing that the computer does, is to do RC5 or some other distributed project. As such, it really only needs the bare essentials.

Thus, they consist of a mobo, processor, minimal needed amount of ram (at LEAST 32mb for S@H), power supply, heatsink/fan, and either an NIC, a floppy drive, or both. Many crack racks also use a video card, though its not strictly necessary if you can have it boot from the server, or the disk, and let it be.

I'm sure once Russ decides to come out from hiding about his near 10,000 posts, he'll tell you more

 

[Jani]

I was wondering what has happened to MagicMan. He hasnt visited here for ages. Anyone have inside information?

 

[Tetsuo316]

no hdd? where do you keep the info and program and os?

where does "rack" come in? are they all in separate cases, or just in a row?

 

[BurntKooshie]

no HD necessary in many cases In some cases, they get their information, and operating system by booting up through the server. In others, they get it directly from the floppy, where they get everything they need from there.

MagicMan decided that the current incarnation of Team AnandTech didn't suit him anymore, and so, as anyone would do when they don't feel "at home" anymore, he left. He's posted once or twice since then, and I hope he still frequents the forums, even if he continues to work for another team.

The "rack" part does indeed stem from the fact that they are just lined up, no case, "nekkid" so to speak, and are like a "rack".

 

[Tetsuo316]

thanks for the info BK! you've been very helpful.

 

[ndee]

I thought that a computer MUST have a Video Card? Otherwise, it can't boot

 

[JWMiddleton]

Hi Tetsuo316,

Click on this LINK to see Russ' crackrack.

 

[cory]

no a computer does not need a video card.

all you have to do is go into the bios and
turn the halt on erros to none.

in fact you dont even need a floppy drive.

you can get the boot info into a small rom
that then loads everything over the network.

i have a bunch of motherboards running redhat linux
this way. and with a 100mbit network they run
pretty well.

plus they dont use as much power. that is important
when you have a bunch of nodes, unless you want to run dedicated
power to the area. ( i am going to do that when i am done
with my vacation)

i am going to wait till some cheap mb's for athlon/duron
are out before i add more nodes. ( i still have about 3
of the celeron 300a's that i dont even have running,
along with powersupply's,nics and extra ram)

 

[JHutch]

Cory, not only are you a geek of the highest caliber...

... you're a geek with money enough to support his habit! A scary, but inspiring sight, indeed!

JHutch

 

[cory]

yea i like toys.

i got that robot lawnmover this year and
now i see that the cye robot
price has dropped big time.
that thing was like $1400 last year

now it is $695.

but i dont think i am going to buy many toys for the next
couple of months

i am taking a 4 month vacation, already about 7 weeks into it.

 

[JHutch]

For those of you outside the IT world, you might be surprised by the 4 month vacation Cory spoke about...

But most companies won't pay overtime to IT people, instead giving "comp time." I knew a guy at my last place of work who racked up 6 months worth of comp time in less that a year. He was working between 60-80 hours a week, every week! The man lived on coffee and nicotine, I think. Then, when the "crunch" time ended, and he was due for some R&R, the company bought out his "comp time" because they said they couldn't afford to have him gone for 6 months. He got a 2 week vacation to go play with his wife (who was starting to forget what he looked like), before heading back to the grind!

Gotta love IT work!

JHutch

 

[office boy]

Comp Time Owns

 

[Sukhoi]

Hey JHutch, did you see my post in Ray's post about the Columbus LAN party?

 

[cory]

60-80 hours a week would be an average week.

i have done weeks with over 120 hours of work put in.

but boy do you get burnt up.

 

[Sukhoi]

Wow, that's a lot of hours.

 

[imhotepmp]

Is there any good sources for instructions for say booting up through the network server, or just a floppy? Can you do this with only linux?
Im thinking about starting to do some rc5 and may set up a small herd

thanks

imhotepmp

 

[Twioz]

Try this . KlinuxIt was made by Kilowatt and is a great linux boot disk with rc5 aready on it and easy to follow instructions!