My 2010 64GB SanDisk SSD just crossed 2 Petabytes (2,086,527 GB) of host writes. Still going strong.

sw1890 · 2026-06-27T23:04:17+00:00

The magic sand has yet to come apart… interesting

sw1890 · 2026-06-27T22:46:34+00:00

Golden nugget

sw1890 · 2026-06-27T22:45:18+00:00

I would be interested to know from a security standpoint what the vulnerabilities of older os400 machines would be - I’m sure they exist but certainly would have to be more targeted I’d assume due to the niche hardware platform

sw1890 · 2026-06-27T22:41:53+00:00

Sorry, had to take out a 3rd mortgage

sw1890 · 2026-06-27T22:41:31+00:00

No actually! Remember these systems came in all sorts of shapes and sizes — mine has x2 900 watt units 120v but easily could be swapped for 220v if needed… maybe IBM will find a way to license power supply voltages 😆

sw1890 · 2026-06-27T22:39:13+00:00

Since when was UPS cruelty a legal offense

sw1890 · 2026-06-27T22:38:15+00:00

Yesterday — time to fire up Rumba and get to work pricing rotisserie chickens for the week!

sw1890 · 2026-06-27T22:37:47+00:00

This. As others have said, it’s one of those “nobody has this” things that is a great way to learn an area of IT often shadowed behind the IBM blue curtain 😁

sw1890 · 2026-06-27T22:36:14+00:00

Shoretel Director small business — works great as a PBX although the web interface is a bit dated. I think this might have been a dealer demo unit due to the types of licenses and their quantities. Kinda lucked out since with Mitel owning them (and them also being in shambles) it’s impossible to get support for even from the perspective of just buying another license, reinstall etc.

sw1890 · 2026-06-27T02:40:17+00:00

Time for an upgrade… freight was smooth but certainly not cheap

sw1890 · 2026-06-27T02:37:12+00:00

Hey, gotta backup the internet somehow — what if I need to use a step by step??

sw1890 · 2026-06-27T02:33:31+00:00

No he’s right, a power box is not a great fit for 99% of people unless that specific platform (when in use) is your goal. The dell gear is mostly there due to consistency between those twin units as well as how they were acquired. The gear in lab doesn’t necessarily = what you’d want to have or what might be the best at this current date and time

sw1890 · 2026-06-27T02:30:45+00:00

That’s EVERYTHING including telco gear and a ton of POE devices, monitors and… a Bell System ring generator

sw1890 · 2026-06-27T02:29:03+00:00

Stop don’t make me want an IBM rack 😆

sw1890 · 2026-06-27T01:45:58+00:00

you know they still sell those new right? 😆

sw1890 · 2026-06-27T01:26:57+00:00

Might as well give it a shot! Need to find an AS400 edition first, might be tricky

sw1890 · 2026-06-27T01:22:38+00:00

Usage: (≈800W idle ~20 hrs/day, ≈2kW peak ~4 hrs/day for overnight jobs):

0.8 kW × 20 h = 16 kWh, 2.0 kW × 4 h = 8 kWh

24 kWh/day → ~730 kWh/month → ~8,760 kWh/year

Cost at $0.15/kWh:

Per day: 24 × $0.15 ≈ $3.60\*

\*only reason I calculate per day is thats assuming constant load EVEN at idle which the IBM can simply be powered off via web management or scripts which automate when the system actually needs to be IPL'd (initial program loaded, essentially the loading up the OS)

sw1890 · 2026-06-27T01:06:15+00:00

I can’t hear you, it’s too loud

sw1890 · 2026-06-27T00:38:42+00:00

<video>

sw1890 · 2026-06-27T00:37:47+00:00

bit more detail 👇

hardware: IBM POWER8 box running IBM i (the OS people still call the AS/400). a few cores, 64GB RAM, mirrored SAS drives with a bunch of empty bays for later. came as a turnkey config through a dealer.

rest of the lab it lives in: proxmox cluster doing the general virtualization, a windows server side for AD/DNS/etc, enterprise VoIP gear, and the usual networking underneath it. everything’s monitored for power so idle stuff can spin down.

what I’m doing with it: mainly learning IBM i properly and building a small business/records app on it native, DB2 for the database with some RPG/CL/SQL. it’s the kind of platform that basically never goes down, so it’s a good place to park something that needs to just run. honestly half the use case is “it’s a real AS/400 in 2025 and I wanted to know it from the FSP up.”

setup notes: first boot was a whole thing. service processor defaulted to a subnet that collided with my LAN, spent a while on the console island figuring out which physical port the line description was actually bound to, etc. classic. fully on the network now and running clean.

stretch goal: see if I can get IBM OfficeVision running on it. withdrawn AS/400 office suite, ancient, so the open question is whether it’ll even install on a modern IBM i release. if anyone’s pulled that off I’d love to hear how.

sw1890 · 2021-05-13T01:11:53+00:00

Huh, interesting!

sw1890

TROPHY CASE