Should I put my servers in the ceiling?
So, during some renovation here at work, a mysterious box was discovered in the ceiling. Since this box had wires coming out of it, it was naturally assumed to be my responsibility, and I was called in to take a look.
Climbing up on a ladder, I found a piece of paper taped to the top of this mystery component, though any sort of sticky-like quality to this tape had long since disintegrated. "Oh, it seems to be some sort of communique!" I said.
The note makes reference to two researchers who haven't been at UAB in many, many years. It also makes reference to the "ninth floor," while this device was discovered on the third floor. The amount of cables running out of the back of this box led me to believe that it was possible they did rise six floors through this building.
Ignoring the warning on the communique, I did in fact unplug it, then disconnected the cables, probably inhaling large amounts of asbestos, and pulled the device out of the ceiling. I found out that it was a DECServer 200/MC, thanks to this helpful label:
I didn't know what that was, as this piece of equipment was clearly produced when I was in middle school and not climbing around in ceilings. So, I did what any self-respecting geek would do -- I took it apart!!
And inside, I found.....the Lindbergh baby!! No, just kidding. I found a bunch of wires and processors but no hard drives, indicating some sort of network switch. The word "server" used to be used in a different context, I guess.
Some enterprising researchers and/or IT guys installed this thing in the ceiling in the days before the building was officially networked, and used it to send data back and forth across six floors.
The Wikipedia article I linked above indicates that the 200/MC was first produced in 1986. So this box has likely been living in the ceiling for some twenty years. I'd love to know how much it cost back then....probably in the thousands.
Anyway, it's on the scrap heap now, though I must confess I did quickly check eBay to see if it was a collector's item or anything. No such luck.
Climbing up on a ladder, I found a piece of paper taped to the top of this mystery component, though any sort of sticky-like quality to this tape had long since disintegrated. "Oh, it seems to be some sort of communique!" I said.
The note makes reference to two researchers who haven't been at UAB in many, many years. It also makes reference to the "ninth floor," while this device was discovered on the third floor. The amount of cables running out of the back of this box led me to believe that it was possible they did rise six floors through this building.Ignoring the warning on the communique, I did in fact unplug it, then disconnected the cables, probably inhaling large amounts of asbestos, and pulled the device out of the ceiling. I found out that it was a DECServer 200/MC, thanks to this helpful label:
I didn't know what that was, as this piece of equipment was clearly produced when I was in middle school and not climbing around in ceilings. So, I did what any self-respecting geek would do -- I took it apart!!
And inside, I found.....the Lindbergh baby!! No, just kidding. I found a bunch of wires and processors but no hard drives, indicating some sort of network switch. The word "server" used to be used in a different context, I guess.
Some enterprising researchers and/or IT guys installed this thing in the ceiling in the days before the building was officially networked, and used it to send data back and forth across six floors.
The Wikipedia article I linked above indicates that the 200/MC was first produced in 1986. So this box has likely been living in the ceiling for some twenty years. I'd love to know how much it cost back then....probably in the thousands.
Anyway, it's on the scrap heap now, though I must confess I did quickly check eBay to see if it was a collector's item or anything. No such luck.
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