Old computer? No problem!

[Skuzzy]

My little 800Mhz Pentium III, with 256MB of RAM has reached new heights in proving old computers are still useful.

Thanks to Linux, this little work horse of mine is now router, file server, media (video and music) server, print server, and scanner server.

Gotta love that OS.  It still manages to surprise me as to what is can do with so little hardware.

Had to move the printer to it as it is no longer supported in Windows 7, and later OS's from Microsoft.  Same for the scanner.  First time I can recall Linux providing hardware support for something that Microsoft does not.

[Noir]

the PIII was a damn good cpu

[Stellaris]

What amazes me is not how good old computers are, but how bloated software has become..  MS-Word hasn't added a single useful new feature since 1997, and for those who can't write VB macros it's probably 1993, but it sure takes a lot more space and cycles.  I still run XP64, and I'd run Linux if it would run my voice dictation software.

[Debrody]

Is that a Tualatin P3?

[Skuzzy]

Is that a Tualatin P3?

It's a Slot 1 Coppermine (133Mhz FSB).

[Noir]

I had a slot A athlon 700, these things were massive

[Wayout]

My little 800Mhz Pentium III, with 256MB of RAM has reached new heights in proving old computers are still useful.
Thanks to Linux, this little work horse of mine is now router, file server, media (video and music) server, print server, and scanner server.

Doing the similar thing with a 1999 vintage Dell XPS 750 Pentium III - 256mb running Windows '98.  This machine has been running 24/7 for 13+ years and the only failure was a graphics card. 

[Getback]

That's using your noodle. Now I kind of feel stupid for giving so many away.

[Noir]

How does a PIII 800 fare up compared to a today's single core 1Ghz ARM cpu? My guess is that the number of instructions per cycle is higher, not to mention the advanced X86 capabilities...but that's comparing orange to apples 

[2bighorn]

How does a PIII 800 fare up compared to a today's single core 1Ghz ARM cpu? My guess is that the number of instructions per cycle is higher, not to mention the advanced X86 capabilities...but that's comparing orange to apples 

Not sure how it compares to ARM, probably easier to compare to low end Intel Atoms. Could be in the Z510 ballpark, or thereabouts...   

[Noir]

well a lot from the core 2 duo range and the atoms come the pIII architecture IIRC

what a deception the PIV was, at equal frequencies the PIII beat it easily

[MrRiplEy[H]]

That's using your noodle. Now I kind of feel stupid for giving so many away.

In most cases using an old computer for a firewall or a file server is just a waste of electricity in the long run. Old PC rips off 200-300W against a hardware firewall or NAS:es 15-20W. Of course you can run an old PC quite long before you cover the purchase price of the new hardware even at current electricity prices.

I usually give my old hardware away as gifts to my relatives who have lower requirements i.e. they use the computer for mostly web browsing and watching photos. This christmas I gave my 4870 + old power supply as a present to my uncle who had a GPU failure and was stuck to onboard vga.

[Skuzzy]

Actually, the system uses 90W (it has a 150W power supply). That old CPU only uses 25W.  With 8TB of storage, you would be hard pressed to duplicate that low power usage with everything that system is doing.

You are not going to get an 8TB NAS to use 15 to 20W.  The lowest power consumption 8TB NAS, I could come up with, uses 80W.

Is it possible for old computers to use too much power?  Yes.  Is it always true?  No.

By the way, my router/server also passes as a hardened firewall.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Actually, the system uses 90W (it has a 150W power supply). That old CPU only uses 25W.  With 8TB of storage, you would be hard pressed to duplicate that low power usage with everything that system is doing.

You are not going to get an 8TB NAS to use 15 to 20W.  The lowest power consumption 8TB NAS, I could come up with, uses 80W.

Is it possible for old computers to use too much power?  Yes.  Is it always true?  No.

By the way, my router/server also passes as a hardened firewall.

Aren't you forgetting that if you add that 8TB of storage to your old file server the consumption will rise just as much as adding it to the NAS? Old CPU's consume a lot more power (especially running linux) and old PSU's have lower efficiency.

[Skuzzy]

Aren't you forgetting that if you add that 8TB of storage to your old file server the consumption will rise just as much as adding it to the NAS? Old CPU's consume a lot more power (especially running linux) and old PSU's have lower efficiency.

The 90W quote is the actual power usage of the server with the internal 8TB of storage, as measured at the plug using a watt meter.  The startup power requirement is 132W.  The peak power requirement, after start up, is 89.8W.  The idle power requirement is 82.1W.

The power consumption of my desktop CPU i7 3770K is approximately 42W idle, spiking to 76.8W under load.  The power consumption of the PIII 800Mhz Coppermine is 13W idle, spiking to 25W.  These are well documented numbers, easily verified.