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CyberGuys (Small Hardware)

Probably cheaper to go troll the dumpsters, if you can find an old 286/386/486 being tossed you can probably scavange a dozen of each size. Anytime I toss an old system, I take the 15 minutes to strip it of any screws / connectors / etc.

The small screws (usually for mounting CD-ROMs to the side-brackets) are 4mm fine, the 6mm (6x32) screws are for the case / slot covers / hard drive mounting. Don't forget to either get small snack-pack rubbermaid containers (about 2" round, 1.5" deep) to hold the screws/bits, or those yellow plastic stopper tubes (1/2" x 5").

(I really don't understand the fuss about the issue at all... there's pretty much just the 2 types of screws, 4mm fine and 6x32.)

CyberGuys (Small Hardware)

Probably cheaper to go troll the dumpsters, if you can find an old 286/386/486 being tossed you can probably scavange a dozen of each size. Anytime I toss an old system, I take the 15 minutes to strip it of any screws / connectors / etc.

The small screws (usually for mounting CD-ROMs to the side-brackets) are 4mm fine, the 6mm (6x32) screws are for the case / slot covers / hard drive mounting. Don't forget to either get small snack-pack rubbermaid containers (about 2" round, 1.5" deep) to hold the screws/bits, or those yellow plastic stopper tubes (1/2" x 5").

(I really don't understand the fuss about the issue at all... there's pretty much just the 2 types of screws, 4mm fine and 6x32.)

Like I said in another reply to this article, CyberGuys has screws and a whole bunch of other useful things (slot covers, rubber case feet, organizer boxes, anti-static wrist straps, etc.).

CyberGuys sells both every type of screw conceivable and a bin with a screw assortment (just in case you need a particular kind).

See this one for a good, cheap, ergo keyboard. The keys are oriented to allow unbent wrists, yet it's not the MS "Natural" look at all. At the price ($12.49) they sell for, I got several. I've used the one I'm typing on now for about two years so far, no binding, grinding, skips, or issues of any kind. I like the feel; unlike the several MS keyboards I've used, none of the keys bind after long use.

Recommended, at that price, it's worth a try!

I considered a USB coffee cup warmer for my husband until I read that it only keeps coffee lukewarm. I also considered the WFS-1 wifi detector, which is far superior to the Kensington model, but I nixed that because it doesn't distinguish between open and closed networks.

If we were filling stockings for grown-ups, I'd have gotten a bunch of Cyberguy Power Strip Liberators, which double your outlet access and are only $2.39 each. I have some and love them.

I was going to get my puzzle-loving brother-in-law a Shmuzzle Puzzle, but the U.S. rerelease, which had been scheduled for Dec. 3 on QVC has been postponed indefinitely. Canadians can buy them over the counter.

Some of the geekier presents I ordered for my nieces and nephews, all of whom are of course brilliant:

• Harry Potter Wizard Chess and Chess for Juniors for 8 year old.
• Skyrail Suspension Marble Run for artistic 9yo and engineering 5yo.
• Smart the Dog LEGO set for 9yo (also considered Motor the Monkey set.
• Techno Blocks, "the world's only preschool remote-control construction toy", for my 5yo engineer.
• Terry Pratchett's delightful Bromeliad (fun for ages 5 to adult) to begin reading aloud and then leave behind.
• Grow-a-Frog kit for 8yo naturalist.
• Geometric and creative Images coloring kit for artistic 6yo.
• Cattus Petasatus [Cat in the Hat] and a Latin dictionary for a sister-in-law.
• 500-in-1 electronic project lab for grown sister-in-law because you're never too old to learn. (Note the large discount over the Amazon price.)
• Disney's Princess Magical Dress Up software to encourage my 6yo niece to wrest the family computer from her 8yo brother (although that may be futile, since we're also giving him a Real One Arcade subscription).

Slightly less geeky gifts:

• Family Classics 50 Movie Mega Pack 12-DVDs at only $29.99

I considered a USB coffee cup warmer for my husband until I read that it only keeps coffee lukewarm. I also considered the WFS-1 wifi detector, which is far superior to the Kensington model, but I nixed that because it doesn't distinguish between open and closed networks.

If we were filling stockings for grown-ups, I'd have gotten a bunch of Cyberguy Power Strip Liberators, which double your outlet access and are only $2.39 each. I have some and love them.

I was going to get my puzzle-loving brother-in-law a Shmuzzle Puzzle, but the U.S. rerelease, which had been scheduled for Dec. 3 on QVC has been postponed indefinitely. Canadians can buy them over the counter.

Some of the geekier presents I ordered for my nieces and nephews, all of whom are of course brilliant:

• Harry Potter Wizard Chess and Chess for Juniors for 8 year old.
• Skyrail Suspension Marble Run for artistic 9yo and engineering 5yo.
• Smart the Dog LEGO set for 9yo (also considered Motor the Monkey set.
• Techno Blocks, "the world's only preschool remote-control construction toy", for my 5yo engineer.
• Terry Pratchett's delightful Bromeliad (fun for ages 5 to adult) to begin reading aloud and then leave behind.
• Grow-a-Frog kit for 8yo naturalist.
• Geometric and creative Images coloring kit for artistic 6yo.
• Cattus Petasatus [Cat in the Hat] and a Latin dictionary for a sister-in-law.
• 500-in-1 electronic project lab for grown sister-in-law because you're never too old to learn. (Note the large discount over the Amazon price.)
• Disney's Princess Magical Dress Up software to encourage my 6yo niece to wrest the family computer from her 8yo brother (although that may be futile, since we're also giving him a Real One Arcade subscription).

Slightly less geeky gifts:

• Family Classics 50 Movie Mega Pack 12-DVDs at only $29.99

Well I happen to be doing the exact same thing. I decided to use an open relay rack with casters for space/ease of use purposes. Unfortunately this has not been assembled yet (physical presence issue, out of country, should have it assembled/pics by the 1st of Jan).

