I just want a nice simple pc i could use to run a bbs on in tandem with my
main pc. For hot days i dont feel like i should turn on my main pc when
there is an energy flex alert. Do they still use kvm units or would i just
need to do a hdmi splitter for the monitor then.

... [CE] "Spam, spam, spam, spam, baked beans and spam."
→
--- WWIVToss v.1.51
* Origin: Inland Utopia BBS (1:218/109.0)

On 06/21/16, Matt Munson said the following...

I just want a nice simple pc i could use to run a bbs on in tandem with
my main pc. For hot days i dont feel like i should turn on my main pc
when there is an energy flex alert. Do they still use kvm units or would
i just need to do a hdmi splitter for the monitor then.

A kvm would do the trick, I used to use one at one time. My current monitor
has two hdmi inputs and one vga so I just press a button to switch between them.

Ttyl :-),
Al

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A21 (Linux)
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

On 06/21/16, Matt Munson said the following...

I just want a nice simple pc i could use to run a bbs on in tandem with
my main pc. For hot days i dont feel like i should turn on my main pc
when there is an energy flex alert. Do they still use kvm units or would
i just need to do a hdmi splitter for the monitor then.

I have stuff running on an old laptop tucked away in the entertainment center under the TV. Doesn't use much electricity, low profile, and has a built-in UPS. And I just use TightVNC to access it. Easy peasy.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A21 (Windows)
* Origin: http://www.throwbackbbs.com -\- meriden, ct -\- (1:142/799)

Matt,

Tuesday June 21 2016 00:12, you wrote to All:

I just want a nice simple pc i could use to run a bbs on in tandem
with my main pc. For hot days i dont feel like i should turn on my
main pc when there is an energy flex alert. Do they still use kvm
units or would i just need to do a hdmi splitter for the monitor then.

A modern PC will consume very little power under light load. You should simply
use a virtual machine (i.e. virtual box). Set your power settings to balanced.

Take care,

Matt

---
* Origin: The Byte Museum - An IPV6 Capable System (1:19/10)

Matt Munson wrote in a message to All:

I just want a nice simple pc i could use to run a bbs on in tandem
with my main pc. For hot days i don't feel like i should turn on my

I used a KVM for a few years, but it was cheaper to just run the main PC
and use virtual machines. One modern PC running 24/7 doesn't consume that
much power.

You could also use a Raspberry Pi computer and run a BBS on it. Synchronet
and Mystic have versions that are stable, and I'm sure there are others.

Shawn

... Don't go away mad. Just GO AWAY!!
---
* Origin: Tiny's Trailer (1:229/452.1)

Shawn,

Wednesday June 22 2016 05:37, you wrote to Matt Munson:

You could also use a Raspberry Pi computer and run a BBS on it.

Speaking of rasberry... if a person wanted to build a server these days...

The Intel Avoton make excellent small servers configurations which consume low power. They even accept ECC ram which is a big bonus.

Construct one of these to host a NAS and virtual machines...

Take care,

Matt

---
* Origin: The Byte Museum - An IPV6 Capable System (1:19/10)

On 06/21/16, Matt Munson said the following...

I just want a nice simple pc i could use to run a bbs on in tandem with
my main pc. For hot days i dont feel like i should turn on my main pc
when there is an energy flex alert. Do they still use kvm units or would
i just need to do a hdmi splitter for the monitor then.

This is one of the reasons that make me a fan of the SoC computers like Raspberry Pi and ODROID, and all the rest of the Pi family of computers. The power consumption is so low, and the level of heat is so much less than conventional desktops, or even laptop PCs.

Regarding KVM's; I have a 2port and a 4port VGA/USB kvm. My 4port gives such bad resolution that I don't use it anymore. My 2port works great. But with all my SoC PC's, I find that they all use HDMI, which precludes my VGA KVMs. I've looked into HDMI KVM's but they are vastly expensive. You could pay
$150 for a 2port model. My workaround is to get a HDMI->VGA adapter. I was able to get one for about $6.00 off of amazon.

