Main:rp7400
From Servers4Linux
A proper write up is coming, but here's some interesting tidbits...
I bought a rp7400 on ebay for $9.99. It was listed as "no power". Hmm, I thought, hopefully another semi-clueless person who isn't quite sure what to do with a "real" server.
Contents |
Overview
First thing to note is these are fscking heavy! The manual says 100 kilos, over 200 pounds. They aren't kidding. I happily happened to have a furniture dolly that I put it on so I could roll it around. It definitely takes at least 2 people to pick the thing up.
Mine is the original model, N4000-44 with 4 440 MHz CPU's. It came with 3 GB RAM and no drives. For a technical description see the OpenPA.net writeup on this model. It's an 8 socket box, and it'll take 32 DIMMs. It has 2 internal drive bays, and *LOTS* of PCI slots.
Power
WARNING! I AM NOT AN ELECTRICIAN AND I DON'T PLAY ONE ON TV. YOU SHOULD GET A LICENSED ELECTRICIAN TO DO ELECTRICAL WORK!
The first challenge for me at home was to power it.
rp7400's have 3 power supplies. They do *NOT* autorange, they are 220 only. So I guessed the former owner had tried it with 110 and it didn't work.
I had a spare 220 dryer outlet. I bought the proper plug to fit the dryer outlet, and attached it to a power cord with the proper C13 end on it. So my cord now had the proper dryer plug on one end and a C13 server power connector on the other.
I plugged it into the server. The power light started flashing. Progress! I tried turning the power on. Nothing. Hmm.
I tried plugging it into all of the the 3 power connectors. I fiddled around with rearranging the power supplies (maybe one was bad?). Nothing. Blinking standby power light, but it wouldn't power on.
I happened to have a Dell Power Distribution Unit (PDU) that is fed 220 by C13 connector, and feeds 8 C14 connectors. Mine looks like this. In effect, it is a 220 outlet strip. So I fed it with the dryer cord I made, and then took 2 C13-C14 style server power cords and fed 2 supplies on the rp7400.
Voila! It powered on!
So the story is that the manual doesn't lie. You have to have at least 2 of the 3 power supplies energized for the server to turn on. The third is for redundancy.
Console
I hooked my laptop up to the serial port, and I got console! The thing lives! It seems OK, no dire warnings. It boots and gets to the Boot Console Handler (BCH) Main Menu. Of course I don't have an operating system loaded. In fact, I don't have any hard drives (yet). But it's ready to load an OS.
Boot
I ran and grabbed my Debian live disk, and then thought about it. There's no CD-ROM. Huh.
So you can either get an external SCSI CD or DVD drive (pricey) or figure out how to boot the thing from the network and load it that way. I guess that's where I'm going next with it. I love a challenge.
To Do Next
Get drives
Get something to host DHCP, TFTP and whatever else is needed to net boot the rp7400.
Stay tuned.