Relay rack 38U steel, with base (should fit under a doorway with casters)
129.00 - Rack
111.00 - Base x2 (Freestanding Application)
40.00 - Casters

Rackmount Computer Case
130.00 - Computer Case
30.00 - Power Supply (300 Watt)
15.00 - Center Mount Brackets

LCD / KVM Switch / Mounting (need to make custom rack mount for LCD Swivel)
999.00 - LCD Monitor (20")
41.49 - LCD Swivel
109.95 - Rack Mount KVM (8 Port)
18.99 - KVM Cables

Rack Mount UPS
249.99 - UPS 1500VA (free shipping from BestBuy, easy to return if problems, not cheapest price)

Hope that helps,
Jad

Get two 150-disc CD carousels, available here or here in the $100 range. Haven't used one myself but looks like the kind of thing you're looking for.

Get two 150-disc CD carousels, available here or here in the $100 range. Haven't used one myself but looks like the kind of thing you're looking for.

Yeah, I haven't been a fan of Belkin since having to use their KVM stuff back in the days of ADB. While their PC KVM stuff was far from cheap, they charged (and still charge) absolutely extortionate prices for Mac KVM equipment. Also, their solutions were sloppy-- if you wanted to switch between an ADB Mac and a PS/2 PC, it required a ridiculous mess of cables and adapter boxes with ports on multiple sides that was completely impossible to set up neatly, especially in limited space like your average office cubicle.

These days we just get an IOGear MiniView Micro and a cheap PS/2-USB "Y" adapter (and for older Macs, a cheap USB PCI card), and all of those combined cost a fraction of what we paid Belkin for just their Mac ADB KVM adapter back in the day.

Anyone else catch that on the USB massage ball page? What kind of philosophy is driving that company, are they good or evil or beyond both?
I Hail our new USB massage ball overlords!

Please, IF I'm at work expecting to relieve myself, "after several pressure-filled hours in your chair..." there better be a god damn local brothel where I can bring a company christmas bonus discount card. Who the fuck do these capitalists think comprise the majority of their technological and scientific workforce? Are we mere slaves to them?

Here

This looks like a TiBook killer for sure.

Yeah, I'm sure that that ten-pound monster makes an ideal bludgeon with which to hammer the svelte AlBook 17" into pieces. Or were you planning to burn it to death with the heat exhaust from the CPU?

This Toshiba is a piece of crap, half-assed, 'me-too' copy of the 17" Powerbook. Yeah, it's big. It's also a boat anchor weighing in at almost TWICE what the Powerbook weighs, and probably has shit for battery life since it's got a full-fledged P4 in it instead of the laptop variant. Plus it lacks FireWire and gigabit ethernet, and it runs Windows. So yeah, it's cheaper, but you get what you pay for.

Pssst! Want to see some top secret photos of Toshiba's next portable-yet-full-sized PC? Here and here.

This looks like a TiBook killer for sure.

Yeah, I'm sure that that ten-pound monster makes an ideal bludgeon with which to hammer the svelte AlBook 17" into pieces. Or were you planning to burn it to death with the heat exhaust from the CPU?

This Toshiba is a piece of crap, half-assed, 'me-too' copy of the 17" Powerbook. Yeah, it's big. It's also a boat anchor weighing in at almost TWICE what the Powerbook weighs, and probably has shit for battery life since it's got a full-fledged P4 in it instead of the laptop variant. Plus it lacks FireWire and gigabit ethernet, and it runs Windows. So yeah, it's cheaper, but you get what you pay for.

Pssst! Want to see some top secret photos of Toshiba's next portable-yet-full-sized PC? Here and here.

All your sources are hearsay. Some direct evidence comes from papyrus Magdalen Greek 17/P64 which was proven (using a scanning laser microscope) to be contemporaneous with the living apostles. Since that is in Greek, and exactly matches the Textus Receptus, it's clear that even if an original was in another language, that the accurate Greek text was in use during the time the apostles were alive. Therefore the Greek text we have in the TR is accurate (and there are a LOT of other proofs of that). And the Greek text clearly shows that Peter and the rock of faith the church is founded on are not the same, as detailed in the prior post in the Greek grammatical analysis.

Also, Matthew was a publican (customs/tax official). As such, he would have been quite capable in shorthand transcription of verbal discourses. And those would have been in Koine Greek, the language of commerce in the Roman Empire then. His shorthand would not have been Hebrew, as that would not have been useful as a Roman official in any way. And when he was recording the words of our Lord, using his shorthand training would certainly explain why he got the entire "long version" of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) recorded verbatim. And have you ever examined greek vs. hebrew letters? It's a lot easier to write greek letters with speed and accuracy than it is hebrew, which is far more subtle in its letter formations. Shorthand in greek letters would be a lot easier (though I really prefer this keyboard for speed and comfort (and it's cheap!).

C'mon, what is it that terrorists have understood for the past 20 years of American history? You strike the US, they do nothing. Unfortunately, OBL got a bit too cocky and hit a bit too close to home. The US struck back. No one over there expected that. Believe me, they are quaking over there. Look at Syria. They now want nothing to do with what has been going on in Iraq. They know it's in their best interest to distance themselves politically from the goings on in Iraq, so they're coming to the table. It's a big step for them to do so, because it shows to the other Arab nations their "weakness." But it will be just what the Doctor ordered to keep those nations in line.

What terrorists and terrorist backers understand is not "weapons inspectors" and strokings by the UN, but force, applied in kind and with greater intensity than it was applied to you. They know that we won't be able to be controlled by the likes of France, Russia, Germany, and other countries willing to risk regional stability and global propagation of terrorism for the almighty dollar.

and if the US decides to go after fabled WMDs in Iran and Syria

We know that WMDs had been produced for years under the nose of the UN; we have in custody the scientists who made the stuff. We know that it was both shipped to Syria, and also destroyed just days before the war started. When would have been the correct time to act? When Detroit or San Francisco or Chicago was hit with a Ricin attack and another 3K worth of Americans died? It's the same old argument: they did nothing to us.

