[sf-lug] Another motherboard was _not_ burned out today

[Rick Moen]

Just to put this matter in further perspective:

> I actually have a couple of P4-based Dell PowerEdge server machines
> sitting around undeployed as spares, specifically a 2850 and an 1850.  I
> honestly don't lack for hardware, it's more been time and effort.

In addition, I also have about a half-dozen even more recent 1U
rackmount servers that $WORK pulled from one of its two data centres and 
gave out free to employees.  Can't remember their brand, haven't had
time and energy to figure out what if anything is wrong with each of
them, haven't had time and energy to even fire any of them up.

You might assume that they must be extremely broken if someone pulled
them from a data centre and decommissioned them, but that isn't so:  It 
probably means that the unit failed kickstart twice and nobody had time
to do diagnosis, so it got yanked and put in a corner.  Could be a
trivial problem, could be no problem at all, could be a serious problem.
Based on experience, six machines will probably boil down to four
perfect machines and a big pile of probably-good parts.

Oddly enough, in my experience, everyone has this problem:  You end up
with big piles of machines you're not sure are OK, and you set them
aside hoping you'll find time to check and vet them.  Years pass, and 
eventually you either convert them to landfill or give them to someone
else who imagines he or she will find time to check them out and vet
them.

Getting hardware generally isn't the problem.  Having the requisite time
and energy is.