Following on from my earlier post, I had a problem getting my tape backup working with the latest stable release of Debian on the new backup server. I use flexbackup to run my tape backup and on the older Debian installation, flexbackup would correctly set the block size of the tape and run the backup. On the latest installation, running flexbackup gave an error message running the following commands:
mt -f /dev/nst0 setblk 0
mt -f /dev/nst0 defblksize 0
Running the commands manually gave the response
mt: invalid argument `setblk’ for `tape operation’
A little research uncovered the fact that installing the mt-st package (apt-get install mt-st) fixed the problem and should be installed alongside flexbackup for proper operation on later Debian installations.
I run a dedicated backup server who’s job it is to suck up all the data files from the other servers on a nightly basis to a hard drive and then transfer the lot to tape. It’s been a little flakey lately so I’ve built a replacement which is, in line with other recent changes, a smaller, quieter and altogether greener machine.
I needed to transfer some scripts from the old server to the new and discovered that the old server was not very happy that I had yanked it’s SCSI card and DAT drive. It now failed to boot and gave me a segmentation fault instead. Selecting the recovery option from the Debian GRUB prompt didn’t help so I resorted to a trusted method using SystemRescueCD which allowed me to boot from the CD then issue the following commands:
mkdir /mnt/hd
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/hd
This created a mount point and mounted the root hard drive partition to it. This enabled me to get at the module config files in the server’s /etc directory.
vi /mnt/hd/etc/modules
This loaded up the modules list for boot-up and I simply deleted the aic**** line to remove the SCSI module.
A reboot later after removing the CD and everything is fine again.
I could complain that the aic**** module should handle such a simple error without segmenting and locking up the system and if I hadn’t figured out a work-around I probably would but since I use linux for free, it seems harsh to moan!
When we relocated to newly refurbished offices in 2005, I had a large server cupboard built into my new office to house the network hardware and servers. The office had air conditioning and the cupboard had a number of vents for airflow. Unfortunately, our array of servers and hardware kick out a substantial amount of heat and the office air-con doesn’t result in sufficient airflow to keep the temperature in the cupboard down. It’s 9:00am at the moment and the outside temperature is about 14 degrees but the cupboard temperature is already 31.2 degrees. I’ve already had to replace two hard drives this year and we have a hot summer predicted in the UK .
The other problem with the server and network hardware is the noise. The network switch has fans which make a ridiculous amount of noise and the server PSU and CPU fans mean that the cupboard doors have to be kept closed.
Now, we are not a large company, about 20 active users at once and apart from our main file server we have an old NT server keeping a legacy SQL server application running and we have an email server and an intranet server. It could be argued that we don’t need our own mail server, particularly now that provider-supplied email services now include more services and options. However, I like the flexibility having our own email server provides.
All of our servers are standard PC kit running Debian (except for the NT server obviously!). Since there is little CPU or graphics load, it is possible to reduce the hardware requirements and be a little greener at the same time.
Continue reading ‘Green IT’
The UK votes today in European and local elections and just like every other election since 1992, I won’t be voting. More than ever now, I believe that our political system is broken. We basically have two parties (ok there’s a third but they are so far behind they are almost irrelevant) who will do absolutely anything to score points against each other and gain power for themselves and that’s all it’s about, gaining power. We have a 4-5 year cycle in general elections and the purpose of each party is to make sure that they win the next election. The public good comes a very distant second.
The recent response to the economic downturn has been a prime example. It is a case where the best solutions have to be debated and put into practice for the good of the nation and it’s people. Instead we’ve had our two main parties bickering and sniping at each other trying to knock each others ideas and score power points. As I’ve said so many times in the past, recession is more about confidence and public psychology than anything else. The Conservatives in opposition have publicy talked down the economy because “it’s all Labour’s fault” and the more damage they can do to Labour the closer the Conservatives are to power at the next election, an election which they might even be able to force the country into early even though that might not be the best thing for the economy or the country. For their part Labour have shouted down any decent ideas or policies the Conservatives have had to improve our economic situation.
What I want, and it’s for more qualified people than me to speculate as to how it could be brought to be, is for a system of consensual politics whereby the best solution is the target, not power. People need to have confidence that their elected officials are working for them, making their lives better and safer, and not simply giving platitudes while chasing power and wealth (do i need to mention MP expenses!?) for themselves and their colleagues.
What it ultimately boils down to is that I don’t belive my vote means anything, it is a means to the politicians end, not mine.
Recent Comments