chinny22 wrote:

Internet was probably the big force behind computerised systems though,
We didn't get our first PC till 95 which was late but not unheard of. Early 90's computer training would have had to be a thing vs these days where your expected to know how to use a PC. Why spend money on a expensive PC AND training? anyone can use a
typewriter? got to print it out to fax to someone else anyway?

That's interesting how things were different in other places.
To me, the 90s was about Online Services, FAX machines, IPX/SPX LANs over BNC/RG58 cables,
BBSes, Pagers (Scall, Skyper) but not the internet as we know it.

BTX, Datex-P (X.25), CompuServe, AOL, etc.., just to name a few databases/online services.

The "InterNET", as in world wide web (www), is something that I rather associate to the mid-late 90s.
Back then, I imagined the underlaying structure of it to be made of larger and smaller individual and independand networks,
-based on different protocols each-, which all where "inter-connected" though some gateways somehow..

When I saw the original TRON movie, I never thought of TCP/IP or Unix, even.
To me, this was a reference to the X.25 networks of the past.

(Also the word "monitor program".. - An old term for a tiny operating system.
It reminded me of the original meaning of CP/M; Control Program/Monitor)

E-Mail, on the other hand, was popular quite soon, IMHO.
It was also possible to send them accross other networks, I recall.

aries-mu wrote:

I guess I was lucky to have a 286 in 1992 at home, which sparked everything! God bless that Storm Mistral 80286!!!

Yay! 😁

I have a few Compaq Proliant ML530 G1's at work we're about to scrap. I'll probably save one before they get sent to salvage. 😀 (by scrap, I mean they get parted out at auctions)

I bought a Compaq Proliant 1600 at a community college auction probably 4 years ago. It was missing the front access panel and one of the side panels. The other folks there that were buying Core2 Dells to resell thought it was hilarious. Paid $5 for it. Of course, I had to track down the missing case parts, which took another year or two, but finally found them at a reasonable price. Popped a second Pentium2 processor in it and installed Windows NT. Mission accomplished -- now it sits on the floor. This thing was not meant to be turned on and off all the time. From pushing the power button on the massive proprietary power supply to the start of POST is probably 20 seconds. After that, it's not too bad, and NT is speedy as it always is. Probably the heaviest computer in the room. It's cool and all, but doesn't have much practical use. I don't guess many dualies from that era do nowadays though.

Some of the older Proliants are dozing in my basement.
e.g. Proliant 800, 850R, 1000/486, 1000/Pentium60, 1500(R), 1600, 1850, 2000, 2500(R), 3000R, 4000, 4500(R), 5000(R), 5500R, 8500R
They were dirt cheap on ebay around year 2000, but due to their wheight and the corresponding shipping cost, nobody wanted to buy them.
I remember I payed 1 € for my Proliant 8500, but had to drive 600 km for local pick it up, because the seller didn´t want to ship it.
The 4 more Xeons to complete the 8 core machine were much more expensive, at about 10 € for each CPU.
[edit]
Some more Compaq boxes in the collection include the Systempro, Systempro LT, Systempro XL, Prosignia, Prosignia 300 and Prosignia VS.

I don't have a SystemPro or a ProLiant, but I found a Compaq ProSignia 300 with a 75mHz Pentium for 5€ last year. Seller also had 2 more ProSignias, one that seemed to be a 300 like mine and a ProSignia V8 (or VB?), unfortunately I arrived late and those 2 were already sold.

The seller was selling 2 rack cabinets and more than 20 computers, all of them were Compaq (ProSignia, Portable I and II, SLT, LTE, ProLinea, Deskpro) except one that was Siemens. He told me he got them from a computer company that was getting rid of their old computers.
At the end of that day I returned home with my car full of computers...

peido wrote:

I don't have a SystemPro or a ProLiant, but I found a Compaq ProSignia 300 with a 75mHz Pentium for 5€ last year.

The Prosignia 300 is a nice EISA/PCI box, based on the Deskpro /XL using the same CPU boards. Unfortunately I never found out how to tweak the CPU boards to reach 33 MHz bus speed, all mine are limited to 30 MHz. The 25 MHz boards can be tweaked to run at 30 MHz and the multiplier can be changed as well using a soldering iron.

eisapc wrote:

The Prosignia 300 is a nice EISA/PCI box, based on the Deskpro /XL using the same CPU boards. Unfortunately I never found out how to tweak the CPU boards to reach 33 MHz bus speed, all mine are limited to 30 MHz. The 25 MHz boards can be tweaked to run at 30 MHz and the multiplier can be changed as well using a soldering iron.

Thanks for the information.
I don't know how to change the bus speed on the CPU boards, I also don't know at what speed mine is. I'm not very knowledgeable in that department, but if you think I can help you in any way just let me know and I can try it out.

EDIT: forgot to mention a ProSignia 200 that I also got from the same seller for 5€ (it was the only ProSignia 200 the seller had).

