Hi,

Someone wants to give me (OK, sell, but for the cheap) a 48-node cluster of
decent blades, a few years old. Should I even thy to think of what to do
with them, given that one can use dedicated servers and Amazon's EC2?

Thank you. Sincerely,
Mark

Hello sir,

     If you think the deal fits in your budget, better go for it. It's just
a 1 time investment and provides you more control on your cluster than AWS.
You can get your hands dirty with some config & admin stuff as well, in
case you haven't touched that part yet. But, go for it iff you are totally
confident about the machines and the person you are dealing with.

Best Regards,
Tariq
+91-9741563634
On Thu, Dec 20, 2012 at 8:47 AM, Mark Kerzner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Someone wants to give me (OK, sell, but for the cheap) a 48-node cluster
> of decent blades, a few years old. Should I even thy to think of what to do
> with them, given that one can use dedicated servers and Amazon's EC2?
>
> Thank you. Sincerely,
> Mark
>

Sure, I love hardware, but aren't the hosting costs prohibitively high?

Mark

On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 9:23 PM, Mohammad Tariq <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Hello sir,
>
>      If you think the deal fits in your budget, better go for it. It's
> just a 1 time investment and provides you more control on your cluster than
> AWS. You can get your hands dirty with some config & admin stuff as well,
> in case you haven't touched that part yet. But, go for it iff you are
> totally confident about the machines and the person you are dealing with.
>
> Best Regards,
> Tariq
> +91-9741563634
>
>
> On Thu, Dec 20, 2012 at 8:47 AM, Mark Kerzner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Someone wants to give me (OK, sell, but for the cheap) a 48-node cluster
>> of decent blades, a few years old. Should I even thy to think of what to do
>> with them, given that one can use dedicated servers and Amazon's EC2?
>>
>> Thank you. Sincerely,
>> Mark
>>
>
>

What about investing this cluster in a startup if u hv some awesomeideas :)
Who knows how much you might gain over next few years :)

Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 19, 2012, at 7:29 PM, Mark Kerzner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Sure, I love hardware, but aren't the hosting costs prohibitively high?
>
> Mark
>
> On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 9:23 PM, Mohammad Tariq <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> Hello sir,
>>
>>      If you think the deal fits in your budget, better go for it. It's just a 1 time investment and provides you more control on your cluster than AWS. You can get your hands dirty with some config & admin stuff as well, in case you haven't touched that part yet. But, go for it iff you are totally confident about the machines and the person you are dealing with.
>>
>> Best Regards,
>> Tariq
>> +91-9741563634
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 20, 2012 at 8:47 AM, Mark Kerzner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> Someone wants to give me (OK, sell, but for the cheap) a 48-node cluster of decent blades, a few years old. Should I even thy to think of what to do with them, given that one can use dedicated servers and Amazon's EC2?
>>>
>>> Thank you. Sincerely,
>>> Mark
>

I am toying with exactly that idea. My startup does Hadoop eDiscovery, only
we usually do it on EC2. Getting down to earth is exciting but worrying.

Mark

On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 9:32 PM, Mapred Learn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:

> What about investing this cluster in a startup if u hv some awesomeideas :)
> Who knows how much you might gain over next few years :)
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Dec 19, 2012, at 7:29 PM, Mark Kerzner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
>
> Sure, I love hardware, but aren't the hosting costs prohibitively high?
>
> Mark
>
> On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 9:23 PM, Mohammad Tariq <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:
>
>> Hello sir,
>>
>>      If you think the deal fits in your budget, better go for it. It's
>> just a 1 time investment and provides you more control on your cluster than
>> AWS. You can get your hands dirty with some config & admin stuff as well,
>> in case you haven't touched that part yet. But, go for it iff you are
>> totally confident about the machines and the person you are dealing with.
>>
>> Best Regards,
>> Tariq
>> +91-9741563634
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 20, 2012 at 8:47 AM, Mark Kerzner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> Someone wants to give me (OK, sell, but for the cheap) a 48-node cluster
>>> of decent blades, a few years old. Should I even thy to think of what to do
>>> with them, given that one can use dedicated servers and Amazon's EC2?
>>>
>>> Thank you. Sincerely,
>>> Mark
>>>
>>
>>
>

Depending on the node characteristics, these might actually not be all that
much use.  Blades are usually designed assuming external storage like a
SAN.  That means that they usually don't have much disk which makes them
only OK for Hadoop work.