Here's a suggestion: All you State Troopers out there, just stop pulling over drunk drivers. I mean, they haven't done anything yet, right? They haven't killed anyone yet, right? Let's just wait until they do, and then we can go after them. Right? In order to maintain a safe, free society, we protect and defend the Constitution and our way of life against all enemies, foreign or domestic. "He hasn't killed me yet" is not an excuse for inaction when you know that your inaction will lead to more attacks, more deaths, and the destabilzation of a region which is vital to world economic health. With the state of the world economy, no one can afford that.

[now stepping down from my soapbox]

Oh, and by the way, you can get great mini-ITX cases at cyberguys.com.

The meek shall inherit the earth, but not the mineral rights!

we have entered the Transparent Age.

only if you keep your privates online.

I go into a store, give them cash, take a product, no record of transaction - well, ok they got my mug on the survailence cam.

Speaking of which, check out this Keystroke Catcher doodad - you sneak into you sons room one day, slip it inbetween the keyboard and mobo connector - then let him do his online skulduggery. Next day retrieve the device and find text like "Dude - lets skip school tomorrow. Brians parents are out of town and we can hang out at his place all day" (actual ad copy).

Try looking for keyboards like this one: Go to CyberGuys and search for "water keyboard" ("foldable keyboard" doesn't work for some reason). These are completely flexible keyboards, 100% sealed and water-proof, and can be completely rolled up (except for the area directly under the right-hand keypad where the board is). I've actually messed around with these some, and the keys feel usable (sort of like some of the recent "quiet" keyboards).

I've thought of this as well, but my stickler is trying to find a mouse that is waterproof. It would probably be optical, but with a sealed lens cover, and a completely rubber topside with buttons underneath the rubber.

Come on, you've been here long enough that you should by now know how to make a link. If you think people might be afraid of what it is, post the text for the foil-heads and a real link for convenience.

CONSOLE EXTENDER CE-220

I found a heat sink that should work on a C3 800 totally fanless. I sent an email to the mini-itx web site guy, he hasn't gotten back to me yet.

here

These things are starting to stretch the definition of "laptop."

In another year or so we'll probably see models with four fold-down legs like a card table, because they'll be so big and heavy people will injure themselves if they try to just perch one on their lap.

Here's a sneak peak at the 2003 VAIO "portable" line: Item 1, Item 2

~Philly

These things are starting to stretch the definition of "laptop."

In another year or so we'll probably see models with four fold-down legs like a card table, because they'll be so big and heavy people will injure themselves if they try to just perch one on their lap.

Here's a sneak peak at the 2003 VAIO "portable" line: Item 1, Item 2

~Philly

Some sample prices:

CAT6 ENHANCED PATCH CABLE, W/BOOT 3FT, US$2.97

CAT6 ENHANCED PATCH CABLE, W/BOOT 7FT, US$4.24

CAT6 ENHANCED PATCH CABLE, W/BOOT 14FT, US$7.01

CAT6 ENHANCED PATCH CABLE, W/BOOT 25FT, US$10.82

CAT6 ENHANCED PATCH CABLE, W/BOOT 50FT, US$19.33

CAT6 STRANDED 1000' BULK CABLE, US$122.00

CAT5E STRANDED 1000FT, GRAY, US$69.95

CAT5E SOLID, 1000FT, GRAY, US$67.95

Note that all the cables are cheaper if you buy 9 or more (of same color); they come in 7 different colors (gray, yellow, black, red, white, green, blue). Think the 1000' spools only come in gray, white, and blue.

If you search for BULK CABLE you'll find various lengths of patch cables all in a box (not individually bagged); sample CAT5E 7' bulk price is US$1.72 (in box of 100).

At work, I buy certain colors in specific lengths so I can simply tell a student which color cable to grab (rather than which length) for certain situations: 1'=black, 3'=blue, 7'=yellow, 14'=green, 25'=gray, 50'=white, and 100'=something bright (as a professor usually leaves it laying on the floor or across a doorway for someone to trip over and give us a lawsuit, er, a laugh). And no, I don't work for Cyberguys, just have bought many 1,000's of $$ of products over the years (mostly my employer's; I spend less for home stuff).

But I rely on Directron, NewEgg, and CyberGuys for all of my PC parts needs.

I built my first PC about a year and a half ago, and upgraded it often enough that with the purchase of a cheap case and mobo, I could build a second PC from the spare parts.

~Philly

And an addendum to that, you can get a 4 pin molex to P4 connector from Cyberguys, and I'm sure from many other places.

The only caveat is that you need to use a direct line from the power supply that has nothing else on it, to prevent power noise issues.

You can buy fans with mag-lev bearings.

Since the site is framed I can't give the direct URL to the product, so here's some ad copy:

"Our state-of-the-art multi-purpose cooling fans actually use magnetic levitation to "float" the spinning fan blade in a magnetic field to dramatically reduce friction, wear, & heat... making these fans run cooler, quieter and last longer than conventional fans! Ideal for use in any mission application, in applications where minimal fan noise is desired, or where access to fan installation or replacement is difficult."

Just get one of these

>> When are electronic device manufacturers going to stop making power cords with huge "wall wart" transformers?

And put all the other guys fixing that problem out of business? Search for liberator at http://www.cyberguys.com (This solves that power plug problem)

CyberGuys carries this, which will take up a drive bay and an expansion slot, but gives you front-panel connections for FireWire, game, headphone out, speaker out, microphone, and two USB connectors, plus volume control. Seems kinda like a kludgey solution to me, but it will do what you're looking for.

~Philly

CyberGuys carries this, which will take up a drive bay and an expansion slot, but gives you front-panel connections for FireWire, game, headphone out, speaker out, microphone, and two USB connectors, plus volume control. Seems kinda like a kludgey solution to me, but it will do what you're looking for.

~Philly

Has anyone ever tried the maglev fans sold by Cyberguys,such as this one?

...which by virtue of being firewire will be limited to Apple Mac owners...

You mean, people who own Apple Macs like these?

Since the iPod can double as a normal portable hard drive. I'm sure it will likely be pretty easily used on a PC. And if it's not, big deal. It might be nice for the other half to see how THEY like having their perfectly-good platform ignored, and having to hack a product to make it usable on their systems.

And if you haven't noticed, it is possible to buy a FireWire card for a PC that doesn't already come with it.

