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| Author |
Message |
| 8 new of 41 responses total. |
scg
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response 34 of 41:
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Feb 1 03:32 UTC 2003 |
Grex actually has a Sun case that could be mounted in a 19" rack. The last
time I saw M-Net it was sitting on a shelf, but in colo facilities deisgned
as colo facilities 19" racks are a lot more common.
But if the current location is cheap and works and the large quantity of
kindling that used to be in the room has been cleaned up, the current location
probably isn't unreasonable. Probably the only thing Grex really needs that
it's not getting there is better air conditioning.
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tonster
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response 35 of 41:
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Feb 1 23:11 UTC 2003 |
I don't see any logical reason multiple calls couldn't be forwarded
simultanously, and even if that were the case, once the call has been
forwarded, the next call coming in could be forwarded. The odds of two
calls coming in at the exact same instance are pretty low. I mean,
thats basically what a hunt group is anyway. call forwarding on a bit
larger scale.
resp:34: M-Net is currently sitting in wwnet's new colo room (which used
to be the conference room). Anyway, it's moved around a bit (it sat
next to my desk for several months at one point, when I worked there),
but it's back under a desk with other non-rack-mountable units.
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mdw
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response 36 of 41:
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Feb 2 00:36 UTC 2003 |
The "official" rack mounting kits are typically somewhat expensive and
hard to get. However, there are plenty of cheap ways to mount almost
anything that will fit in a 19" rack that work just fine. One good way
is to get perforated shelving made for 19" racks, and just put things on
that. The perforations ensure good cooling, and most things made for
desktops and such will also fit in racks just fine. It won't "look"
quite as sexy as flush mounted 10.5" rack mounted units, but it is
compact and functional.
Today, there are now increasing numbers of 1U and 2U rack mountable PC
hardware of all flavors, ranging from bare boxes which accept standard
ATX motherboards, to fully assembled complete systems where somebody
else has already worried about cooling and other rack mounting issues.
The main issue with PC hardware that is still not pretty is dealing with
bios/console issues. In many shops, it is not uncommon to find a "vga"
switch, another approach is one of various "serial" bios console
solutions. With more traditional rack hardware (ie, cisco switches, sun
enterprise servers) the serial console has long been king, and network
engineers typically use laptops with serial cables to configure routers,
while sun servers might be attached to a serial concentrator and some
central "console" with many tip sessions and X.
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scg
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response 37 of 41:
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Feb 2 05:47 UTC 2003 |
What sort of hardware is being thought of for the "Next Generation Grex?"
Are the Sun Netra T1s (which appear to be going for around $1,000 on EBay)
up to the task of being Grex, or do they not handle multi-user stuff as well
as Grex would need?
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malymi
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response 38 of 41:
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Feb 2 06:57 UTC 2003 |
re #26: that seems pretty pricey. often you only need to forward one
line. there may be an additional fee so that multiple calls will be
forwarded. there may be another fee which can dispense with the per-
minute charges. and often the telco will forgo the need for a physical
line, though perhaps for a fee. naturally all those would only make
sense if they are small enough. e.g., a small isp i do work for has
several lines creating an expanded area for a couple of their pops --
for ~$40/mo each line has no per-minute rate, forwards multiple calls,
and doesn't have a physical line associated with it. which is way
cheaper than including the co's into a pri's coverage area.
otoh, telco's are allowed to do pretty much as they see fit (the software
in the switch is very versatile) so it may be that sbc (ameritech) has it
rigged so that it costs a lot more.
another possibility might be invoking the local number portability (lnp)
genie. the main issue with this is that though most telco's collect the
fee it's can be near impossible to get some of them to actually provide
the service, and i don't know whether sbc does it easily. a secondary
issue is whether the new location in the same lnp service area.
yet another would be coupling lnp with switching to a telco that has
wider coverage. the main issue here is that typically they want more
lines than grex needs. i mention it mainly because there may be one
around that will do it for small outfits, perhaps especially charitables.
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gull
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response 39 of 41:
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Feb 2 21:36 UTC 2003 |
Re #36: (BIOS issues)
www.realweasel.com
I've used one. It works as advertised. Not something many people need, and
it doesn't come cheap, but if you have an application where you need it, you
need it bad.
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mooncat
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response 40 of 41:
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Feb 3 19:25 UTC 2003 |
(sorry to have taken so long to pipe up, but the letter is fine in my
eyes Mary, though you've probably already sent it- thank you for taking
care of this, again.)
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mary
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response 41 of 41:
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Feb 3 23:23 UTC 2003 |
Yep, the letter was sent as soon as four board members
gave their approval and nobody seemed to object to
doing so. And since February 1st has come and gone
that should mean we are golden for another year.
(knocks on wood)
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