Also, what about the installation cost?  Do you have enough power and
cooling to host these boxes?  The cost of ops could easily exceed the cost
of the nodes in a short period of time.  Hardware is a deflationary asset
as evidenced by the willingness of people to nearly give away old hardware.
 Unfortunately, in many cases, the market price often really is a fair
estimate of what it would take to get the same capacity in newer hardware.

This hardware might be substantially under the market price.  That would be
neat.  On the other hand, it sounds like this same throughput might be had
with three 2U units with 12 drives and a single socket each.  The price on
that is probably around $20K.  Is that a better or worse deal than you are
getting?
On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 7:17 PM, Mark Kerzner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Someone wants to give me (OK, sell, but for the cheap) a 48-node cluster
> of decent blades, a few years old. Should I even thy to think of what to do
> with them, given that one can use dedicated servers and Amazon's EC2?
>
> Thank you. Sincerely,
> Mark
>

While Ted ignores that the world is going to end before X-Mas, he does hit the crux of the matter head on.

If you don't have a place to put it, the cost of setting it up would kill you, not to mention that you can get newer hardware which is better suited for less.

Having said that... if you live in the frozen tundra like Montana, or some place like ... er Canada or Siberia... , it may make more sense to use it to heat your home with it.
Just think of the side benefits from all that potential additional compute power....  :-P
On Dec 20, 2012, at 9:13 AM, Ted Dunning <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>
> Depending on the node characteristics, these might actually not be all that much use.  Blades are usually designed assuming external storage like a SAN.  That means that they usually don't have much disk which makes them only OK for Hadoop work.
>
> Also, what about the installation cost?  Do you have enough power and cooling to host these boxes?  The cost of ops could easily exceed the cost of the nodes in a short period of time.  Hardware is a deflationary asset as evidenced by the willingness of people to nearly give away old hardware.  Unfortunately, in many cases, the market price often really is a fair estimate of what it would take to get the same capacity in newer hardware.  
>
> This hardware might be substantially under the market price.  That would be neat.  On the other hand, it sounds like this same throughput might be had with three 2U units with 12 drives and a single socket each.  The price on that is probably around $20K.  Is that a better or worse deal than you are getting?
>
>
> On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 7:17 PM, Mark Kerzner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Someone wants to give me (OK, sell, but for the cheap) a 48-node cluster of decent blades, a few years old. Should I even thy to think of what to do with them, given that one can use dedicated servers and Amazon's EC2?
>
> Thank you. Sincerely,
> Mark
>

On Thu, Dec 20, 2012 at 7:38 AM, Michael Segel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:

> While Ted ignores that the world is going to end before X-Mas, he does hit
> the crux of the matter head on.
>
> If you don't have a place to put it, the cost of setting it up would kill
> you, not to mention that you can get newer hardware which is better suited
> for less.
>
> Having said that... if you live in the frozen tundra like Montana, or some
> place like ... er Canada or Siberia... , it may make more sense to use it
> to heat your home with it.
> Just think of the side benefits from all that potential additional compute
> power....  :-P
>
I can say from experience that the sound of a bunch of servers in a home
setting is a novel one that is probably unlike anything you have known
before.

If you haven't experienced that, then taking on these servers could be
classified as novelty seeking behavior.

Who cares! 48 nodes = 1 node per hour the world has left. Take delivery
now and write a personal check. : )
  -------- Original Message --------
 Subject: Re: What should I do with a 48-node cluster
 From: Mark Kerzner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
 Date: Wed, December 19, 2012 10:35 pm
 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 
 I am toying with exactly that idea. My startup does Hadoop eDiscovery,
only we usually do it on EC2. Getting down to earth is exciting but
worrying.

Mark

On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 9:32 PM, Mapred Learn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
 What about investing this cluster in a startup if u hv some
awesomeideas :)
Who knows how much you might gain over next few years :)
 
Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 19, 2012, at 7:29 PM, Mark Kerzner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
 Sure, I love hardware, but aren't the hosting costs prohibitively high?

Mark

On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 9:23 PM, Mohammad Tariq <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
 Hello sir,

     If you think the deal fits in your budget, better go for it. It's
just a 1 time investment and provides you more control on your cluster
than AWS. You can get your hands dirty with some config & admin stuff as
well, in case you haven't touched that part yet. But, go for it iff you
are totally confident about the machines and the person you are dealing
with.
Best Regards,Tariq
+91-9741563634

On Thu, Dec 20, 2012 at 8:47 AM, Mark Kerzner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
 Hi,

Someone wants to give me (OK, sell, but for the cheap) a 48-node cluster
of decent blades, a few years old. Should I even thy to think of what to
do with them, given that one can use dedicated servers and Amazon's EC2?
 
