druddle

Was working in a computer room on some Solaris servers and Linux servers that also houses some absolute monsters.

Highlights include

Cray T3E
SGI 3800 with 860 processors
SGI 3000 with 160 processors
SGI 2800 with 56 processors
Mahooooooosive twin silo Storagetek library

The sight of the big SGI was amazing. Apparently its used for molecular modelling and spends all day doing masses of sums.

Anyone else got anything on that scale in your computer room ???

Dave

ozzy

Get it to play Tic Tak Toe before it destroys the planet

Mervyn King

We've got one of those huge robotic tape libraries at one of our sites in Germany. The site itself is in a World War II bunker.

Had to go there to do some Y2k stuff, scared the cr@p out of me going into this bunker with 2ft thick walls. Then came the huge walk in tape thingy which looked like something out of The Fly

Wierd.

Gedi

lol @ ozzy.

Top film that. It was the thing that got me into computer security when I was a kid.

IWatkins

Couple of big T3E's, a smaller one and a 30 node NEC SX-6 install is currently being fitted (with additional nodes coming next year). A scattering of IBM mainframes to run it all and a funky tape robot (few petabytes of storage). And a load of other lickle 'puters to control that lot.

Amazing what you can fit in a 19 inch rack

Cheers

Ian

[Edited by IWatkins - 10/07/2003 15:39:34]

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Ian

How many Setis are you running on it?

IWatkins

None Well, not officially anyway

Another Seti/UD type thing is coming along soon that is more my kind of thing though, see: ClimatePrediction

We are actually in the middle of moving all the big boxes from our current site down (Bracknell) to our new site (Exeter). Trying to maintain the service and throughput while this is going on is a planning/logistical nightmare.

Cheers

Ian

Stueyb

I used to work for a rather large secretive company and they had a concrete reinforced bunker with swipe and electronic punch key things to get into it. This was fed by several backup gennys and climate controlled, diverse feeds etc with halon extinguishers etc etc - very interesting toys in there.

All I can say is "paranoia"

Steve Perriam

ian u work for the Met Office then i assume ?

the new met office building is just down the end of the estate from me.

IWatkins

Steve, you are bang on

They finished building down there yet ? I'm due my first visit to our new HQ begining of October. Is the pub on the main road any good ? (Ian gets the important stuff sorted).

So where do you work on that estate ?

Cheers

Ian

suba

one day, they will all gone to be replace with shoe box type servers like shuttle

Steve Perriam

hi ian.

i work up near the services at the other end of the estate for the Environment Agency.

i know one guy who used to work here who is currtly in bracknell now working for you lot !

yes the pub down near where you will be (The Barn Owl) is good. not go there much now as work other places a lot but used to go there quite a lot. its popular with EA people on Fridays.

you not been down here so far then ? so u looking to relocate / buy house etc down here soon then ?

steve

IWatkins

Hi Steve,

EA eh ? Well, there is now an option for you jump ship then

I'm not moving as I home work. I'll just travel down every now and then for meetings, kick a server over etc.

I actually get a day assigned to me for "induction" into the new building, i.e. stuff like where the free coffee is etc. and that'll be sometime early October when the rest of my team moves to Exeter.

Cheers

Ian

Steve Perriam

oh rite.....thats lucky for you then if you can continue to work for them based from home.

i know 1/2 people interested in seeing what they have to offer.

the hooded claw

Ozzy you been watching War games too many times

IWatkins

Steve,

It'll be a few months, then they will restart the recruitment process. I.e. on hold during transition from Bracknell - Exeter (July - October). No doubt they will then find out who didn't come down and mad panic to get the right people in.

Cheers

Ian

Steve Perriam

good to know ian.

i'll keep an eye out later in the year after the dust has settled from the big restructuring we're going through at the moment !