response 151 of 184:

Dec 18 14:08 UTC 2004

What exactly are "GB"? Gigabits per second (as in "Gigabit ethernet")?
Gigabytes per second? Gigabytes for the entire month? Gigabits for the entire
month?

response 153 of 184:

Dec 18 17:36 UTC 2004

Two things:

(1) I believe we can use pf in OpenBSD to do some form of traffic shaping,
to avoid going over our bandwidth allocation.

(2) Can the nextgrex machine be ready to go into colo by February 1?  Maybe
the best thing to do would be get everything ready and do the switch before
or during the move into colo.

response 155 of 184:

Dec 20 03:25 UTC 2004

I don't mind cutting back to 2 dialin lines.  I have not had a busy signal
for at least a year with 4 lines.  I signed up for $5 with access-4-free which
entitles me to 10 hours/month free internet connection and could telnet
instead if I were in a hurry for grex.  $5 is a one-time fee and if you go
over 10 hours it is $1/hour or $10/month max.  There is also m-net from which
you could telnet to grex if you paid to be a member.  USOL is $7/month for
use M-F 6-6 (?not sure of the exact hours).  Provide-net is $10/month and is
a worthy cause.  I wonder if they could set up some way to dial into their
own phone number and thence telnet to grex (but not use any other internet
services) for some minimal charge for such an account.

response 157 of 184:

Dec 20 14:16 UTC 2004

This is a good thing.

We need to figure out what to do with all the stuff in the pumpkin. 
There are a couple categories.

  (1) A small amount of stuff that is actually handy to have to at hand
      when working on the system.  For the Sun we have a couple ring
      binders with very useful documentation that I pretty often refered
      to.  It would be good to have a pen and a notebook, possibly some
      stickly labels or tape so you can put notes on things.  A supply
      of blank backup tapes.  Miscellaneous little screwdrivers,
      needlenose pliers, etc.  It would be nice if we could leave a
      box at the colo with small collection of this stuff.

  (2) A collection of spare parts for active machines.  The size of
      this collection will be much reduced once the Sun is no longer
      an active machine.  We won't have to keep as many spares once we
      are on a more normal machine, where you can readily go out and
      get new parts on short notice.  This stuff needs to be kept
      someplace where we can get our hands on it if necessary.  I guess
      somebody's house.

  (3) An awful lot of crap.  All sorts of old things we don't need any
      more.  Give it away or throw it away, I say.

response 159 of 184:

Dec 21 03:10 UTC 2004

I checked our DSL contract, and it says that if we terminate the contract
early, we must pay 75% of the remaining charges.  That's through July 15th.

response 161 of 184:

Dec 22 00:04 UTC 2004

That beats the 100% I was expecting.  Thank, Mark, for checking the 
fine print.

response 163 of 184:

Dec 23 00:23 UTC 2004

I think we are paying something like $130 or $140 per month for DSL

response 165 of 184:

Dec 23 19:57 UTC 2004

7 * ~$130 / month * 75% = ~$680.

That's a hell of a big chunk of change for grex to "eat".

response 167 of 184:

Dec 23 21:37 UTC 2004

How do you mean?  If grex wasn't moving, it would need the DSL line for its
internet connection, right?

Note that I'm all in favor of the move.  The question is, is there an optimal
timing that avoids as much of these "throw away" costs as possible?

response 169 of 184:

Dec 23 23:35 UTC 2004

 I would think the optimal day would work out to be the day on which our
pumpkin lease expires.

I don't agree. That's asking for something to go wrong, like the supposed
computer-mover calling in sick.

response 171 of 184:

Dec 24 01:43 UTC 2004

The following is my recollection of our monthly expenses.  Mark or 
anyone else should feel free to jump in and fine tune the numbers if 
needed.

Our monthly expenses, not including phone lines, come to 
approximately $325 a month.  That's:

$80 rent (due through May 2005)
$70 electric (as long as we are running computers)
$45 insurance (as long as we have the space)
$130 DSL

At Provide we're projecting montly expenses at $180 month, again not 
including phone lines.  This will buy us more bandwidth and hookup 
for a second machine.  We won't need liability insurance.  We won't 
be paying electric.

So the plan goes something like this - we move Grex into Provide on 
February first.  March 1st we're out of the pumpkin.  Completely 
out.  We'll pay off the remainder of our rent and turn over keys.  
We'll cancel our insurance and, hopefully,  get a refund on the 
unused months of coverage.  The policy runs through sometime in 
August, I believe.  The DSL gets cancelled by February 15th, 
hopefully, and the modems will then be at Provide.  We pay off the 
rest of the DSL contract that runs through July 15th ($130 x 5 x 
75%.  Again, these numbers are a approximate, but close enough to 
get an idea of what we're getting into.

So if the plan comes off as above here are the projected 
expenses not including those related to phone lines:


            Pumpkin          Provide

January     $325             $0

February    $290             $180    (estimated 1/2 usual electric)

March       $728             $180    (pay off Pumpkin lease, stop
                                      electric, no further insurance
                                      needed, DSL contract paid off)

April       $0               $180

May         $0               $180

By the end of our Pumpkin lease, at the end of May, we'll have spent 
$2063.  If we simply stayed at the Pumpkin and didn't go co-lo, we'd 
have spent $1625 and still be obligated to pay for 45 days of DSL, 
or approx. $200.  So moving early isn't going to cost us a lot and 
it will give us a much faster connection.

The real trick is going to be to get the Pumpkin empty by March 
first.  Lynne and I have a plan and it involves threats and sledge 
hammers.  But we'll save that for another item. ;-)

And I sure hope my math above floats.  Someone double check it 
please.

response 173 of 184:

Dec 24 03:10 UTC 2004

Tequila.  I could be talked into it.  Easily.

If we end up getting a rebate on the insurance, which I think we 
will, then that's another $225 we'll have in favor of being out of 
the Pumpkin by March 1st.  So it really gets very close to break 
even.