Thank you. Sincerely,
Mark

I would install openstack and do all the testing for your product on local
cluster. You wont need big network pipes to the WWW for a test cluster, so
you need not worry too much about hosting!
On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 10:01 PM, Chris Folsom <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:

>
>
>
> Who cares! 48 nodes = 1 node per hour the world has left. Take delivery
> now and write a personal check. : )
>
>
>   -------- Original Message --------
>  Subject: Re: What should I do with a 48-node cluster
>  From: Mark Kerzner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>  Date: Wed, December 19, 2012 10:35 pm
>  To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>  I am toying with exactly that idea. My startup does Hadoop eDiscovery,
> only we usually do it on EC2. Getting down to earth is exciting but
> worrying.
>
> Mark
>
> On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 9:32 PM, Mapred Learn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
>  What about investing this cluster in a startup if u hv some
> awesomeideas :)
> Who knows how much you might gain over next few years :)
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Dec 19, 2012, at 7:29 PM, Mark Kerzner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
>
>
>  Sure, I love hardware, but aren't the hosting costs prohibitively high?
>
> Mark
>
> On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 9:23 PM, Mohammad Tariq <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
>  Hello sir,
>
>      If you think the deal fits in your budget, better go for it. It's
> just a 1 time investment and provides you more control on your cluster
> than AWS. You can get your hands dirty with some config & admin stuff as
> well, in case you haven't touched that part yet. But, go for it iff you
> are totally confident about the machines and the person you are dealing
> with.
>
>
> Best Regards,Tariq
> +91-9741563634
>
>
>
> On Thu, Dec 20, 2012 at 8:47 AM, Mark Kerzner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
>  Hi,
>
> Someone wants to give me (OK, sell, but for the cheap) a 48-node cluster
> of decent blades, a few years old. Should I even thy to think of what to
> do with them, given that one can use dedicated servers and Amazon's EC2?
>
> Thank you. Sincerely,
> Mark
>

I totally agree with Mapred Learn.

Best Regards,
Tariq
+91-9741563634
On Thu, Dec 20, 2012 at 9:56 AM, Ravi Mutyala <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> I would install openstack and do all the testing for your product on local
> cluster. You wont need big network pipes to the WWW for a test cluster, so
> you need not worry too much about hosting!
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 10:01 PM, Chris Folsom <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>
>> Who cares! 48 nodes = 1 node per hour the world has left. Take delivery
>> now and write a personal check. : )
>>
>>
>>   -------- Original Message --------
>>  Subject: Re: What should I do with a 48-node cluster
>>  From: Mark Kerzner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>  Date: Wed, December 19, 2012 10:35 pm
>>  To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>
>>  I am toying with exactly that idea. My startup does Hadoop eDiscovery,
>> only we usually do it on EC2. Getting down to earth is exciting but
>> worrying.
>>
>> Mark
>>
>> On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 9:32 PM, Mapred Learn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> wrote:
>>  What about investing this cluster in a startup if u hv some
>> awesomeideas :)
>> Who knows how much you might gain over next few years :)
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Dec 19, 2012, at 7:29 PM, Mark Kerzner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>  Sure, I love hardware, but aren't the hosting costs prohibitively high?
>>
>> Mark
>>
>> On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 9:23 PM, Mohammad Tariq <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> wrote:
>>  Hello sir,
>>
>>      If you think the deal fits in your budget, better go for it. It's
>> just a 1 time investment and provides you more control on your cluster
>> than AWS. You can get your hands dirty with some config & admin stuff as
>> well, in case you haven't touched that part yet. But, go for it iff you
>> are totally confident about the machines and the person you are dealing
>> with.
>>
>>
>> Best Regards,Tariq
>> +91-9741563634
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 20, 2012 at 8:47 AM, Mark Kerzner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> wrote:
>>  Hi,
>>
>> Someone wants to give me (OK, sell, but for the cheap) a 48-node cluster
>> of decent blades, a few years old. Should I even thy to think of what to
>> do with them, given that one can use dedicated servers and Amazon's EC2?
>>
>> Thank you. Sincerely,
>> Mark
>>
>
>