The online version comes with 3 fans and no power supply for $205, not great but better than $600.

Oddly, their paper catalog has the same case with 2 fans and a 300W power supply for $159. The catalog claims "Systems run up to 30 degrees cooler".

Here's the case.

..and another worry that hasn't surfaced here yet, didn't the British lose a destroyer during the Falkand war because it was made of aluminum, which burns really well? What happens if our servers become targets of terrorist aggression, and begin to draw fire because they push too much pr0n?

http://www.cyberguys.com has equipment that is actually useful and much of it decently priced.The power strip Y-extension cord is a piece of genius.

First off, I think you've made a number of incorrect assumptions. My views are based on years of corporate experience, including PC rollouts. Please read my responses below. Understand that I am the only person who gave you an useable, DOS/real-mode solution. And it's not as expense as you think.

SCSI is not that cheap! Perhaps for a home system, but my company is betting it's business on the systems that we buy. That means quality, reliability, and driver issues are a big deal to us.

So are mine! You think I've been fired for buying SCSI all these years? More $$$ does NOT equal quality. I go through specific products below ... (and note that NONE say "Adaptec" -- been burnt by their crap too many times).

Each change in a driver results in a different build of the OS image. If we use a no-name SCSI card, each time the support chipset changes we need to build a new image. This is very expensive for us to maintain.

All of the cards I use have quite stable drivers. Of course when you buy something new, you shouldn't expect it to work. You should always wait ~6 months for the bugs to clear out. But when if you'd waited 5 years for good Adaptec Linux drivers, then you'd get quite irritated.

You can easily standardize on one SCSI chipset, the TekRam TRM-S1040:

• Low-cost end-user boards, TekRam DC-3x5U/UW series:
  • $15-20 UltraSCSI TekRam DC-315U for internal/external SCSI peripherials (no BIOS) -- This is probably all you need!. Much faster, cheaper, better and more compatible than Adaptec's AIC-7850-powered 2906
  • ~$40 UltraSCSI TekRam DC-395U for booting devices (BIOS) -- cheaper and better than Adaptec's AIC-7880-powered 2930 IMHO
  • ~$60 UltraWide TekRam DC-395UW for 40MBps Wide devices (BIOS)
• Single driver for all boards in series
• Excellent, direct vendor cross-OS support, DOS, 9x, NT/2000, Linux, *BSD, Solaris, SCO, NetWare, BeOS -- including full boot disks for just about any flavor. Check them all out -- especially Linux, *BSD or BeOS users, never seen such support!
• Although the chipset is just over one year old, I have seen 0 issues with drivers since March of 2000.

We cannot afford to put a Zip, Jaz, CD-R/RW and DVD-RAM/RW drive on every PC in my office. Instead, we have one or more external ones and put a $15-20 TekRam DC-315U in each system. Works great! Also great for cloning when I don't want to hit my server/network too hard (in the middle of the day), let alone transfer loads of data between systems. In Linux, I can even load/unload the TekRam S1040 driver on-the-fly, flipping drives on/off various systems without a reboot/shutdown. It's _awesome_ bay-bee!

As far as other experiences, I recently had to chuck my Adaptec AHA-2940UW (AIC-7880) in my Linux server because it is a POS (in 6 years of using Adaptec on Linux, I have yet to have a good experience thanx to their non-direct support). The sucker refused to work properly with a new, $4,000 Exabyte Mammoth2 60/150GB tape drive (talk about "betting my company's business" on a SCSI card!). I replaced it with an $60 Advansys (now owned by ConnectCom) chipset-based card:

• $60 UltraWide SIIG AP-40 Pro -- also readily available at your local computer/electronics store (although you'll pay about $99 retail).
• Advansys is known for their excellent direct driver development, and broad OS support (first vendor to officially support Linux -- way back in 1995)
• Has full per-device configuration in BIOS, just like Adaptec (i.e. Ctrl-A at boot). Works much better and more compatible with more devices than Adaptec IMHO!

But if you need faster still, Symbios Logic (now owned by LSI Logic) is always faster and more ubiquious than Adaptec. So much so that Adaptec attempted to buy Symbios out (since they were kicking Adaptec's butt in the OEM and FibreChannel market). You'll be interested in the popular 53c895/1010-series:

• Mid-cost, end-user boards in the TekRam DC-390U2 series -- 53c895 Ultra2/LVD (aka Ultra80) chipset:
  • $100 TekRam DC-390U2B for single channel Ultra80/LVD (or UltraWide) channel
  • $130 TekRam DC-390U2W for single channel Ultra80/LVD and isolated UltraWide bus
• Dual-channel, 32/64-bit PCI end-user boards in the TekRam DC-390U3 series -- 53c1010 Ultra160/LVD chipset:
  • $175 TekRam DC-390U2W for single channel Ultra160/LVD (or UltraWide) plus single channel UltraWide legacy
  • $235 TekRam DC-390U2D for dual-channel Ultra160/LVD (or UltraWide)
• Symbios Logic 53c8xx-series supported natively in just about every OS -- many chipset are upward compatible (with exception of 53c1010 that requires a new driver -- but still better than Adaptec's cards, especially their newer ones)
• Better than Adaptec performance at any chipset/protocol (usually by an average of 5-10%)
• Widely supported, numerous OEMs, >10 year-old 8xx-series design/support
• The best damn cabling/converter bundle I've ever seen in a kit (boy is Adaptec stingy!)

And when it comes to hardware RAID, Adaptec is just NT/Netware-only. As such, I prefer DPT or, better yet, StrongArm ASIC-powered Mylex RAID controllers with broad OS support (and better performance too).

So what brand are you blindly putting your faith in? Eh?

SCSI hard disks are much more expensive than IDE. I just checked pricewatch, and a roughly equivalent SCSI drive was around $200 more than it's EIDE counterpart (36GB)

And those IDE drives can be put in a $20-40 enclosure and made to work at 20MBps+, right? Not! When it comes to external (isn't that what we are talking about, eh?), IDE is a joke -- with slow as molassas USB (even in 12Mbps/1.5MBps "fast" mode) being the only option (although new ATAPI-to-FireWire bridges, like this Ultra33 one from Intito, is changing that -- although it requires OEM firmware/programming). Plus we're back to the DOS/real-mode issue (even for FireWire). Only SCSI is "ready-to-go" external.

