[tech] New Mermaid

Bob Adamson bob at ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au
Sun Mar 13 20:36:16 WST 2011


This thread got a little sidetracked with talks about disks...anyway, back 
to the actual topic...

[TRS] linked me to a box[1] which not only has all the features we need, 
but does it much cheaper than the previous suggestion. It has 8 serial 
ports, a fanless 1.2GHz VIA 64-bit processor[2] running off a VIA Epia 
motherboard[3]. The cost of $389 is good at the moment with the Aussie 
dollar close to parity with the American dollar. The problem is shipping 
to Australia - $227! 

Does anyone know of a local source, a better alternative, or someone in 
the US that we can ship through?

Bob Adamson

[1] http://www.e-itx.com/epia-m840-ep50.html
[2] http://resources.e-itx.com/processors/VIA_Nano_Processor_datasheet_v100727.pdf
[3] http://resources.e-itx.com/via-epia-m840/VIA_EPIA-M840_datasheet_v100915.pdf




On Thu, 3 Mar 2011, Bob Adamson wrote:

> Hi techies,
> 
> I've been thinking about a replacement box for mermaid, and now seems like 
> a good time to do the job properly while the box isn't being used for 
> anything.
> 
> Dispense is currently running on heathred, the vendserver is running on 
> martello, the door lock is controlled by a service running on mussel, with 
> a decserver, a man-eating power supply and a modem in amongst all that. 
> It's all very hot, very power hungry, and not all that reliable. What I 
> hope to do is put all these services on one reliable machine with a ups. 
> It will also require a little electronics later on for the door stuff. 
> This will hopefully mean that the services are more likely to stay up in 
> emergencies (fuse trips, power dips, hail storms in the clubroom, 
> armageddon, freshers in the machine room) and also be easier to 
> understand, manage and update.
> 
> The replacement box should run on as little power as possible, have at 
> least 3 serial ports (preferably more), have static cooling (ie no fans), 
> preferably mini or microATX so we can stick it somewhere out of the way.
> 
> At the moment, I'm keen on getting something in the $800 range from 
> advantech, such as 
> http://buy.advantech.net.au/ARK-3360L-3S51/ARK-3360L-3S51/system-3545.htm 
> 
> If you have a better suggestion, or can be bothered trawling sites to 
> custom build a box, I'd love to hear from you!
> 
> Bob Adamson 
> UCC Treasurer
> 
> |"Bureaucracy is a challenge to the be conquered with a righteous        |
> |attitude, an intolerance for stupidity, and a bulldozer when necessary" |
> | ---Peter's Laws                                                        |
> 



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