So, I finally managed to gather all the bits and pieces together, power cables, ethernet, SVGA connector etc, plugged the thing in, and Jesus H Christ what a din! For a minute, I thought the Dambusters were overhead.

I’m, of course, referring to the new server mentioned in the last post. No wonder people have special rooms for these things, a man could go deaf venturing within 50 yards of it.

Seriously, it sounded like a plane taking off.

Now this is VERY exciting!

I’ve managed to get my grubby little mitts onto an old Sun Microsystems SunFire V60x S1U Server and I’m trying to figure out what to do with it.

Many thoughts are going through my head, not least which (if any) operating system to install on it. Do I go for Windows? If so which flavour? All research leads me to believe its an x86 server (no EMT64 support) so Windows 2008 R2 is out. What about a small footprint Linux server with no X Server? That’d certainly keep the storage space to an optimum…

BSD based system?

Now consider Solaris or OpenSolaris; it is after all a Sun Server, maybe a the SCSI’s would benefit from some ZFS?

However, since I spend so much time playing with virtual machines, it might be an idea not to use it for storage at all (I do after all back up my laptop to a small external HDD). Maybe I should install VMware ESXi on it and be in remote access virtual heaven?

Choices choices choices…

Having had a couple of days to mull this over, I’ve ruled the ESXi server out, as it appears you need to administer it from a Windows based computer. I’m thinking I’ll probably load OpenSolaris onto it and take it from there. If anyone has any other ideas, feel free to comment…

-EDIT-

I’m putting Ubuntu Server Edition onto it. The machine has 8Gb RAM but its (2) Xeon 3.06GHz processors are 32bit only, so I need an OS that’s going to see all the RAM. Ubuntu x86 Server installs a PAE kernel by default so that makes it easier. I can also use it to administer VM’s and set up a basic file server. In the process I’ll learn a hell of a lot about using the command line, as Ubuntu server has no GUI by default.

Full specs for anyone whose interested:

• Intel SR1300 chassis with sliding rackmount kit
• Intel SE7501WV2 Motherboard
• 2 x Intel 3.06Ghz Xeon CPUs. 533 FSB/1M cache for each processor with hyperthreading, appears as 4 virtual CPU’s to Windows,Linux,Solaris
• 8Gb RAM (4x1Gb DDR ECC DIMMS, 2x2Gb DDR ECC DIMMS)
• 2 x PCI-X slots (1 full height,1 low profile)
• 2 x 73Gb U320 SCSI 10k hotpluggable drives
• 2 x Intel 10/100/1000-Mbps Base-T Ethernet ports
• DVD/Floppy (can be replaced with another hotplugable SCSI drive)
• IPMI 1.5 remote management (remote shutdown,restart,monitoring via LAN)

We have been waiting on our bundle of joy arriving now for over 9 months and I fear the stork may have got itself lost somewhere over the North Sea.

Kirsty is now 6 days overdue and time will come when our marvelous NHS will take things into their own hands and induce – not something I’m looking forward to, but it does have its advantages (no calling taxis in a panic at 3am for example!)

Everything’s ready to go, the bags are packed and shiny new slippers and gowns have been purchased for the imminent trip to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

It takes it toll on you after a while. Emotionally, I’m all geared up to start strutting round town with my newly delivered mini-me. Physically, I’m already shattered. The waiting is terrible. Life’s on hold; “her indoors” and I are too scared to step beyond the threshold of the front door for fear of anything happening in an inconvenient and inappropriate place.

I’m starting to get my head round the fact that what’s “in there” will soon be “out here” and I can barely contain myself. The strange pulsating belly and sudden cries of pain from oor Kirsty are becoming far more frequent and the day will soon be upon us (hopefully) when the mornings are no longer heralded by the roars of Iceland trucks, but those of a hungry baby.

Everything else in currently on hold but in the meantime, I have Twitter.

Just as I thought I had got my head around the concept of arrays, I flicked through the associated question in my latest assignment and realised I knew nothing. I have absolutely no understanding of two-dimensional arrays, sub array processing, while loops, foreach loops (and when and when not to use them), casting etc etc.