Now you can compare GB/$ all you want. You do NOT need the latest SCSI drives. Go with a late-model 9-18GB SCSI drive. I mean, how much storage do you need? We're only talking $100-200 for the drive, another $20-40 for the enclosure and another $10-30 for cabling and termination, max. You could do it for under $150, including cables and termination, if you pinch your pennies (and buy your stuff mail-order -- use Cyberguys for SCSI cables/terminators). Plus, you must be looking at 7,200-10,000rpm RPM drives -- don't make the mistake of comparing 5,400rpm IDE drives to obviously much faster SCSI drives.

-- Bryan "TheBS" Smith

Imation disks are right up there with TDK and Fuji disks in the "garbage disks you should never ever buy" list.

I've taken a brand new box of Imation disks, obtained from various sources both mail order and locally, attempted to re-format them on two different machines in my office, and every single time had at least 2 format with bad sectors (which then got dumped in the garbage), and at least one that was simply not able to be formatted. Nice.

And, before we get into the old floppy drive / dirty floppy drive / radiation / magnetic field arguements, the two machines are able to format a decent floppy fine, both floppy drives are "name brand", one a Mitsumi and the other a Teac, and one is just barely 6 months old right now. The drives (and PC's) are incredibly clean internally, with fewer dust-bunnies accumulating in them in 3 years than most PC's collect in 3 weeks, and are kept up on the desk off of the floor. And electromagnetic radiation realistically couldn't be lower, it's a very rural setting, in a metal building, vith little in the way of strong magnetic or EMI sources nearby. Cell phones? Umm, no, cell phones go out of service inside the building, so no one brings them in with them :)

Short and the long of it is, floppies are generally garbage and not to be trusted. It used to be that Sony and Verbatim floppies were pretty good, but I simply won't use floppies anymore. They only time I run into the need is the odd install disk or boot floppy, that's about it. Otherwise I move files about via Compact Flash card, which works great in my notebook, and with a CF reader bay in my PC. Alternately I move files via CDRW if it's a large amount of data.

Keep your hard disks at least mirrored (RAID, the only way to fly), backed up on tape (and kept cool, dry, away from magnetic fields, and in a certified media safe), and even occasionally backup data / source files (most people don't care about actual application backups, they can be re-installed / compiled) to a CDR. I keep my monthly CDR backups in a bank safe deposit box.

OK, now that I've gotten sufficiently off topic, I've seen USB Flask disk dongles available as of late, and if your labs are running Windows (which unfortunately they probably are), they should work quite well. Although Linux support for USB has made quantum leaps in the last 12 months, I couldn't speak as to wether or not these dongles would work there. You'd probably want to check with Matt Dharm on the Linux-USB list at SourceForge.

Yes, they're expensive, but they exceed your 8MB of desired storage capacity. Not the cheapest place to get them, but Cyberguys has a 16MB and 32MB version available.

16MB, $69.95 USD - Here

32MB, $129.00 USD - Here

Note that these units are claimed to be "100% USB Spec. 1.1 compatible", so they should be Linux compatible, but I'd still check with the Linux USB gurus.


Brad

Imation disks are right up there with TDK and Fuji disks in the "garbage disks you should never ever buy" list.

I've taken a brand new box of Imation disks, obtained from various sources both mail order and locally, attempted to re-format them on two different machines in my office, and every single time had at least 2 format with bad sectors (which then got dumped in the garbage), and at least one that was simply not able to be formatted. Nice.

And, before we get into the old floppy drive / dirty floppy drive / radiation / magnetic field arguements, the two machines are able to format a decent floppy fine, both floppy drives are "name brand", one a Mitsumi and the other a Teac, and one is just barely 6 months old right now. The drives (and PC's) are incredibly clean internally, with fewer dust-bunnies accumulating in them in 3 years than most PC's collect in 3 weeks, and are kept up on the desk off of the floor. And electromagnetic radiation realistically couldn't be lower, it's a very rural setting, in a metal building, vith little in the way of strong magnetic or EMI sources nearby. Cell phones? Umm, no, cell phones go out of service inside the building, so no one brings them in with them :)

Short and the long of it is, floppies are generally garbage and not to be trusted. It used to be that Sony and Verbatim floppies were pretty good, but I simply won't use floppies anymore. They only time I run into the need is the odd install disk or boot floppy, that's about it. Otherwise I move files about via Compact Flash card, which works great in my notebook, and with a CF reader bay in my PC. Alternately I move files via CDRW if it's a large amount of data.

Keep your hard disks at least mirrored (RAID, the only way to fly), backed up on tape (and kept cool, dry, away from magnetic fields, and in a certified media safe), and even occasionally backup data / source files (most people don't care about actual application backups, they can be re-installed / compiled) to a CDR. I keep my monthly CDR backups in a bank safe deposit box.

OK, now that I've gotten sufficiently off topic, I've seen USB Flask disk dongles available as of late, and if your labs are running Windows (which unfortunately they probably are), they should work quite well. Although Linux support for USB has made quantum leaps in the last 12 months, I couldn't speak as to wether or not these dongles would work there. You'd probably want to check with Matt Dharm on the Linux-USB list at SourceForge.

Yes, they're expensive, but they exceed your 8MB of desired storage capacity. Not the cheapest place to get them, but Cyberguys has a 16MB and 32MB version available.

16MB, $69.95 USD - Here

32MB, $129.00 USD - Here

Note that these units are claimed to be "100% USB Spec. 1.1 compatible", so they should be Linux compatible, but I'd still check with the Linux USB gurus.


Brad

Yes, I agree that removable IDE works too. Bays and trays are $15-25 at Cyberguys.

Just realize that you'll have some master/slave issues if you have devices on both IDE channels, or your IDE devices have different jumpers between single/master (e.g., WD drives).

That's why I like SCSI. Although an additional PCI IDE card in each would also be a good option -- but then we're back upto the cost of my SCSI solution.

