[Discuss] I think my server is running out of "something"

[John Abreau]

Is it completely impossible to deploy multiple servers instead of trying
to mash everything together onto a single machine?

In my home network, I have a CentOS server that just does firewall/DNS/
DHCP, a second server for web/mail/fileserver, and a third server for backups.
That's in addition to my desktops, laptops, and tablet.

I'm not running MythTV, but if I were to deploy MythTV, I'd use a dedicated
server that would do nothing but MythTV.


On Sun, Mar 18, 2012 at 12:02 AM, David Kramer <david at thekramers.net> wrote:
> Quick overview of ground zero:
>
> Home-built server/firewall/mail server/web server/MythTV back end/makes
> coffee.
> Motherboard: Abit IP35 Pro with Intel Core2Duo E6750  @ 2.66GHz
> eth0 --> cablemodem
> eth1 --> intranet
> 6 sata ports on motherboard (JBOD, not RAID)
>  1 sata drive for root
>  4 sata drives for MythTV recordings
>  1 sata DVD-RW
>
> I decided to add another 1TB drive for MythTV recordings, so I bought a
> WD Caviar Black sata drive.  I plug it into the 6th and last sata port
> and power back up, and the server won't boot.  Unplug the new drive, and
> it boots.
>
> I got an idea of trying to disconnect the DVD-RW drive and plug the new
> drive back into sata port 6, and the server boots.  Spooky.  So once
> again I unhook the new drive, plug in the DVD-RW drive again, and it boots.
>
> Then I discovered that eth1 was dark.  No signal, lights aren't lighting
> up.  So my server can get to the internet, but the rest of the house was
> SOL.  I reboot, and then eth1 works, but eth0 is dark, so I can get to
> my server from my other computers, but nothing can get out to the
> internet.  I reboot AGAIN and finally both ethernet jacks are live.  I
> backed away slowly thinking clean thoughts.  Again, this is several
> reboots with no changes to hardware getting different results.
>
> Current status is that the system is back up with all the original hard
> drives working, and both ethernet ports working, but my brand spankin
> new hard drive is staring at me longingly waiting to be deployed.
>
> I have a theory that my server is running out of "something"
> (interrupts?  DMAs?), and the luck of the draw is determining what
> devices get what they need.  I can't think of another scenario where
> devices would randomly work or not at boot, and adding a device disables
> others.  What do you think?
>
> What can I look at?
> What can I try?
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Side note: I stick labels on all my drives with the install date.
> Apparently some of my MythTV drives have been spinning almost
> continuously since 2007.  That is impressive.  And scary.
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-- 
John Abreau / Executive Director, Boston Linux & Unix
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