Lessons Learned Through Several Computers

Revisiting Several Computers

Over time, I've configured a number of desktop and server computers in my personal digital domain, generally including some mix of Linux and Windows operating systems. When I do this, I usually collect notes about how well the process works or fails, in case the accumulated experience may be useful in the future. They were helpful in late 2018, as I've configured the latest system where I'm now typing and which is now, dare I say, idling smoothly. can't find screenshot This project assembles several of these histories in a single place.

Looking back in reverse chronological order, I summarize:

  1. vaviary, in which I deploy a small cloud-based server to host a web-facing application
  2. apollo, in which I obtain a second server box as below and configure it as a desktop system
  3. go3, in which I migrate the home server environment in 2017 to a contemporary hardware box actually designed for that purpose
  4. go-ng, where, in 2012, I repurpose a somewhat newer desktop system (originally manufactured in 2004) for server purposes
  5. gorilla, in which I build my first home server in 2009 by recycling an old desktop machine which had been a current model in 2003

Summary Characteristics

NameDateHardwareRAMDiskSysbench
vaviary 2019Virtual1 GB25 GB SSD650
apollo 2018Dell PowerEdge T3024 GB1TB + 2x4TB RAID1 + 1TB SSD4.8K
go3 2017Dell PowerEdge T308 GB1TB + 2x4TB RAID14.8K
go-ng 2012Dell Dimension 47001.5 GB1TB + 3TB~1.5K
gorilla 2009Dell Dimension 24001.5 GB400 GB (PATA)?

The table's sysbench column reflects the number of events/second as reported by the following command (as of sysbench v. 1.0.11, with approximation for earlier versions):
sysbench --threads=4 cpu run

Formatting Notes

Within the individual system discussions, I've applied CSS to highlight a couple of topics of interest:

Each discussion contains a quick summary of the motivations for that particular system build. The heading for that section is presented in a bolder font than the font used for other headings at the same level.

On some pages (particularly the one for apollo), I'd indulged in verbose titles. On narrower displays, shorter variants are substituted for some of these.