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Speed-Assembling Servers
Nieriko writes "The Planet is holding competitions to speed-assemble rack-mounted servers. It's like watching latter-day Marines field-strip and assemble their weapons. There is a video on YouTube about this incredible contest. Looks pretty challenging."
"It's like watching latter-day Marines field-strip and assemble their weapons."
Well no actually, it looked like any normal IT support guy putting a machine back together, except most people don't even fumble and drop the RAM.
Really, that was fast? I'd be inclined to believe anyone here on Slashdot whose built a machine a few times could do it faster than that. It's not like they even had to build half the machine, the fiddliest components were already in place anyway.
Lame. I was hoping they were going to assemble a 40U rack. Maybe actually use tools. Maybe a stop watch that works the first time you try to stop it. Lame.
... and that's not speedy.
The youtube clip is some knob plugging in ram and an *IDE* disk cable in what appears to be a several-year-old desktop. If any of you can't match that, turn in your computer geek card now...
Perhaps they should stop fucking about with stuff like this and get rid of the many spammers they have for customers?
Was I the only one that read his shirt as saying "Herpes without capes" due to the placement of his name tag strap? Oh god, it was just me, wasn't it? I'm sick.
Maybe I'm just clumsy but the job isn't truly over until you discover all the cuts on your hands that you didn't realize you made at the time. The ones that have that sort of quantum uncertainty to them in that they don't hurt until you see them for the first time.
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I can go from a collection of parts to a desktop running Windows in under 15 minutes using a prepared disk image on a USB stick.
Servers are actually a bit easier to deal with than that, since the layout is more open. On a Tyan GT20 (a barebones server platform) there's probably about three minutes of work involved in sticking in the CPUs, RAM and hard drives. If I had a prepared disk image for one I could probably get one of those running in 10 - 15 minutes. The hardest part of the whole thing would be getting the machine into the rack.
-- I wanna decide who lives and who dies - Crow T. Robot, MST3K
I would think that any contest for assembling a computer would involve actually turning the computer on to test if you did it right.
300 racks, Blindfolded, while answering phones from angry users asking why their server is down, and being chased by 2 service managers who do have a bet running on you.
I will see your raise...
We build servers here. First rule is that if you hurry, you're likely to screw something up and end up needing to fix something down the road. The hour of downtime and cost of replacement parts later is not worth any up-front savings in time.
Building a server starts with a bare metal chassis (not just plugging in a few snap-in components to a prebuilt). Integrate your power supply, install system board, from there of course it gets dependent on the specifics... but if you're not spending a fair bit of time trying to be neat, tying your cables down, thinking about how to route the cables for airflow, custom-building cables to fit odd needs, tightening screws with the right torque, and all of that, then you're not really doing a good job. Rack mount servers are especially sensitive to the skills of the designer and builder.
Your rack mount server will end up in a rack somewhere where it may not be pulled out for another five years. There may not be a "second chance" to fix it if you rush through building it - it becomes someone else's problem, perhaps, but they won't be thanking you for it.
It doesn't take much to impress you, does it?
"It's like watching latter-day Marines field-strip and assemble their weapons."
umm...no, it was not like that at all. It was more like watching a guy plug in a usb cable.
fast server assembly? BFD. Servers come already assembled. If you want to wow me, show me a challenge where the guy racks, cables it per standards, labels the server properly, labels the cables, sets the switch port vlans, updates the CMDB, etc. You know, does the WHOLE thing, not just the easy part.
Sure, it isn't as fiddly, but when you have 40 of them to do all at once... you tend to get good at it.
And it can become a very visual explanation of the "off by one" software bug.
You can also do some pretty good slapstick comedy by installing one heavy rail mounted server in a new empty rack, pull the heavy server out on the rails to test them, then dodge the tipping over rack. You did anchor the rack to the floor and overhead first, right?
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger