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Oxide Computer: Docs

docs.oxide.computer

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Re: Oxide Computer: Docs

#91

Post by scq »

javajosh wrote: post #73
soneil wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's pretty standard? Anything that's going straight into 400V (I assume) deserves a good eyeball before it's energised. I doubt their "root of trust" knows how to protect the system from a dead mouse in the bus bars.

I'm not worried about dead mice; I'm worried about tampering. I would have hoped there'd be more guidance than "just look and see if anything looks weird". A determined threat actor can easily side-step that check with, for example, careful desoldering/resoldering technique.

I suspect this step is intended to protect you from FedEx, not the NSA.

Re: Oxide Computer: Docs

#92

Post by Aurornis »

tiffanyh wrote: post #27
dist1ll wrote: post #5

As someone who's only dealt with commodity server hardware, these specs make me salivate. And all these boot/management TUIs are just so satisfying to look at. (Sorry to be that guy, but just a friendly suggestion: high contrast dark themes are difficult to read for people with astigmatism. Especially since this is technical documentation, intended to be thoroughly read, you might want to consider a light theme toggl…

> As someone who's only dealt with commodity server hardware, these specs make me salivate Commodity servers have the same specs. Here’s a reseller of SuperMicro servers, where you can buy similar compute on the cheap. https://www.siliconmechanics.com/systems/servers/rackform

> Commodity servers have the same specs.

Probably not a coincidence. It would be interesting to know which ODM they partnered with for the hardware.

I've done some work with SuperMicro in the past. Some of their boards come with extensive headers and customization options right out of the box. They're also happy to work on board level customizations with the right contracts in place.

Re: Oxide Computer: Docs

#93

Post by throwaway2037 »

solarkraft wrote: post #29

Finally I actually understand what they're building. Now I must ask: Why? On-prem servers aren't a new invention. The market seems pretty saturated (and shrinking). Virtualization isn't a new invention either. The market seems pretty well served, at least commercially. Can the integration of both be a convincing enough advantage? The management UI certainly looks nice; it's something I'd like to have on my KVM box at…

Stupid question (no trolling, I promise): Could this product be valuable to public cloud vendors, like AWS, Google, Oracle, IBM, etc? Or even medium sized ones, like Linode? My thinking: Could this be the cloud inversion moment akin to TSMC and outsourcing semi-conductor manuf?

Re: Oxide Computer: Docs

#94

Post by throwaway2037 »

wmf wrote: post #53
chamakits wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not affiliated with them, but I recall this being marketed at some point as giving you the flexibility and customization powers that the Googles and Facebooks of the world have with their on-prem infrastructure without needing to have as deep of a dedicated staff as they do to just this which allowed them to develop all their custom tooling in the first place. Basically if you are on-prem, and you are dissatisfie…

I would say Oxide is inflexible and non-customizable since they have exactly one hardware configuration and few software features at this point. Their claim is more that their rack works and everything else on the market is full of bugs.

I'm not an infra engineer, but this claim "everything else on the market is full of bugs" might be the killer app. Of course, it needs to be true. What if they iterate to an insanely stable embedded code base (BIOS, etc.)? Then, continuously upgrade the hardware to use the latest CPU/RAM/NVME. I could see that being very valuable.

Re: Oxide Computer: Docs

#95

Post by dbish »

throwaway2037 wrote: post #93
solarkraft wrote: post #29

Finally I actually understand what they're building. Now I must ask: Why? On-prem servers aren't a new invention. The market seems pretty saturated (and shrinking). Virtualization isn't a new invention either. The market seems pretty well served, at least commercially. Can the integration of both be a convincing enough advantage? The management UI certainly looks nice; it's something I'd like to have on my KVM box at…

Stupid question (no trolling, I promise): Could this product be valuable to public cloud vendors, like AWS, Google, Oracle, IBM, etc? Or even medium sized ones, like Linode? My thinking: Could this be the cloud inversion moment akin to TSMC and outsourcing semi-conductor manuf?

Probably not. These vendors have massive supply lines that are designed and tuned to their needs.

Re: Oxide Computer: Docs

#96

Post by Aurornis »

EvanAnderson wrote: post #10

Everything about Oxide's gear sounds like fun. I imagine it must be a bit like what working with minicomputers in 70s thru the 90s was like. I did a little work in the late 90s with Alpha-based machines. I was impressed at those machines didn't seem like the hack-job crap that PC-based stuff was (with simulated chips from the early 1980's hiding out in dark corners because "compatibility") and still is today. I'm bet…

> I imagine it must be a bit like what working with minicomputers in 70s thru the 90s was like.

I had a chance to talk to someone who worked at Oxide once. I got excited because my experience matches up nicely with their products on several levels.

The person got excited as well and started talking about how to interview there, but the conversation got kind of weird. They kept emphasizing how important it was to not talk about compensation in the interview. Apparently they pay engineers all the same comp (not bad, but would have been a significant step down from every offer I received during that time of my life) and they select for people who aren't interested in getting paid a lot for their unique skills.

Probably not a bad deal for people who like working in that domain with like minded people. At the time I got some very uneasy feelings from being aggressively coached to not bring up compensation or ask any questions about equity during the interview like it was some unspoken rule that would get me disqualified. Maybe the person was exaggerating, but I found at least one other person with a similar story.

Honestly, their comp would have been awesome if I was a single guy living in a low cost of living location and working remote, but at the time it would have meant giving up quite a bit to work for an early stage startup with high expectations and an unspoken rule that I should never ask about compensation.

Re: Oxide Computer: Docs

#98

Post by pxc »

dist1ll wrote: post #5

As someone who's only dealt with commodity server hardware, these specs make me salivate. And all these boot/management TUIs are just so satisfying to look at. (Sorry to be that guy, but just a friendly suggestion: high contrast dark themes are difficult to read for people with astigmatism. Especially since this is technical documentation, intended to be thoroughly read, you might want to consider a light theme toggl…

> high contrast dark themes are difficult to read for people with astigmatism.

Are you yourself affected by this? I have astigmatism and I keep hearing this, but I've never experienced it. If you are affected, do you keep your screen at high brightness? I'm wondering if it doesn't happen to me only because my astigmatism is mild, or if the fact that I tend/have to keep my screens at relatively low brightness plays a role.

Incidentally, for different reasons, high contrast dark themes can be problematic for me as well (especially at high brightness). Dark Reader and Midnight Lizard are essential for me in keeping contrast in a comfortable range.

Re: Oxide Computer: Docs

#99

Post by pxc »

all2 wrote: post #9
dist1ll wrote: post #5

As someone who's only dealt with commodity server hardware, these specs make me salivate. And all these boot/management TUIs are just so satisfying to look at. (Sorry to be that guy, but just a friendly suggestion: high contrast dark themes are difficult to read for people with astigmatism. Especially since this is technical documentation, intended to be thoroughly read, you might want to consider a light theme toggl…

> sorry to be that guy ... astigmatism Darkreader is a lovely plugin that might make your life much easier: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/darkreader/ I believe there is a Chrome extension, too. It lets you set BG, FG, sepia, total contrast, etc. It is quite a neat piece of kit.

I recommend Midnight Lizard as a backup for difficult sites. It's a little heavier/slower, but sometimes works on pages where Dark Reader doesn't. You can configure Midnight Lizard not to apply to all sites by default, then selectively turn it on where Dark Reader fails.

Re: Oxide Computer: Docs

#100

Post by benjaminwootton »

pxc wrote: post #98
dist1ll wrote: post #5

As someone who's only dealt with commodity server hardware, these specs make me salivate. And all these boot/management TUIs are just so satisfying to look at. (Sorry to be that guy, but just a friendly suggestion: high contrast dark themes are difficult to read for people with astigmatism. Especially since this is technical documentation, intended to be thoroughly read, you might want to consider a light theme toggl…

> high contrast dark themes are difficult to read for people with astigmatism. Are you yourself affected by this? I have astigmatism and I keep hearing this, but I've never experienced it. If you are affected, do you keep your screen at high brightness? I'm wondering if it doesn't happen to me only because my astigmatism is mild, or if the fact that I tend/have to keep my screens at relatively low brightness plays a…

I was about to ask the same question. I think I have moderate astigmatism and find dark mode easier on the eyes.
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