Difference between revisions of "AlphaServer ES45"

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== Notes ==
 
== Notes ==
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'''2013/01:''' The Compaq ES40 arrived in my collection after I made a Cisco router purchase from a computer recycling company in Duncan, BC. During a discussion, my interest in antique DEC computers was mentioned, and I was offered this machine for little more than the cost of ground shipping. From the dust and dirt, I'm sure it had been sitting around their warehouse for quite some time.
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'''2019/10:''' After spotting some posts on a retro mailing list about some DEC/Compaq gear at Athabasca University that needed rescuing, I started up a conversation with a pair of passionate people who were the caretakers of this gear during it's production lifecycle, and they really didn't want to see the gear go to the scrappers. After some discussions, and the offer of payment for expenses, they kindly strapped the rack full of gear into a trailer and drove it 1000km from it's old home to my data centre. I was completely blown away by their generosity and enthusiasm in making sure that the gear found a worthy home.
  
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I agreed to take the machine sight-unseen, so I wasn't sure what to expect when the crate arrived at the office.  Surprisingly, after a good cleaning, the machine was in perfect working order. There were no drives in the machine, so I populated the drive cages with various sizes of drives I had lying around.
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It took two years, but as of October 2021, both machines are up and running on Hecnet. They have no local storage, but instead use FC to a HSG80 array full of 42 drives.
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At 8U, the machine is a little large for my garage collection, so it's currently located in the data center I manage, where it will probably live until I need the rack space for a paying customer.
 
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After learning about DEC's Galaxy system, I decided to experiment with hardware partitioning.  The machine arrived with two of everything (CPUs, ethernet controllers, SCSI controllers, etc) so I'm sure this is how the machine was originally configured.  It now lives as two HECnet nodes, FRICK:: and FRACK:: (named after the nick-names my wife has given to our two dogs).
 

Revision as of 17:24, 9 November 2021

BOB:: and DOUG:: a pair of AlphaServer ES45s

Configuration

Node Name BOB::
Node Number 42.10
Machine AlphaServer ES45
Model DY-68AAA-BA
Serial 4216JSPZA094
Node Name DOUG::
Node Number 42.11
Machine AlphaServer ES45
Model DA-68DAA-AL
Serial 4144JSPZA085

Documentation

EK-ES240-PD.B01 Alpha ES40 Tower and Pedestal Basic Installation
EK-ES240-RG.B01 AlphaServer ES40 Rackmount System Installation Guide
EK-ES240-RN.C01 AlphaServer ES40 Release Notes
EK-ES240-SV.A01 AlphaServer ES40 Service Guide
EK-ES240-UG.B01 AlphaServer ES40 and AlphaStation ES40 Owner's Guide
EK-ES240-UI.B01 AlphaServer ES40 and AlphaStation ES40 User Interface Guide
EK-ES4M2-UP.A01 AlphaServer ES40 Model 1 to Model 2 Upgrade

Notes

2019/10: After spotting some posts on a retro mailing list about some DEC/Compaq gear at Athabasca University that needed rescuing, I started up a conversation with a pair of passionate people who were the caretakers of this gear during it's production lifecycle, and they really didn't want to see the gear go to the scrappers. After some discussions, and the offer of payment for expenses, they kindly strapped the rack full of gear into a trailer and drove it 1000km from it's old home to my data centre. I was completely blown away by their generosity and enthusiasm in making sure that the gear found a worthy home.

It took two years, but as of October 2021, both machines are up and running on Hecnet. They have no local storage, but instead use FC to a HSG80 array full of 42 drives.

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