-- Bryan "TheBS" Smith

Okay dude, I know this sounds weird but SCSI would not only be faster, but probably cheaper. Most SCSI drives (of even two generations back) can do easily 10MBps+ (80Mbps+), whereas even USB's fastest speed, we're talking only 1.5MBps (12Mbps). And don't even think of those IDE to parallel kits, 2MBps (16Mbps) max (most don't get get 1MBps/8Mbps). Plus SCSI support under Linux is easy (and even loadable on the fly!).

Cards, case and cabling should run you under $100 for two systems. The a good sized, but older model, SCSI drive should only be another $30-100 for a decent size (2-23GB) and speed (5400-7200rpm, 512-2048KB buffer). The breakdown:

• Cards ($20/each) -- (2) SCSI cards at about $20 a piece thanx to the TekRam-315U (UltraSCSI, no-BIOS). You can find them at your favorite PriceWatch advertising reseller. You'll need more if you have more than a few systems to swap between. Of course this becomes cost prohibitive if its more than 5 systems, so consider that. But for just 2-4 systems, it's great (and, again, fast)!
• Case ($20) -- You can usually find them at various on-line resellers for $20 or so. Here's a great 2-bay w/40W PS for $19, and that's new. If you want smaller, there are various resellers with single bay SCSI enclosures too. Cyberguys has a 3.5" for $50, although you might find cheaper if you look a bit. The case should come with internal cabling (I've never seen one without).
• External Cabling ($10) -- Cabling is also an addition, but fairly cheap anymore. Assuming you set the drive jumper for termination, you only need the cable. You can get the SCSI-2 HD50M to Centronics 50M for $9 for cases with Centronics connectors, or SCSI-2 HD50M to HD50M for $10 for cases with SCSI-2 HD connectors -- both at Cyberguys. If you really want to not terminate the drive itself, but on the case, HD50M active terminators are $11 and Centronics passive terminators are $5
• Hard Disk ($30+) -- Depending on what model you get, older SCSI hard drives can be had for $30-100. If you want massive or fast, $200-300 will get you give a bit of each. Some resellers that carry new, unused, used and refurbished hard drives:
  • Computer Geeks Outlet -- good personal experiences
  • Hi-Tech Cafe -- don't deal with their web site (sux, lose orders), call them instead
  • Com puter Surplus Outlet -- good dealings with them several times

Drives that are 50-pin narrow (Fast, Ultra, Ultra2, etc...) and will work in the case without modification. Some with be 68-pin wide or 80-pin SCA (FastWide, UltraWide, Ultra2Wide/Ultra80, Ultra160). In the case of the two later, Cyberguys sells converters to 50-pin narrow for nearly all of these connectors. The only caveat you'll have is termination, either terminate on the drive itself (i.e. don't use an external terminator) or tell the drive to use 8-bit SCSI (instead of 16-bit in 68/80-pin) as any external terminator for 50-pin will only terminate the lower 8-bits (some drives will autosense the connection as narrow and will autoterminate anyway -- see the drive docs).

Again, the only reason not to go with this config is if you are going to be sharing with more than just a few systems. You're going to be lugging around a drive anyway, why not forget worrying about carrying the media as well and have 50x the storage (compared to Zip -- much more manageable).

If you absolutely need removable and have the money to burn look at SCSI Jaz instead (2GB capacity, ~5MBps/40Mbps performance). But don't go optical, e.g. 5.2/9.4GB DVD-RAM, it's slow (9x CD, 1x DVD = 1.35MBps/10.5Mbps).

-- Bryan "TheBS" Smith

Okay dude, I know this sounds weird but SCSI would not only be faster, but probably cheaper. Most SCSI drives (of even two generations back) can do easily 10MBps+ (80Mbps+), whereas even USB's fastest speed, we're talking only 1.5MBps (12Mbps). And don't even think of those IDE to parallel kits, 2MBps (16Mbps) max (most don't get get 1MBps/8Mbps). Plus SCSI support under Linux is easy (and even loadable on the fly!).

Cards, case and cabling should run you under $100 for two systems. The a good sized, but older model, SCSI drive should only be another $30-100 for a decent size (2-23GB) and speed (5400-7200rpm, 512-2048KB buffer). The breakdown:

• Cards ($20/each) -- (2) SCSI cards at about $20 a piece thanx to the TekRam-315U (UltraSCSI, no-BIOS). You can find them at your favorite PriceWatch advertising reseller. You'll need more if you have more than a few systems to swap between. Of course this becomes cost prohibitive if its more than 5 systems, so consider that. But for just 2-4 systems, it's great (and, again, fast)!
• Case ($20) -- You can usually find them at various on-line resellers for $20 or so. Here's a great 2-bay w/40W PS for $19, and that's new. If you want smaller, there are various resellers with single bay SCSI enclosures too. Cyberguys has a 3.5" for $50, although you might find cheaper if you look a bit. The case should come with internal cabling (I've never seen one without).
• External Cabling ($10) -- Cabling is also an addition, but fairly cheap anymore. Assuming you set the drive jumper for termination, you only need the cable. You can get the SCSI-2 HD50M to Centronics 50M for $9 for cases with Centronics connectors, or SCSI-2 HD50M to HD50M for $10 for cases with SCSI-2 HD connectors -- both at Cyberguys. If you really want to not terminate the drive itself, but on the case, HD50M active terminators are $11 and Centronics passive terminators are $5
• Hard Disk ($30+) -- Depending on what model you get, older SCSI hard drives can be had for $30-100. If you want massive or fast, $200-300 will get you give a bit of each. Some resellers that carry new, unused, used and refurbished hard drives:
  • Computer Geeks Outlet -- good personal experiences
  • Hi-Tech Cafe -- don't deal with their web site (sux, lose orders), call them instead
  • Com puter Surplus Outlet -- good dealings with them several times

Drives that are 50-pin narrow (Fast, Ultra, Ultra2, etc...) and will work in the case without modification. Some with be 68-pin wide or 80-pin SCA (FastWide, UltraWide, Ultra2Wide/Ultra80, Ultra160). In the case of the two later, Cyberguys sells converters to 50-pin narrow for nearly all of these connectors. The only caveat you'll have is termination, either terminate on the drive itself (i.e. don't use an external terminator) or tell the drive to use 8-bit SCSI (instead of 16-bit in 68/80-pin) as any external terminator for 50-pin will only terminate the lower 8-bits (some drives will autosense the connection as narrow and will autoterminate anyway -- see the drive docs).

