Needed: Cheap computer to show off e-portfolio

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Brian on May 17, 2011 at 11:08pm

You might also consider a VPS solution such as xen. Can be had cheaply and probably way better SLA than you'd achieve

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David on May 22, 2011 at 7:30am

Hi Erik,

 

How is your project coming along?  I'll also be graduating from UH soon and I want to migrate my portfolio and blog onto my own domain and server.  I've thought about setting up a Linux box at home using my own internet connection, but security and dynamic IP issues are making me consider a third party hosting solution instead.  How did you address these problems?

 

I've looked around for some free/cheap options and the best one I've found so far is http://aws.amazon.com/free/.  It's free but only for a year.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Erik Hill on May 22, 2011 at 2:23pm

That's interesting but it's too confusing for me to figure out how much I might actually pay when the time is up!

 

Each service is billed separately.  I'd rather just pay for raw bandwidth some set amount, of $x/month for some high cap.  After all it won't be particularly intensive and probably won't have many visitors (one can hope otherwise...).  I plan to use a separate machine and afraid.org to redirect to a moving IP if possible.  If not I'll find some simpler service.  As for security, I don't suspect that it would be more secure to hand the keys over the someone else than run your own BSD server.  Not a day goes by that you don't hear about some corporate behemoth's utter security failures, I'd at least like break ins to be my own fault.  Might offer a useful lesson to me on security in any case, and I will be using the machine to experiment on exactly thees kinds of issues.  I consider it a learning tool.  

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David on May 22, 2011 at 7:14pm

Cool, I didn't know there were free dynamic DNS services like afraid.org.  Please let me know if you find something better!

 

I did some research and a demilitarized zone (DMZ) could offer a good layer of security.  Basically you attach a 2nd router to your 1st router.  Then you connect your server to the 1st router, and everything else in your home network to the 2nd router.  What this does is protect your home network should anything malicious happen to your server.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMZ_(computing)

http://forums.cnet.com/7723-7589_102-313024.html

 

This might be overkill for our sites which won't get much traffic, but the security courses at UH and the Manoa Greyhats have taught me to be very paranoid.  The internet is a wild, dangerous world  :D

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Erik Hill on June 20, 2011 at 9:47am

Just to keep everyone updated, I finally bought a refurbished IBM (model 55p), one of the small form factor machines. 

 

I am setting it up now with Linux and so on.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David on June 22, 2011 at 9:26pm

Cool, give us a link once you've got it running  :)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Erik Hill on June 27, 2011 at 3:47pm

Update: I wonder if someone can help?

 

Having a memory adventure. I'm more software actually, and haven't built a machine for a while.

 

Here are the official specs of my "new" machine:

 

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-65789

 

It lists memory support as being:

 

• 400MHz DDR2 (Double Data Rate) dual channel memory support
• PC2-4200 (400MHz) memory supported
• PC2-5300 (400MHz) memory supported
• Two 240 pin DDR2 SDRAM UDIMM sockets
• Supports a maximum memory up to 4GB
• ECC or parity memory is not supported

 

So, for example, if I bought PC2-5300 memory, wouldn't that be at 333Mhz (what I thought was the speed for this kind of memory). Or does what they have posted make sense? I'd like to put 4GB in there, I suspect that I can, if I bought two 2GB PC2-5300s (240 pin DDR2's). Is that correct?

 

If no one has any of these memory chips around, the set I am planning to buy is this one:

 

http://www.amazon.com/PNY-Channel-PC2-5300-Desktop-MD4096KD2-667/dp...

 

But that one is listed at 667Mhz. It's been so long since I bought memory and it's such a wait to get it (Free Super Saving Shipping to Hawaii FTW!) I want to make sure I am getting it right.

 

It's my understanding that the higher memory speed will simply downgrade to the motherboard.

 

Thanks for anyone who can help. Ideally, can someone lend 2x2GB to test with?

 

Erik

• ▶ Reply

▶ Reply to Discussion