# FA Announcement: Bahamut



## Dragoneer (Jun 13, 2007)

The new data storage server has been ordered! For those who aren't in the know, the server was meant to be ordered a month ago, but was pushed back due a key member of our staff taking ill.

But, here are the specs for the new data storage server. 

*Server Case:* Tyan Transport GT20 B2925G20V4H
*CPU: *Dual-core AMD Opteron (2.0GHz)
*Memory: *2 x 1GB 667MHz DDR2
*RAID Controller Card:* 3ware 9650SE-4LPML
*Storage: *4 x 500GB SATA Seagate Barracuda ES (2TB total worth of data before RAID)

MASSIVE storage capabilities with excellent processing power.


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## Sslaxx (Jun 13, 2007)

Good stuff! When're you planning on implementing it?


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## Dragoneer (Jun 13, 2007)

Sslaxx said:
			
		

> Good stuff! When're you planning on implementing it?


As soon as we can. The server will take a few days to build, test and ship. It's a high priority to get the server implemented and ported over.


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## dave hyena (Jun 13, 2007)

On the main site, the announcement refers to: "Our new server, Tiamat", but this thread says "Bahamut".


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## Dragoneer (Jun 13, 2007)

Dave Hyena said:
			
		

> On the main site, the announcement refers to: "Our new server, Tiamat", but this thread says "Bahamut".


Fixed. Tiamat is the quad-core Opteron DB server. I wrote that rather tired... Bahamut is the name of the new storage server, replacing Gecko.


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## Kattywampus (Jun 13, 2007)

Congratulations!
I'll drink to that! (after I get back from work)


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## SoshimoJunai (Jun 13, 2007)

Yay! But AMD?

All I want to know really is who thinks up of these names? They're really cool but totally random in my view


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## codewolf (Jun 13, 2007)

SoshimoJunai said:
			
		

> All I want to know really is who thinks up of these names? They're really cool but totally random in my view


well your not exactly gonna call your beloved pc/server "pc2457c-225" are you? as it is i have "Peace", "Tranquility" and "Logic" as my 3 pc's names


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## Vgm22 (Jun 13, 2007)

That's so awesome to hear that! ^^ Congrats on getting it!


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## Bloodangel (Jun 13, 2007)

Congratulations on your l33t purchase. ^^


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## selth (Jun 13, 2007)

hum, that seems nice at first.
but 500G drives tend to heat like hell...
What operating system are you gonna use too?
And yet I see that you also plan to use a RAID... will you use a RAID5?


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## Magica (Jun 13, 2007)

codewolf said:
			
		

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Ditto. My PC is named Nosferatu


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## dragonfan (Jun 13, 2007)

DragonMagica said:
			
		

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HAHAHAHAHAHA ROFL


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## Dragoneer (Jun 13, 2007)

DragonMagica said:
			
		

> Ditto. My PC is named Nosferatu


My PC's are nicknamed Xerxes, Shodan and Ba'al.


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## Bokracroc (Jun 14, 2007)

Nerd (As far as I know, a guy in Dune or Aladddin, System Shock 2 and a demon or means Lord).






Go random knowledge recall abilities.

My old one was called Blue Bubble and this one is called Anachronox.


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## net-cat (Jun 14, 2007)

Heh. Very nice. I wish I had those servers. But I guess I'll just have to work with my Sempron 2600 and Pentium 3 1GHz. 

As for computer names: Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Feline, Canine


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## themocaw (Jun 14, 2007)

Mine is Molly, and my hard drive names are Wintermute and Neuromancer.  Look it up.


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## codewolf (Jun 14, 2007)

net-cat said:
			
		

> Lithium, Beryllium, Boron,


you do waaay too much chemistry


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## offthewall234 (Jun 14, 2007)

Here is my question to the hyena:

Why can the old Gecko not be used for more space and capabilities? It could certainly be used as a secondary server, or even a redundant server.


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## net-cat (Jun 14, 2007)

codewolf said:
			
		

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Hardly. I haven't done any chemistry in four years. Using the periodic table saves me from having to come up with ... y'know ... creative names.

Actually, during my brief Linux stint in the late 1990's, I named my computer "allevil." That way I could be the root of all evil. Oh, to be 13 and easily amused again...


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## Dragoneer (Jun 14, 2007)

offthewall234 said:
			
		

> Why can the old Gecko not be used for more space and capabilities? It could certainly be used as a secondary server, or even a redundant server.


Good question, and here's your answer:

The old Gecko server could be refit and retained, however, there are few problems. Gecko uses a 4U style case (aka "big as hell") and takes up a lot of room in the colo rack. 

To upgrade Gecko to fit our current needs, we'd need to replace the entire case. Despite the size, Gecko only has two built in HDD racks, meaning it can ONLY have two storage drives. Not very workable. Second, we'd have to purchase new fans for the CPUs and mounting items. And a new RAID controller card (Gecko's only supports 2X RAID). Also, we'd need to still buy all new storage drives. To retrofit the server, we'd also have to bring FA down for a few days to make the hardware changes and burn-in diagnostics. Changing out gear and hardware on a server without proper burn ins is a result for failure. Even with proper burn-ins, FA's original malfunctioned motherboard didn't catch up to us until later. But to NOT do diags is not a smart idea.