"No matter where you go, there you are!" - Buckaroo Bonzai

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A21 (Raspberry Pi)
* Origin: Cyberia BBS | Cyberia.Darktech.Org | Kingwood, TX (1:106/324)

Shawn Highfield wrote to Matt Munson <=-

You could also use a Raspberry Pi computer and run a BBS on it. Synchronet
and Mystic have versions that are stable, and I'm sure there are
others.

MBSE will run under Raspberian nicely. I didn't go with it since I run
DOS doors, but from what I understand, there is a good working DOS emulator
for Rasperian now.

--Sean (the "other" Shawn)

... Hockey is a game played by six good players and the home team.
--- MultiMail/Linux
* Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)

Matt Bedynek wrote to Shawn Highfield <=-

Construct one of these to host a NAS and virtual machines...

There's a version of NAS4Free for the RPi. Oh, now you've got me
thinking...I have four external hard drives that need to be connected to the network. Might look at the RPi 3 for that.

Thanks for the idea. :)

My wallet thanks you too. *snicker*

:D

--Sean

... If at first you don't succeed, you're doing about average.
--- MultiMail/Linux
* Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)

Darryl Perry wrote to Matt Munson <=-

This is one of the reasons that make me a fan of the SoC computers like Raspberry Pi and ODROID, and all the rest of the Pi family of
computers. The power consumption is so low, and the level of heat is
so much less than conventional desktops, or even laptop PCs.

I agree. I am a big fan of Slackware Linux (I use it for my BBS and on my personal machine) and am waiting for the maintainers of the S/ARM to compile
it on the RPi 3. When that happens, I'm seriously considering putting the
BBS on a RPi 3 with the BBS itself running off of a little WD 500GB external "pocket" USB hard drive. Talk about almost no power consumption.

Technology can be really neat at times.

--Sean

... Serving coffee on an aircraft causes turbulence.
--- MultiMail/Linux
* Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)

Sean Dennis wrote in a message to Shawn Highfield:

MBSE will run under Raspberian nicely. I didn't go with it since I
run DOS doors, but from what I understand, there is a good working
DOS emulator for Rasperian now.

I'm just gonna link to the door servers. If they go down I'll play
with dos emulators then or I'll just not bother. ;) I only have one
regular user of a couple doors anyway.

Shawn

... Useless Invention: Flashbulb tester.
---
* Origin: Tiny's Trailer (1:229/452.1)

Sean,

network. Might look at the RPi 3 for that.

I don't know much about raspberry pi...but a pineapple upside down
cheesecake sounds awfully good. <G>

My wallet thanks you too. *snicker*

I know the feeling.

Daryl

===
■ OLX 1.53 ■ Haunted French pancakes give me the crepes.
--- SBBSecho 3.00-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - wx1der.dyndns.org (1:19/33)

Shawn Highfield wrote to Sean Dennis <=-

MBSE will run under Raspberian nicely. I didn't go with it since I
run DOS doors, but from what I understand, there is a good working
DOS emulator for Rasperian now.

I'm just gonna link to the door servers. If they go down I'll play
with dos emulators then or I'll just not bother. ;) I only have one
regular user of a couple doors anyway.

If you're running Synchronet, I've got a bit of Javascript that basically replaces your door menu with a menu choice to connect to either DoorParty or BBSlink (it also requires an NT batch file to keep the SSH connection to DoorParty open).

We're working on actually getting the two game server merged so that basically anyone on DoorParty can play BBBSlink doors and vice versa.

sampsa



... MultiMail, the new multi-platform, multi-format offline reader!
--- MultiMail/Darwin v0.49
* Origin: B4BBS = London = b4bbs.sampsa.com 2:250/7 (2:250/7)

Sean,

Friday June 24 2016 20:38, you wrote to me:

There's a version of NAS4Free for the RPi. Oh, now you've got me thinking...I have four external hard drives that need to be connected
to the network. Might look at the RPi 3 for that.

Thanks for the idea. :)

My wallet thanks you too. *snicker*

A well built NAS will save many hours of grief if built right by protecting data integrity. Just remember it is not a backup. The important things are to
use drives made to operate in RAIDed configurations as those which are not may experience enough errors to get dropped.

NAS4free appears similar to FreeNAS - supports ZFS. I would recommend using a
minimum of 4 drives in a RAIDZ-2.

