[H-GEN] PXE capable network cards

[Scott Burns]

David Jericho wrote:

> [ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and     ]
> [ Unix-related topics. Posts from non-subscribed addresses will vanish. ]
>
> Scott Burns wrote:
>
>> And speaking of moving on, where did you get your workstations?  We 
>> were using 533MHz EPIAs  in a small black box powered by an external  
>> 12V supply which came with 128MB RAM.   I had a look arounbd today 
>> and found a few places that sell the individual parts but the only 
>> ones with bundles are the faster CPUs which require cooling fans.
>
>
> The VIA V-8000 and V-10000 based boards at 1GHz don't need a fan, only 
> a a sufficiently large heat sink. In anycase, http://www.mini-itx.com/ 
> has all the info you're after. Considered a AMD Geode based system 
> instead of a VIA?

The large heat sink may be a problem.  If a larger case is required we 
could have problems with the power supply.  The main reason we stopped 
using commodity celerons was that the power supplies could only supply 
balanced power if a hard drive or CD was attached.  Without it the PC 
would struggle through the startup but always die once the CPU tried to 
boot the kernel.  With the exact same setup except an IDE device 
attached to the power supply only - no IDE cable - and we'd get 100% 
reliability.

I'll have a look at the AMDs though.  Thanks for the tip.

>
> > Michael Anthon wrote:
>
>>> [2] actually, worse, coal dust is more conductive than sugar...  oh, 
>>> and it explodes.
>>
>
> I have it on good authority that sugar dust explodes quite well given 
> the right conditions. The same problems exist in sugar storage 
> warehouses as do in coal facilities and other similiar environments.
>
I suspect this is more the icing sugar type stuff, and the explosions 
simmilar to that of flour.  Raw sugar tends to get dumped on the floor 
in a big steel shed, and moved around with front end loaders.  The ones 
I've been to have no real fire-fighting equipment or precautions.  Only 
a very small proportion of sugar gets made into icing sugar and the 
stuff you buy in the stores is generally mixed with other ingredients.

On the other hand, as soon as the cane gets cut it starts to ferment.  
After only 18 hours the effect is noticable and the cane is 
"condemned".  Even when crushed and dried, a little water and you get 
alcohol, with humerous effect on the parrots who always hang around the 
mills :)

Scott