End of an Era
Sep. 3rd, 2006 02:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shannon_aIn 1991 or so freeware UNIXen were just becoming available and using one of the earliest, 386BSD, I set up a home UNIX server. It was initially connected to the net by UUCP, which means that it dialed in every once in a while to exchange email with a server on the net, the CSUA machine, soda.berkeley.edu. Using the name of my friend Eric's RQ campaign world, I christened it erzo.berkeley.edu.
Over the years that initial 386/16 evolved, first to a 486/20 and a few years later, after a bad hardware failure, to a Pentium. When I went from the 486 to the Pentium I remember copying all of my crucial files over on floppy. It took 20 or 30, but oh for the days when that was even remotely possible.
My last upgrade was to a new Pentium several years ago after, the power supply on my old Pentium failed and I learned it was cheaper just to get a new machine (as long as I got it by buying a used computer from a gaming store, which often bought [not very] used computers from gamers who had to have the latest, greatest thing).
Along the way the computer's name and its purpose changed too. erzo.berkeley.edu became erzo.csua.berkeley.edu as the fascists at UC Berkeley decided that they didn't want undergrads having top level berkeley.edu domains, and eventually erzo.org as I divested myself from the university entirely. (Years later I was bitter that a domain-crapper had bought erzo.com just when I decided I should get it, but today I don't care. erzo.com still sits unused, of course.) In addition, my UUCP connection eventually became a full PPP dial-up connection (which let me dial-up to sit on the net whenever I wanted) and after that eventually went online full-time via DSL. As a result Erzo ended up being my web server, my online email connection, and my network bridge.
Today the bridge portion has been replaced by a small little unit which also provides wireless access to my house. All of the mailing lists I used to host have long ago moved off to the CSUA or Chaosium. Kimberly & I do still use it for our own email, but I lost the ability to deal with spam effectively years ago. Kimberly still uses her email, but mine is totally useless. And the web hosting I could do anywhere.
So, when a brown-out today put one of erzo's fans on the fritz, I decided it was the end of an era--time to retire the venerable old machine. We just don't need a server in our house anymore, because the web has grown and become much more accessible since 1991. (Oh, I think back how hard I had to fight in several DSL changeovers to maintain a static IP address, so that I could host a server.)
On the plus side, this will take away my next-to-last piece of wired hardware in the house. The only other thing that still needs a direct connection is my JetDirect printer. That means less wires, and will allow me to pull the wire that currently snakes across the hall. Woohoo.
But it'll be sad to see my home server go after 15 years.
Over the years that initial 386/16 evolved, first to a 486/20 and a few years later, after a bad hardware failure, to a Pentium. When I went from the 486 to the Pentium I remember copying all of my crucial files over on floppy. It took 20 or 30, but oh for the days when that was even remotely possible.
My last upgrade was to a new Pentium several years ago after, the power supply on my old Pentium failed and I learned it was cheaper just to get a new machine (as long as I got it by buying a used computer from a gaming store, which often bought [not very] used computers from gamers who had to have the latest, greatest thing).
Along the way the computer's name and its purpose changed too. erzo.berkeley.edu became erzo.csua.berkeley.edu as the fascists at UC Berkeley decided that they didn't want undergrads having top level berkeley.edu domains, and eventually erzo.org as I divested myself from the university entirely. (Years later I was bitter that a domain-crapper had bought erzo.com just when I decided I should get it, but today I don't care. erzo.com still sits unused, of course.) In addition, my UUCP connection eventually became a full PPP dial-up connection (which let me dial-up to sit on the net whenever I wanted) and after that eventually went online full-time via DSL. As a result Erzo ended up being my web server, my online email connection, and my network bridge.
Today the bridge portion has been replaced by a small little unit which also provides wireless access to my house. All of the mailing lists I used to host have long ago moved off to the CSUA or Chaosium. Kimberly & I do still use it for our own email, but I lost the ability to deal with spam effectively years ago. Kimberly still uses her email, but mine is totally useless. And the web hosting I could do anywhere.
So, when a brown-out today put one of erzo's fans on the fritz, I decided it was the end of an era--time to retire the venerable old machine. We just don't need a server in our house anymore, because the web has grown and become much more accessible since 1991. (Oh, I think back how hard I had to fight in several DSL changeovers to maintain a static IP address, so that I could host a server.)
On the plus side, this will take away my next-to-last piece of wired hardware in the house. The only other thing that still needs a direct connection is my JetDirect printer. That means less wires, and will allow me to pull the wire that currently snakes across the hall. Woohoo.
But it'll be sad to see my home server go after 15 years.
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Re: End of an era
Date: 2006-09-04 02:45 am (UTC)