ZFS likes memory and you would want a minimum of 4GB of ram to get by (note: recommended is 8GB). If could manage it ECC should also be used for memory.

If done right will be bullet proof - excluding hardware failures, power surges or lightening.

I spent a decent penny for my build but it wasn't done simply to fulfil a need.
It was relevant to the type of work I would be doing - supporting storage environments.

We could talk more in depth if desired. It need not be expensive to build. I was tossing out 500GB Hitachi RAID capable drives recently. Just couldn;t sell
them... :(

Take care,

Matt

---
* Origin: The Byte Museum - An IPV6 Capable System (1:19/10)

Sampsa,

If you're running Synchronet, I've got a bit of Javascript that basically SL>replaces your door menu with a menu choice to connect to either DoorParty or SL>BBSlink (it also requires an NT batch file to keep the SSH connection to SL>DoorParty open).

I've got to find that link under SBBS, to where one can telnet into
other BBS's, while still connected to SBBS.

Daryl

===
■ OLX 1.53 ■ For a transcript; get a piece of paper, and write fast!
--- SBBSecho 3.00-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - wx1der.dyndns.org (1:19/33)

Hello Sampsa,

27 Jun 16 08:43 at you wrote to me:

Did you mean this message for Shawn? I haven't used Synchronet in about 15 years...I run MBSE. :)

Shawn Highfield wrote to Sean Dennis <=-

MBSE will run under Raspberian nicely. I didn't go with it since
I run DOS doors, but from what I understand, there is a good
working DOS emulator for Rasperian now.

I'm just gonna link to the door servers. If they go down I'll
play
with dos emulators then or I'll just not bother. ;) I only
have one
regular user of a couple doors anyway.

If you're running Synchronet, I've got a bit of Javascript that
basically replaces your door menu with a menu choice to connect to
either DoorParty or BBSlink (it also requires an NT batch file to keep
the SSH connection to DoorParty open).

We're working on actually getting the two game server merged so that basically anyone on DoorParty can play BBBSlink doors and vice versa.

sampsa

... MultiMail, the new multi-platform, multi-format offline reader!
--- MultiMail/Darwin v0.49
* Origin: B4BBS = London = b4bbs.sampsa.com 2:250/7 (2:250/7)

Later,
Sean

--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20160322
* Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)

Hello Matt,

27 Jun 16 01:00 at you wrote to me:

protecting data integrity. Just remember it is not a backup. The

Never said it was a backup.

All I'm using it for is to serve my external drives that hold music and various files to my home LAN, that's all. I know plenty about RAID, et cetera. If I was going to deal with RAID, I'd set up a SAN, not a NAS device. :)

The only thing that is backed up is my BBS machine and it uses rdiff-backup to a local external USB device and backed up to an offsite storage area via FTP. I have hot, warm, and cold backups for the BBS. The rest I'm not worried about.

I was just finding an excuse to use the RPi B. Now that Slackware/ARM 14.2 has been released, I'll get me a RPi 3 and set it up for use in my ham radio shack.

Why? Just because I can. :)

Later,
Sean

--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20160322
* Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)

On Tue, 5 Jul 2016 13:11:50 -0400, Sean Dennis wrote:

If I was going to deal with RAID, I'd set up a SAN, not a NAS device.

Why? A SAN has a niche and specific use cases. I would venture to
say that NAS (with RAID) has far more use cases.

The only thing that is backed up is my BBS machine and it uses

rdiff-backup to

a local external USB device and backed up to an offsite storage area via

FTP.

The ZFS snapshot is a pretty good feature for replication but probaly
unneed complexity for BBS applications. That being said one could
simply stand up FreeNAS VM inside the cloud and use that to replicate
small data sets from a hardware appliance.

I have hot, warm, and cold backups for the BBS. The rest I'm not worried about.

I recently found some old backups from my BBS ~ 2006 - along with all
the message bases, netmail, ect. I was rather shocked. It was on an
old 80 GB hard drive that didn't spin up last time power was applied.
This time when doing a erasure on drives I was disposing of it did!

Why? Just because I can. :)

I think everything done in this community is because we can. The good
and the bad. :P

---
* Origin: The Byte Museum - news: news.bytemuseum.org (1:19/10)