The price of upgrading and getting all the individual parts is cheaper, but less economical in the long run. It's better to invest slightly more money and get a system that will last longer than pump a ton of money into an older server that may not be able to keep up over time.

Getting an entirely new server costs more, but there are benefits.
1) The new server is smaller, giving both us and our host more room
2) The new server is cooler. Less heat = less wear and tear.
3) Three year warranty. Say it with me! Show the love.
4) Faster! All the parts are current gen tech, meaning they're faster and more efficient.

Gecko is being turned over to Gushi, our server host. I'm sure the box will more than likely benefit FA over time.


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## Meganutter (Jun 14, 2007)

i have a server too, its called Netfinity XD
its down at the moment need to fix it once


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## Dragoneer (Jun 14, 2007)

Bokracroc said:
			
		

> Nerd (As far as I know, a guy in Dune or Aladddin, System Shock 2 and a demon or means Lord).


Xerxes and Shodan are references to System Shock in my case. My Primary PC (C2D e6600 w/ 8800GTX KO ACS3) is Shodan and my Tablet PC is Xerxes. My second laptop, and Alienware system, is Ba'al. He used to have two bothers, Diablo and Mephisto. Diablo was a hot-as-shit SLI AMD system sold to Zerohour (FA: United Constaff) and Mephisto, my quad-core Opteron workstation with 8GB of RAM, I donated to my dad to help him start his company.


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## Meganutter (Jun 14, 2007)

i know those names, but i remember ba'al being without the apostrophe XD


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## blueroo (Jun 14, 2007)

selth said:
			
		

> hum, that seems nice at first.
> but 500G drives tend to heat like hell...
> What operating system are you gonna use too?
> And yet I see that you also plan to use a RAID... will you use a RAID5?



FreeBSD
Raid10
I've never had problems with 500G drives overheating.


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## Ashkihyena (Jun 14, 2007)

Does this mean that I can assume that a search engine is finally going to get implemented, and maybe even groups by chance?


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## blueroo (Jun 14, 2007)

Ashkihyena said:
			
		

> Does this mean that I can assume that a search engine is finally going to get implemented, and maybe even groups by chance?



This is a new server, not a new software release. Sorry.


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## Ashkihyena (Jun 14, 2007)

blueroo said:
			
		

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ah hell, that means that we're never going to get those features.


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## blueroo (Jun 14, 2007)

Ashkihyena said:
			
		

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The new hardware has nothing to do with future software releases.


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## Ashkihyena (Jun 14, 2007)

Well, somethings keeping the new software from being installed, and its taking longer then it needs to honestly, especially with the filters and search engine, bad, bad, bad, bad.


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## blueroo (Jun 14, 2007)

Ashkihyena said:
			
		

> Well, somethings keeping the new software from being installed, and its taking longer then it needs to honestly, especially with the filters and search engine, bad, bad, bad, bad.



Is that an offer to donate enough money to pay the coding staff a salary? We're going to need that before we can work on FA full time. I know it's greedy of us, but we only have so much free time we can give to FA outside of our day jobs.


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## net-cat (Jun 15, 2007)

Heh. I'd love to donate. But it's not like my coffers are overflowing with loose cash...

*wishes there was a way to make non-monetary contributions*


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## codewolf (Jun 15, 2007)

thats quite an idea net-cat.... as we saw on the "Are there any programmers in here" thread there are actually quite a few coders on this board, and im sure most of them would love to be able to contribute to the site... even small amount would take stuff off your hands


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## Bokracroc (Jun 15, 2007)

Preyfar said:
			
		

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Ah shit. I forgot all about Xerxes in SS2:x *commits Nerdaside*


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## net-cat (Jun 15, 2007)

codewolf said:
			
		

> thats quite an idea net-cat.... as we saw on the "Are there any programmers in here" thread there are actually quite a few coders on this board, and im sure most of them would love to be able to contribute to the site... even small amount would take stuff off your hands


Heh. With a site that has a membership as large as FA, of course there are programmers who are willing to help. However, given the nature of the site, they probably only want people that they know and trust messing with the site code. You and I probably don't qualify.


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## Dragoneer (Jun 15, 2007)

Bokracroc said:
			
		

> Ah shit. I forgot all about Xerxes in SS2:x *commits Nerdaside*


_"What is a drop of rain compared to the storm? What is a thought compared to the mind? Our unity is full of wonder which your tiny individualism cannot even conceive."_
The Many


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## Firehazard (Jun 15, 2007)

Thought there already _was_ a search engine that had to be taken offline because of server strain.  Can't that just go back up, for now at least?


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## dave hyena (Jun 15, 2007)

Firehazard said:
			
		

> Thought there already _was_ a search engine that had to be taken offline because of server strain.Â Â Can't that just go back up, for now at least?



