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2,500 continuous runtime hours on a 4.77Mhz DOS web server

brutmanlabs.org

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Re: 2,500 continuous runtime hours on a 4.77Mhz DOS web server

#41

Post by mysterydip »

mbbrutman wrote: post #2

(Sorry, I forgot to preface this with Show HN) ** 2023-07-14 18:38 PDT The DOS machine is getting DoSed. It's still beeping and happy but it's busy. ** This website is hosted on a 39 year old PCjr running at 4.77Mhz and it has been running over 2,500 hours continuously now. No reboots or program restarts ... you can see the current runtime stats by visiting http://brutmanlabs.org/status . The machine specs are: - IBM…

PCjr was my first family computer! Love it, thanks for the nostalgia trip.

Re: 2,500 continuous runtime hours on a 4.77Mhz DOS web server

#42

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

mbbrutman wrote: post #15
AdieuToLogic wrote: post #12

The last time I checked on a FreeBSD server running Apache httpd for a previous client, it had an uptime of about 4,000 days. So here is the obligatory: "Here's a nickle, kid. Get yourself a better computer."[0] :-D 0 - https://web.archive.org/web/20190304153157im_/https://assets...

FreeBSD is crusty, but is it really bad enough to compare to DOS 5.02? Besides, who needs 32 bits when 16 will do ... (Not serious.)

FreeBSD is fine; FreeBSD with 4000 days of uptime would concern me just like a Linux box with that much uptime.

Re: 2,500 continuous runtime hours on a 4.77Mhz DOS web server

#43

Post by mbbrutman »

ipcress_file wrote: post #39
mbbrutman wrote: post #2

(Sorry, I forgot to preface this with Show HN) ** 2023-07-14 18:38 PDT The DOS machine is getting DoSed. It's still beeping and happy but it's busy. ** This website is hosted on a 39 year old PCjr running at 4.77Mhz and it has been running over 2,500 hours continuously now. No reboots or program restarts ... you can see the current runtime stats by visiting http://brutmanlabs.org/status . The machine specs are: - IBM…

One of my friends was way ahead of the rest of us in 1987, and bought a V20 to upgrade his Tandy computer. He works for a telcom now. Nice to see one still churning away.

I bought my first NEC V20 in 1986 or 1987. It was my first time touching the motherboard of a computer which made it nerve wracking, but they were very popular at the time. I bought mine mail order through the Exec PC BBS, which I think was in Chicago.

Re: 2,500 continuous runtime hours on a 4.77Mhz DOS web server

#44

Post by InvaderFizz »

klysm wrote: post #40
hedora wrote: post #29

I once ran most of a fish tank worth of water through an internet-facing 25MHz computer with at least that much uptime. It stayed up, but I had to replace the boot floppy. (Not the whole drive; just the $5 disk). No fish were harmed.

That is astonishing if water got on the motherboard

I had a 486 go through a tornado where the entire building was torn apart. Completely soaked.

Brought it home, let it dry for a few weeks. Worked fine for a few years after as a mp3 player.

Re: 2,500 continuous runtime hours on a 4.77Mhz DOS web server

#45

Post by lo_zamoyski »

AdieuToLogic wrote: post #12

The last time I checked on a FreeBSD server running Apache httpd for a previous client, it had an uptime of about 4,000 days. So here is the obligatory: "Here's a nickle, kid. Get yourself a better computer."[0] :-D 0 - https://web.archive.org/web/20190304153157im_/https://assets...

A long time ago, an acquaintance of mine was working part-time at a tool manufacturer that was running either AIX or HP-UX (I cannot recall which) that had an uptime of something like 11 years. I do not recall what they used it for, unfortunately.

Re: 2,500 continuous runtime hours on a 4.77Mhz DOS web server

#47

Post by jwrallie »

There is some beauty to the fact that even if you wanted to update your software, you can't unless you patch it by yourself, so you know that in a month or a year from now it will be exactly the same way you left it the last time you configured it (apart from the chance the hardware fails or the security by obscurity is breached somehow).

Re: 2,500 continuous runtime hours on a 4.77Mhz DOS web server

#48

Post by mbbrutman »

The machine continues to receive the hug of death .. especially with our friendly Europeans waking up. Have faith, it's still running. (And it's been surviving like this for four hours now.)

I've turned down the logging level a little bit and turned off the beeper. On this machine, a 50ms beep on the motherboard buzzer is 50ms of delay. :)

Re: 2,500 continuous runtime hours on a 4.77Mhz DOS web server

#49

Post by omoikane »

mbbrutman wrote: post #2

(Sorry, I forgot to preface this with Show HN) ** 2023-07-14 18:38 PDT The DOS machine is getting DoSed. It's still beeping and happy but it's busy. ** This website is hosted on a 39 year old PCjr running at 4.77Mhz and it has been running over 2,500 hours continuously now. No reboots or program restarts ... you can see the current runtime stats by visiting http://brutmanlabs.org/status . The machine specs are: - IBM…

Did you need to do anything extra for cooling? One thing that impressed me about old hardware that I did not appreciate back then is that the CPUs don't even need heatsinks. I imagine this PCjr don't have one either, but it's probably got a fan somewhere to circulate air through?

Re: 2,500 continuous runtime hours on a 4.77Mhz DOS web server

#50

Post by mbbrutman »

omoikane wrote: post #49
mbbrutman wrote: post #2

(Sorry, I forgot to preface this with Show HN) ** 2023-07-14 18:38 PDT The DOS machine is getting DoSed. It's still beeping and happy but it's busy. ** This website is hosted on a 39 year old PCjr running at 4.77Mhz and it has been running over 2,500 hours continuously now. No reboots or program restarts ... you can see the current runtime stats by visiting http://brutmanlabs.org/status . The machine specs are: - IBM…

Did you need to do anything extra for cooling? One thing that impressed me about old hardware that I did not appreciate back then is that the CPUs don't even need heatsinks. I imagine this PCjr don't have one either, but it's probably got a fan somewhere to circulate air through?

There is a fan internally in the machine, but it was placed to cool the 5.25" floppy drive when it was in use.

I have more open space in this machine because I am using a 3.5" drive instead. I also replaced the original fan with a quieter Noctua. The jrIDE is running naked on the side of the machine because I think it was having heat issues.

In a later iteration of this machine it will get more direct cooling; the slots in the case are kind of restrictive.

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