Granted, I may be exaggerating a little here, but every time an assignment is due, my self confidence takes a hammer blow of a battering. Part of the trouble is possibly due to the fact that I’m maybe a little more bloody minded than I should be and maybe I should ask for more help now and then. Ah well…

One of the hardest parts of distance learning has undoubtedly got to be studying in isolation. Not having anyone readily available to bounce ideas off is unnatural in a learning environment. My student interaction is limited to reading carefully worded forum posts that provide absolutely no assistance.

Due to the extreme paranoia of  The Open University, no one can even fart in the wrong direction in case they get strung up and whipped for plagiarism let alone discuss an idea; one tutor actually warned us against going for coffee with fellow students after a tutorial for fear that we might all ravage each other’s minds with a lustful wanton abandon! What kind of way to learn is that? Consequently, the forums are useless.

So, night after night, I sit in front of a textbook, a laptop and an assignment sheet, desperately trying to iterate a loop or something equally as abstract in the hope that one day it will be worthwhile.

Sometimes, in the dark, I imagine I’m at a real University and I pretend I’m chatting to my peers about the course we’re doing, sometimes, we even sneak a peek at each others notes! But its all just a cruel fantasy.

Wikipedia describes sleep deprivation as the condition, either chronic or acute, of having had too little sleep. Helpfully, it also notes that long-term sleep deprivation causes death in lab animals and less alarmingly, chronic sleep-restricted state can cause fatigue, daytime sleepiness and clumsiness.

Having a baby on the way, you would expect a modicum of sleep disturbance. I’ve even heard it said that its nauture’s way of preparing you for the years of toil, turmoil, worry and responsibility that lies ahead. What I didn’t sign up for was the night after night of relentless, bleary eyed, tired to the point of being physically sick routine. At least not before the baby was actually born!

The past few weeks have been cruel. Lack of sleep seems directly proportional to the time left before the wee one graces the planet. Its now got to the point where my spouse and I no longer share the same bed and whilst I’m star shaped on the sofa bed, she is twitching, howking, and practically bouncing around in our marital lair.

We are averaging about 3-4 hours per night at the moment.

Still, it’ll be worth it (hopefully!)

I’d write more, but alas, I’m too tired…

Aldous Huxley, the famous English Novelist and Critic, once wrote: ”Hell isn’t merely paved with good intentions, it is walled and roofed with them.”

Good intentions come in spades when a trip to Ikea is suggested, not least when its suggested by me. For some strange reason, and against all evidence, I usually feel confident that some other, more pressing, engagement will prevail and my altruistic self sacrifice will be nothing more than a gold star in my copybook of  ’Things I Do For You.’

After an afternoon walking drone-like around clean cut Swedish aisles offering such delights as Leksvig, Barnslig, Fabler, Korall Bubblor and, not forgetting, Sniglar, you start to appreciate what old Aldous was referring to. Witnessing such a confusing array of multicoloured ‘necessities’ jutting out from every angle, I found myself deeply puzzled at what some fluffy fabric or injection moulded bright orange plastic could be (no clues given by the packaging) but couldn’t escape the feeling that whatever it was,  it was somehow essential.

As events transpired, we walked away with a cot, some bedding, some fabric squares (towels?) and something made out of rope. I spent the rest of the day feeling drained, penniless and somewhat unhappy with the living room because it doesn’t have that squiggly rafia thing that hangs from the ceiling…

Jeez, what a day! My fair wife and I decided that we needed more room for stuff. Not least for the new pram, baby bath, cot, etc that would soon be gracing our small abode. 

So, after a call to our local storage company and a not so small payment for the hire of a unit for 6 months, we have spent the day lugging what felt like the GDP of Belgium down Easter Road into Leith.

Luckily we had the help of my Brother-in-law, a long suffering man to whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude. We also had our wee niece up (she’s 2! awww) to keep the missus busy whilst us men grunted, huffed and rubbed our chins in the way only men can. 

Eventually, we managed to clear most of the years of accumulated junk out of the various nooks and crannies of our modest 1 bedroom Edinburgh flat and you would not believe the amount we gathered – I have quite clearly been living in the Tardis for the past few years as the shit just kept on coming! 

Anyway, it was mildly enjoyable in the sense that for once I didn’t have my head buried in a Java text book and found to my amazement that I was actually able to string a sentence together without a semi-colon or curly braces!

In all other aspects it was horrible!