This new server will add extra storage space, however that won't help with the search engine (as it would work ATM) using up massive amounts of processing power and slowing the whole site to a crawl. That can only be solved by new software I believe.


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## Epsereth (Jun 15, 2007)

Hah. My computer's name is Asmodeus. I think all these names say a lot about our attitudes regarding our machines.


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## gliengul (Jun 15, 2007)

Preyfar said:
			
		

> Fixed. Tiamat is the quad-core Opteron DB server. I wrote that rather tired... Bahamut is the name of the new storage server, replacing Gecko.



lol, do I smell FFVIII references?
(hopefully being Named 'Tiamat' doesn't affect the DB server's 'attitude' as she was a nasty one if you gave her an inch in the game)


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## Bokracroc (Jun 16, 2007)

Epsereth said:
			
		

> Hah. My computer's name is Asmodeus. I think all these names say a lot about our attitudes regarding our machines.


Mine werer named after a Video Game and what it looked like


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## Dragoneer (Jun 16, 2007)

gliengul said:
			
		

> lol, do I smell FFVIII references?


Nope. You smell Dungeons and Dragons references.  However, if you want a Final Fantasy reference, our backup server is called Phoenix Down.


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## codewolf (Jun 16, 2007)

Epsereth said:
			
		

> Hah. My computer's name is Asmodeus. I think all these names say a lot about our attitudes regarding our machines.



you say that...but "tranquility" (my main machine) is about as un-tranquil as you can get with a mother of a 5.1 system, dual screen etc..etc.. (the list goes on)


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## imnohbody (Jun 16, 2007)

On a tangential note, I think the funniest machine name I've seen was the one given to Nick's computer, in the web comic General Protection Fault: Pandora.

The explanation: "When you open the box, bad things happen."

Mine is somewhat geekish in another direction. One computer's name is Eisen, and another's is Blair, in the Victory group.

(+1 internets for those who get the reference)


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## codewolf (Jun 16, 2007)

damn i recognise the eisen could it maybe be a bleach reference?? and the blair in the victory group??? man youre gonna have some serious problems getting blair to "speak" to the other computers without sending false information.


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## Meganutter (Jun 16, 2007)

i think i have the most normal  servername of all, I WIN... whats my prize?


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## imnohbody (Jun 18, 2007)

codewolf said:
			
		

> damn i recognise the eisen could it maybe be a bleach reference?? and the blair in the victory group??? man youre gonna have some serious problems getting blair to "speak" to the other computers without sending false information.



Erm, not quite.

Think PC games. All 3 are from the same source.


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## codewolf (Jun 18, 2007)

imnohbody said:
			
		

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lol not a clue, and sorry for the political pun


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## themocaw (Jun 18, 2007)

Colonel Christopher Blair and Captain William Eisen of the TCS Victory, the heroes of the Kilrathi War?


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## Dragoneer (Jun 18, 2007)

themocaw said:
			
		

> Colonel Christopher Blair and Captain William Eisen of the TCS Victory, the heroes of the Kilrathi War?


Fuck Admiral Tolwyn.


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## imnohbody (Jun 18, 2007)

themocaw said:
			
		

> Colonel Christopher Blair and Captain William Eisen of the TCS Victory, the heroes of the Kilrathi War?



Yup, that'd be them.



			
				Preyfar said:
			
		

> Fuck Admiral Tolwyn.



Personally, I can't help but wonder if the writers for the FMV games with him in it would have gone differently if another actor was playing the part. The Tolwyn portrayed in the novels (both novelizations of the games and stand-alone works) was a much more interesting character than the typecasting of McDowell as "LOL badguy a**hole".

(Hell, they pulled it off in the animated TV show that aired in 1997, even with McDowell doing Tolwyn's voice.)

That, however, is not only another subject, but another forum entirely.


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## Growly (Jun 18, 2007)

So... is this going to make it possible to actually upload things now? 
I've been trying to upload a submission all day... Usually when I have trouble I can just refresh and try again, but this is getting ridiculous.


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## foxystallion (Jul 17, 2007)

SoshimoJunai said:
			
		

> Yay! But AMD?



Most AMD chips cost less and run cooler.  The latter is a substantial virtue for long reliable equipment life.  For most electronic equipment,  life drops exponentially with temperature increase.  I've worked on space programs where well designed equipment is still sending back data after more than 30 years.  It's a good choice, provided that they bought a power supply rated for at least twice the power they will be using.
_Ye Olde Aerospace Physicist_


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## Dragoneer (Jul 17, 2007)

foxystallion said:
			
		

> Most AMD chips cost less and run cooler.  The latter is a substantial virtue for long reliable equipment life.  For most electronic equipment,  life drops exponentially with temperature increase.


That was definitely true before the current iteration of Xeon/Core 2 Duo chips. The new chips run cool and perform rather strongly. In fact, I would have gone with a Xeon in this build, but the Xeon requires RAM that costs 4x the price, and... yeah. Better invest the money into better things. =P


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