Historical Workstations

Big fat warning: This page contains outdated information, especially the imaging and runlevels stuff. Look at "See Also" for more up-to-date pages.

Overview
There are currently 45 workstations for public use in the TJHSST Computer Systems Lab. There are 11 reserved machines; this number includes a presentation workstation, two faculty workstations, and several workstations reserved for Sysadmins. All workstations (except for the four Sun SPARC workstations) run a Gentoo build, synced from the golden client.

We now keep a handy database of all the workstations and various bits of information about them.

Images
The Gentoo image came about at the end of the 2006-2007 school year. Before this, the workstations used to run a Debian image. They didn't always run Debian (or even Linux); we have run Slackware on the workstations, and I've heard SUSE was used as well, but that is probably not correct.

The only job currently associated with the workstations is updating the packages and reimaging them; since they have run Debian Linux for a long time now, they are relatively stable running Debian's testing tree for the most part. Imaging used to be an inconvenient, manual process involving two floppy disks and a squad of sysadmins along with their helpers. Since the 2004-2005 school year, however, all you have to do is understand the quirks of the system.

(This part may or may not be applicable in future times. Who knows?) To release an image, the Sysadmin must first make sure everything works on at least the golden client (currently Jett). Or else Jacob Welsh, the workstation admin will be very very sad. And you don't want that.

In theory, you should release a beta image for testing to different kinds of workstations to test things before you image all the workstations with a full release. In practice, it is faster to image all the workstations often and fix problems as soon as they arise (non-classtime is good for this purpose, as essential lesson plans won't be ruined this way). Once again, test things before you force them upon the students.

To release a beta image, run hydrogen:~# /usr/csl/sbin/sysbetaimg or to release a full image, run hydrogen:~# /usr/csl/sbin/sysfullimg (This is the w34k way to do it. Switch the runlevel to 4 or 5 to really impress people at parties.)

Follow the onscreen directions, even up until you have to run the command king:~# syspullimg hydrogen (It wasn't always king, and it probably won't be king by the time you need to read this; knowledge is power!). Be sure to follow those instructions carefully, too. After we made the full switch to udev with all the changes that kernel v2.6.12 entailed, /dev didn't rsync over with the rest of the image, so you have to run the command sysfix or sysfix_b if you want the workstations to have /dev (hint: you definitely want them to have /dev).

After that, you can run the command csl_reimage or init 9 on a workstation. Run first if you want to use the beta image.
 * 1) /usr/csl/sbin/syssetimage -b

You can set up sudo to include underclassmen that you deem worthy of being able to do you job for you. That is, you can let them run the csl_reimage command, and suddenly you don't have to do a lot of that work any more.

Weird Runlevels
We use all the runlevels we can ... use.
 * 0 - Halt (Even with our unorthodox system, that's the 1337 way to shut down on any box)
 * 1 - ???
 * 2 - ???
 * 3 - ???
 * 4 - ???
 * 5 - ???
 * 6 - Restart (see 0)
 * 7 - equivalent to csl_resetup, which ???
 * 8 - equivalent to csl_reconfigure, which runs all the /usr/csl/etc/sysconf/config files, and maybe even more. Useful if you messed up some configuration thingy or other, or if for some reason they're missing entirely (netbooted images, for example, will not have them, which is why you should be prepared to manually type in the boot options if you decide to netboot a workstation; run init 8 as root when you've done that, and then you have no problems!  A good thing if you don't want to use floppies but the image is somehow non-functional).
 * 9 - equivalent to csl_reimage, in that it reimages the computer. Run syssetimage -b as root if you want to use the beta image.  After one serious incident of failure to think, the sysadmins decided to make sure you couldn't image the golden client unless you tried really, really hard (wink wink nudge nudge).
 * S - Single user mode. Useful for ... uh, getting you unstuck from ucky situations.

/usr/csl/
This was created sometime circa 2004. Nobody really knows how all the thingies inside work. Go on inside unarmed AT YOUR OWN RISK. No really. Some of the stuff in there is scary. --Alfie 02:01, 7 November 2005 (EST)

= Workstation Generations = Before there were workstations, there were what are now known as 'terminals'. This used to be the only way to access computers if you were not >= technology demigod. Running a state-of-the-art computer laboratory using personal computers would have been a laughable thought in the 1980's, but today that's what we try to do. It might go back to be that way if computers keep improving at the same rate they are, but that's not my problem, see. Right now is the tail end of the Pentium 4 era. Know your roots. --Alfie 01:00, 7 November 2005 (EST)

In the Beginning
Okay, so for cursory knowledge you might like to know that we used to have serial consoles tied to VAXen in the machine room that existed in the Learning Parlor. I do believe that they were able to access the ETA10P 'remotely' if you so desired to access it that way, but don't hold me to that. We later were running IRIX somehow. Don't hold me to that, either. However, I have most of the evidence of any of this IN MY BASEMENT, so you probably will never know! (Also Alfie)

Vectras
The first generation of workstations was composed of the Vectras. The last of those were destroyed under the Moffingston regime. They're Pentiums, I believe. They stink. They pretty much are outclassed by the Vectras in the library (as of the time of this writing, anyway).