Again, the only reason not to go with this config is if you are going to be sharing with more than just a few systems. You're going to be lugging around a drive anyway, why not forget worrying about carrying the media as well and have 50x the storage (compared to Zip -- much more manageable).

If you absolutely need removable and have the money to burn look at SCSI Jaz instead (2GB capacity, ~5MBps/40Mbps performance). But don't go optical, e.g. 5.2/9.4GB DVD-RAM, it's slow (9x CD, 1x DVD = 1.35MBps/10.5Mbps).

-- Bryan "TheBS" Smith

Okay dude, I know this sounds weird but SCSI would not only be faster, but probably cheaper. Most SCSI drives (of even two generations back) can do easily 10MBps+ (80Mbps+), whereas even USB's fastest speed, we're talking only 1.5MBps (12Mbps). And don't even think of those IDE to parallel kits, 2MBps (16Mbps) max (most don't get get 1MBps/8Mbps). Plus SCSI support under Linux is easy (and even loadable on the fly!).

Cards, case and cabling should run you under $100 for two systems. The a good sized, but older model, SCSI drive should only be another $30-100 for a decent size (2-23GB) and speed (5400-7200rpm, 512-2048KB buffer). The breakdown:

• Cards ($20/each) -- (2) SCSI cards at about $20 a piece thanx to the TekRam-315U (UltraSCSI, no-BIOS). You can find them at your favorite PriceWatch advertising reseller. You'll need more if you have more than a few systems to swap between. Of course this becomes cost prohibitive if its more than 5 systems, so consider that. But for just 2-4 systems, it's great (and, again, fast)!
• Case ($20) -- You can usually find them at various on-line resellers for $20 or so. Here's a great 2-bay w/40W PS for $19, and that's new. If you want smaller, there are various resellers with single bay SCSI enclosures too. Cyberguys has a 3.5" for $50, although you might find cheaper if you look a bit. The case should come with internal cabling (I've never seen one without).
• External Cabling ($10) -- Cabling is also an addition, but fairly cheap anymore. Assuming you set the drive jumper for termination, you only need the cable. You can get the SCSI-2 HD50M to Centronics 50M for $9 for cases with Centronics connectors, or SCSI-2 HD50M to HD50M for $10 for cases with SCSI-2 HD connectors -- both at Cyberguys. If you really want to not terminate the drive itself, but on the case, HD50M active terminators are $11 and Centronics passive terminators are $5
• Hard Disk ($30+) -- Depending on what model you get, older SCSI hard drives can be had for $30-100. If you want massive or fast, $200-300 will get you give a bit of each. Some resellers that carry new, unused, used and refurbished hard drives:
  • Computer Geeks Outlet -- good personal experiences
  • Hi-Tech Cafe -- don't deal with their web site (sux, lose orders), call them instead
  • Com puter Surplus Outlet -- good dealings with them several times

Drives that are 50-pin narrow (Fast, Ultra, Ultra2, etc...) and will work in the case without modification. Some with be 68-pin wide or 80-pin SCA (FastWide, UltraWide, Ultra2Wide/Ultra80, Ultra160). In the case of the two later, Cyberguys sells converters to 50-pin narrow for nearly all of these connectors. The only caveat you'll have is termination, either terminate on the drive itself (i.e. don't use an external terminator) or tell the drive to use 8-bit SCSI (instead of 16-bit in 68/80-pin) as any external terminator for 50-pin will only terminate the lower 8-bits (some drives will autosense the connection as narrow and will autoterminate anyway -- see the drive docs).

Again, the only reason not to go with this config is if you are going to be sharing with more than just a few systems. You're going to be lugging around a drive anyway, why not forget worrying about carrying the media as well and have 50x the storage (compared to Zip -- much more manageable).

If you absolutely need removable and have the money to burn look at SCSI Jaz instead (2GB capacity, ~5MBps/40Mbps performance). But don't go optical, e.g. 5.2/9.4GB DVD-RAM, it's slow (9x CD, 1x DVD = 1.35MBps/10.5Mbps).

-- Bryan "TheBS" Smith

Okay dude, I know this sounds weird but SCSI would not only be faster, but probably cheaper. Most SCSI drives (of even two generations back) can do easily 10MBps+ (80Mbps+), whereas even USB's fastest speed, we're talking only 1.5MBps (12Mbps). And don't even think of those IDE to parallel kits, 2MBps (16Mbps) max (most don't get get 1MBps/8Mbps). Plus SCSI support under Linux is easy (and even loadable on the fly!).

Cards, case and cabling should run you under $100 for two systems. The a good sized, but older model, SCSI drive should only be another $30-100 for a decent size (2-23GB) and speed (5400-7200rpm, 512-2048KB buffer). The breakdown:

• Cards ($20/each) -- (2) SCSI cards at about $20 a piece thanx to the TekRam-315U (UltraSCSI, no-BIOS). You can find them at your favorite PriceWatch advertising reseller. You'll need more if you have more than a few systems to swap between. Of course this becomes cost prohibitive if its more than 5 systems, so consider that. But for just 2-4 systems, it's great (and, again, fast)!
• Case ($20) -- You can usually find them at various on-line resellers for $20 or so. Here's a great 2-bay w/40W PS for $19, and that's new. If you want smaller, there are various resellers with single bay SCSI enclosures too. Cyberguys has a 3.5" for $50, although you might find cheaper if you look a bit. The case should come with internal cabling (I've never seen one without).
• External Cabling ($10) -- Cabling is also an addition, but fairly cheap anymore. Assuming you set the drive jumper for termination, you only need the cable. You can get the SCSI-2 HD50M to Centronics 50M for $9 for cases with Centronics connectors, or SCSI-2 HD50M to HD50M for $10 for cases with SCSI-2 HD connectors -- both at Cyberguys. If you really want to not terminate the drive itself, but on the case, HD50M active terminators are $11 and Centronics passive terminators are $5
• Hard Disk ($30+) -- Depending on what model you get, older SCSI hard drives can be had for $30-100. If you want massive or fast, $200-300 will get you give a bit of each. Some resellers that carry new, unused, used and refurbished hard drives:
  • Computer Geeks Outlet -- good personal experiences
  • Hi-Tech Cafe -- don't deal with their web site (sux, lose orders), call them instead
  • Com puter Surplus Outlet -- good dealings with them several times

