Re: [Devil-Linux-discuss] [BULK] Re: [BULK] Quad port nic

[Frank W. <Fra...@ct...>]

Hi again,

I have had a lot of trouble with CDs (the surface gets all 'foggy' with dust, 
and the drives start to fail after some time)... I started out with 25 
Fujitsu-Siemens Primergy L100, later RX100 servers. Then I ripped the CD 
drives out, and somehow stuffed IDE-Compactflash Card adapters inside, and DL 
runs from the CF cards. As you have GRUB on the CF-cards, you can do remote 
upgrades: you need to have CF-cards big enough to hold 2 iso images (ie 1GB 
CF-cards at the moment). There are parameters for the DL kernel/boot-scripts 
that you can set in GRUB that let you select which iso you should use, and 
where to look for the etc.tar.bz2 file. So technically you _can_ do remote 
upgrade, but it takes some preparation (IIRC, you need to have to partitions 
on the CF card, you need to extract the new kernel and initrd from the new 
iso).


I have done this several times, but as I have started out with 512 MB CFs, 
they are to small now, so I just send (CF + USB) pairs around. It requires a 
screwdriver-savvy person at the receiving end, but that is not a problem in 
my case.

I have no HD's in my boxes (no moving parts except fans). syslog goes to a 
central server (into mysql). Some locations mount a local share in order to 
have squid's logs if they're into that.

BTW, I also started out with floppy disks for etc.tar.bz2 but these 
drives/media don't like that either in the long run.

One could probably get away without CF cards, putting the iso and the config 
on a USB-stick. I can't do this because
a) my old appliances can't boot from USB, 
b) 1GB+ USB drives sticking out of the front are likely to get stolen. 
I usually try to get the smallest (in capacity), clunkiest and least sexy 
USB-sticks I can find.

Feel free to ask if you need any additional info...

Frank

On Friday 16 May 2008 11:16:42 Jacob Sandin wrote:
> NSA 1045, Looks very nice I have asked my hardware supplier to see if he
> can find prices for them.
>
> I am used to running DL with CD boot, so sorry if my coming question is
> dumb :)
>
> Do you run DL from the harddrive or the CF, if you run it from the
> harddrive is there an easy way to do upgrades? To the latest DL.
>
> I am quite used to just sending along a new CD and a USB pen.
>
> Thanx a lot for the NSA recommendation, a lot more professional looking
> than what I run today :)
>
> Kind regards.
>
> Jacob Sandin
>
> -----Ursprungligt meddelande-----
> Från: dev...@li...
> [mailto:dev...@li...] För Frank Weis
> Skickat: den 16 maj 2008 10:33
> Till: dev...@li...
> Ämne: Re: [Devil-Linux-discuss] [BULK] Quad port nic
>
> Hi Jacob,
>
> I have one of these in an older firewall:
> Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82546EB Gigabit Ethernet Controller
> (rev 01)
> Subsystem: Intel Corporation PRO/1000 MT Quad Port Server Adapter
>
> It works well, but it was relatively expensive I think. If you don't need
> Gigabit, you might find cheaper ones....
>
>
> I now buy Nexcom appliances, and I'm sure a "NSA 1045" with two FE and two
> GBit ports is in the same price range than the intel adapter. Check these
> out, they are really neat for Devil-Linux: rackmountable, all ports on the
> front-panel, integrated CFlash reader, serial console. It's exactly what
> you need to build a firewall, and nothing more. NSA 1042 (4 GB ports) are
> around 600€ the last time I bought some.
>
> Good luck,
>
>
> Frank
>
> On Friday 16 May 2008 09:53:44 Jacob Sandin wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I was thinking about getting a Quadport card for one of my
> > Devil-Machines. But I have absolutely no idea about what card to get.
> >
> > I need it to work with VLAN and to manage 100 Full-duplex.
> >
> > Does anyone of you have any experience or recommendations?
> >
> >
> > Kind regards
> > Jacob Sandin
> >
> > Centrum för Effektivt IT
> >
> >
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