 * Number of CPUs: 1
 * CPU Vendor: GenuineIntel
 * Model: Pentium 75 - 200
 * Processor Speed: 132MHz
 * Memory: 75 MB
 * Hard Drive: 1083.13 MB

Transformers
The second generation of workstations are the Transformers. Originally thirty named after Transformers from the cartoon (...you guessed it!) Transformers, these have been rearranged, mexed miss-- er, mixed messaged up so many times it isn't even cool to use one for a personal project anymore. They were originally paid for with insurance money when the ETA-10P was damaged, since 30 new computers would be more effective and closer to modern supercomputing techniques than an obsolete supercomputer would. Originally, they had the icons of the Transformer they represented, but with some getting renamed with labels peeled and whatnot, this use has been forgotten. Fun trivia
 * hughes, hawkeye, and resurrection are not actual Transformer names. Two are named after officers from Fullmetal Alchemist, and resurrection is just totally OOC.  It's supposed to be armstrong, but since Eric fixed it I figure he can name it whatever the heck he wants.
 * The TNT2 cards from the Transformer era seem to have this problem where they cause horizontally streaked video. This does not affect performance at all, however.
 * The Transformers began major repairs during the 2002-2003 school year, and it was not finished until the 2004-2005 school year when all Transformers that did not work at all were dismantled.


 * Number of CPUs: 1
 * CPU Vendor: GenuineIntel
 * CPU Model: Pentium II
 * CPU Speed: 400 MHz
 * RAM: 123 MB
 * Hard Drive: 15179.28 MB
 * Video Cards: Create TNT2 (32MB)
 * First School Year: ???


 * RAM: Supposed to have 512MB after Eric upgraded all of the working ones. You really don't want less in today's workstations

Elements
The third generation? The are the Elements, named after the first 16 elements ordered by atomic number. Shoddily built, as Eric or Alfie could attest.
 * Some of them don't even power up correctly. Seriously, what's with that?
 * You can access them by their chemical symbols as well as their hostnames
 * Processors: AMD Athlon K7's, but maybe some of them run on Celerons or Durons.
 * RAM: 512MB?
 * Video cards: Matrox TNT2
 * First school year: ???
 * Last school year: Well, the last of them was found 2009.


 * Beryllium was found in the library Spring 2009, and was promptly put in the pile of old stuff to be carted off and trashed. At that point, it was basically scrapped, though it still had an ethernet card, 1 GB of ram, and a floppy drive left, aside from the case and mobo.

Guitarists
The fourth generation are the Guitarists; 12 be their number, but wait! a surprise! There are actually 13! How'd that happen? Well, basically we just found one lyin' around not being used or asked for back after one whole summer (it was narfed by the Lab for JOSTI 2005), so it turned into dylan. Fun trivia: santana was supposed to be called buchanan originally, but someone (by which I don't mean Moffingston for once) had a memory lapse and didn't name it that, which caused no end of headaches when Supercomp students ran MPI programs. And now you know! They are all pre-built by (the now-defunct) Compaq, marking the first time the Syslab workstations weren't student-built.
 * Processors: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4, 2.40GHz
 * RAM: 256MB/512MB
 * Video cards: They come with integrated Intel graphics (not the same kind as Heroes), but some of them have TNT2's just so that we weren't driven insane from the ugliness.
 * First school year: ??? (I should know, I'm just too lazy to remember right now)
 * Last school year: April 2008 - they are being replaced by the newest workstations, which are the same kind as the Volcanoes.

Tragic Heroes
The fifth generation are the Tragic Heroes (please call them Heroes for short, PLEASE), which are pre-built by HP Compaq. They aren't that much different from Guitarists, but they look a lot better, have convenient ports in front, and of course HP desktops are among the most reliable in the business. All 40 were named by Mr. Shane Torbert, marking the first time the workstations weren't named by students. Fun trivia:
 * one was supposed to be named bigger, but that obviously wouldn't fly, so now it's odysseus
 * They all die in the end. Whoops!  Guess I spoiled it for you.
 * Processors: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4, 2.80GHz
 * RAM: 256MB
 * Video cards: They come with integrated Intel graphics (not the same kind as Guitarists), but all of them have an additional nvidia graphics card (most of them have GeForce2's, although some have other things) which were cheap at the time and give you some relief from the sheer AGE of the TNT2 cards.
 * First school year: 2004-2005
 * Last school year: 2007-2008

Volcanoes
The sixth generation workstations are the Volcanoes, which are pre-built by HP Compaq. The main new thing about these workstations are that they have Intel Core2Duo processors. We have received 18 so far, with more on the TJ Partnership Fund wishlist. These workstations have silver sides, and black on the front, top, and bottom. All of these have front-side USB ports and audio jacks.


 * Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6300 @ 1.86GHz
 * RAM: 2GB
 * Video cards: Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 3000
 * First school year: 2007-2008
 * Last school year: Still in use

AIs
Same specs as the volcanoes but they were received later and have a different naming scheme. Shodan was the first machine with an AI name, but it is a special, custom-built workstation with a ridiculously good graphics card (GeForce 8800 GTX anyone?). Not including shodan, there are 16 AI workstations.
 * An interesting note: The AIs have Core 2 Duo E6300 processors, while the Volcanoes have Core 2 Duo 6300s (according to /proc/cpuinfo, at least). There does not appear to be any actual difference in performance between the two.

Scifi Authors
The seventh generation workstations are the Scifi Authors, received in 2008 during TJ summer school. These prebuilt HP Compaqs appear similar to the AIs and Volcanoes, though they are of a higher model number and have slightly nicer hardware inside, and they lack floppy drives and parallel ports.


 * Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo E8300 @ 2.83GHz
 * RAM: 2GB DDR2 800
 * Video cards: Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 3100
 * First school year: 2008-2009
 * Last school year: Still in use


 * Note: During inventory, we discovered that Pratchett and Vonnegut have E8200 processors instead of E8300. The difference is in clock speed--2.66 GHz versus 2.83 GHz, respectively.

Mathematicians
Received over Spring Break 2009. There are 17 of them, and they replace all but one of the volcanoes. They're also dc5800s, so we're assuming for now that they have the same specs as the Scifi Authors. This is the first series of workstations to exclusively use the 64-bit image.

=See Also=
 * Gentoo Image
 * SystemImager
 * Workstations