Drives that are 50-pin narrow (Fast, Ultra, Ultra2, etc...) and will work in the case without modification. Some with be 68-pin wide or 80-pin SCA (FastWide, UltraWide, Ultra2Wide/Ultra80, Ultra160). In the case of the two later, Cyberguys sells converters to 50-pin narrow for nearly all of these connectors. The only caveat you'll have is termination, either terminate on the drive itself (i.e. don't use an external terminator) or tell the drive to use 8-bit SCSI (instead of 16-bit in 68/80-pin) as any external terminator for 50-pin will only terminate the lower 8-bits (some drives will autosense the connection as narrow and will autoterminate anyway -- see the drive docs).

Again, the only reason not to go with this config is if you are going to be sharing with more than just a few systems. You're going to be lugging around a drive anyway, why not forget worrying about carrying the media as well and have 50x the storage (compared to Zip -- much more manageable).

If you absolutely need removable and have the money to burn look at SCSI Jaz instead (2GB capacity, ~5MBps/40Mbps performance). But don't go optical, e.g. 5.2/9.4GB DVD-RAM, it's slow (9x CD, 1x DVD = 1.35MBps/10.5Mbps).

-- Bryan "TheBS" Smith

Okay dude, I know this sounds weird but SCSI would not only be faster, but probably cheaper. Most SCSI drives (of even two generations back) can do easily 10MBps+ (80Mbps+), whereas even USB's fastest speed, we're talking only 1.5MBps (12Mbps). And don't even think of those IDE to parallel kits, 2MBps (16Mbps) max (most don't get get 1MBps/8Mbps). Plus SCSI support under Linux is easy (and even loadable on the fly!).

Cards, case and cabling should run you under $100 for two systems. The a good sized, but older model, SCSI drive should only be another $30-100 for a decent size (2-23GB) and speed (5400-7200rpm, 512-2048KB buffer). The breakdown:

• Cards ($20/each) -- (2) SCSI cards at about $20 a piece thanx to the TekRam-315U (UltraSCSI, no-BIOS). You can find them at your favorite PriceWatch advertising reseller. You'll need more if you have more than a few systems to swap between. Of course this becomes cost prohibitive if its more than 5 systems, so consider that. But for just 2-4 systems, it's great (and, again, fast)!
• Case ($20) -- You can usually find them at various on-line resellers for $20 or so. Here's a great 2-bay w/40W PS for $19, and that's new. If you want smaller, there are various resellers with single bay SCSI enclosures too. Cyberguys has a 3.5" for $50, although you might find cheaper if you look a bit. The case should come with internal cabling (I've never seen one without).
• External Cabling ($10) -- Cabling is also an addition, but fairly cheap anymore. Assuming you set the drive jumper for termination, you only need the cable. You can get the SCSI-2 HD50M to Centronics 50M for $9 for cases with Centronics connectors, or SCSI-2 HD50M to HD50M for $10 for cases with SCSI-2 HD connectors -- both at Cyberguys. If you really want to not terminate the drive itself, but on the case, HD50M active terminators are $11 and Centronics passive terminators are $5
• Hard Disk ($30+) -- Depending on what model you get, older SCSI hard drives can be had for $30-100. If you want massive or fast, $200-300 will get you give a bit of each. Some resellers that carry new, unused, used and refurbished hard drives:
  • Computer Geeks Outlet -- good personal experiences
  • Hi-Tech Cafe -- don't deal with their web site (sux, lose orders), call them instead
  • Com puter Surplus Outlet -- good dealings with them several times

Drives that are 50-pin narrow (Fast, Ultra, Ultra2, etc...) and will work in the case without modification. Some with be 68-pin wide or 80-pin SCA (FastWide, UltraWide, Ultra2Wide/Ultra80, Ultra160). In the case of the two later, Cyberguys sells converters to 50-pin narrow for nearly all of these connectors. The only caveat you'll have is termination, either terminate on the drive itself (i.e. don't use an external terminator) or tell the drive to use 8-bit SCSI (instead of 16-bit in 68/80-pin) as any external terminator for 50-pin will only terminate the lower 8-bits (some drives will autosense the connection as narrow and will autoterminate anyway -- see the drive docs).

Again, the only reason not to go with this config is if you are going to be sharing with more than just a few systems. You're going to be lugging around a drive anyway, why not forget worrying about carrying the media as well and have 50x the storage (compared to Zip -- much more manageable).

If you absolutely need removable and have the money to burn look at SCSI Jaz instead (2GB capacity, ~5MBps/40Mbps performance). But don't go optical, e.g. 5.2/9.4GB DVD-RAM, it's slow (9x CD, 1x DVD = 1.35MBps/10.5Mbps).

-- Bryan "TheBS" Smith

I think the best idea (ie; what I do) is somewhere between a "network console" and switch boxes. Rather, both.

For the cost of any of the better electronic switches, or less, buy yourself a really good monitor etc for one machine. Then get a cheap monitor etc and one of the crappy little mechanical switches ($25 at CyberGuys, where I bought my last from (warning: Java is required to navigate the site, other than that they're pretty cool)). Do everything you can via X11 on your pretty display, and then you have the "off" console for those things you can't do, like rebooting the little bastards after they've forgotten how to speak to their NICs.

While I haven't had any serious experiance with the better electrical KVM switches, I can't imagine how they'd not tear up high-bandwidth video signals. I like to push my monitor out as far as it'll go, and have had poor results from the high grade 6 foot extension cables. That ruled out switches of either type on my console machine.