I had one of those: https://www.recycledgoods.com/compaq-presario … tower-computer/

Installed was a 486, but i Upgraded to a Pentium OverDrive 83 Mhz. And later on I drove to the junk yard.... Think the 83Mhz were still installed than. I could cry now that i did that.

But also i had one of those: http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/2585/I … 2-Model-30-286/ Also gone to the junk yard. At the time they were to young and i was not that interested in those. Like 10 years ago i could get a lot 486-Pentium 1 stuff. At that point they all were to new and I just wanted older stuff, like from the 80s. Nowadays they are interesting for me.

And lots of other stuff, mostly Apple, went to the Junk yard. I just had no place to store those. Now i have the place and collect all i can get 😁

The weight of old servers didnt do any good to preserve them as others have mentioned. I also remember those old cheap Proliants were plenty of on eBay a decade ago just as the g5, g6 and g7 various models today. Problem is the shipping costs that would kill off the interest, except for a few crazies like some of us. I bought two DL580 G7 last year and shipping wasnt too bad. They use more flimsy thin metal theese days so weight isnt so bad on some.
When they sit on the shelves too long and interest fade i think the chassis and cases are the first thing to go. Finding motherboards and other internals for older servers and workstation is a lot easier than finding a complete system. I got almost all internals for a Systempro and Proliant 2000/4000, but finding a tower for them seems impossible.

I have worked in IT for almost 20 years so i had the chance to save some goodies at work like a 486 Prosignia, Proliant 2500, Proliant 5500 and Proliant 4500R. Still stored at work are retired Proliant 800, 1600, 3000, ML370G1-G2 and DL380G3-G5, but have no more place in my home so their fate are uncertain. My coworkers try to recycle them every time we do a cleanup, but i resist and say the are historic relics 😊

eisapc wrote:

Some more Compaq boxes in the collection include the Systempro, Systempro LT, Systempro XL, Prosignia, Prosignia 300 and Prosignia VS.

You lucky bastard 😎 Please post pictures of those Systempros so we can drool over them!

This thread made me search my local ads for servers. Found and bought an HP Compaq ProLiant ML370 T02 with two Pentium III 1.26GHz, 1Gb RAM, three 72,8Gb hard drives and two 18.2Gb ones. This is a really big and cool machine, but, besides installing Windows and displaying it proudly, I don't know what to do with it.

Seller pictures:

@peido: Looks awesome! And I can relate, I would love to own an old server just for the heck of it but I would have no idea what to do with it 😁

Baoran wrote:

I had a chance to get one last year at local recycling center, but I thought it was too big and I didn't have enough room, so they recycled it. It didn't have any standard parts that could have been used anywhere else either except cpus and ram.

Oh my goodness!!!!!! 😲 😳 😳 🙁

r.cade wrote:

They don't exist anymore because they were scrapped and recycled well over 10-15 years ago. There was no reason for people to keep them until today.

🙁

eisapc wrote:

Some of the older Proliants are dozing in my basement. e.g. Proliant 800, 850R, 1000/486, 1000/Pentium60, 1500(R), 1600, 1850, 2 […]
Show full quote

Some of the older Proliants are dozing in my basement.
e.g. Proliant 800, 850R, 1000/486, 1000/Pentium60, 1500(R), 1600, 1850, 2000, 2500(R), 3000R, 4000, 4500(R), 5000(R), 5500R, 8500R
They were dirt cheap on ebay around year 2000, but due to their wheight and the corresponding shipping cost, nobody wanted to buy them.
I remember I payed 1 € for my Proliant 8500, but had to drive 600 km for local pick it up, because the seller didn´t want to ship it.
The 4 more Xeons to complete the 8 core machine were much more expensive, at about 10 € for each CPU.
[edit]
Some more Compaq boxes in the collection include the Systempro, Systempro LT, Systempro XL, Prosignia, Prosignia 300 and Prosignia VS.

Oh My Goodness!!!!
Do you have all these? Especially the 1000/486, 1000/Pentium 60, and the 1500, the 3 Systempros and the 3 Prosignias!!!???
Do you sell any?
Shipping from where?
Price list of 1000/486, 1000/Pentium 60, and the 1500, and Systempros and Prosignias?
Weights?

Thanks!!!

perkyagnostic wrote:

@peido: Looks awesome! And I can relate, I would love to own an old server just for the heck of it but I would have no idea what to do with it 😁

Thanks. I'll try to find more uses for it, but I'm glad I have it just for show 😁

peido wrote:

This thread made me search my local ads for servers. Found and bought an HP Compaq ProLiant ML370 T02 with two Pentium III 1.26G […]
Show full quote

This thread made me search my local ads for servers. Found and bought an HP Compaq ProLiant ML370 T02 with two Pentium III 1.26GHz, 1Gb RAM, three 72,8Gb hard drives and two 18.2Gb ones. This is a really big and cool machine, but, besides installing Windows and displaying it proudly, I don't know what to do with it.

Seller pictures:

Compaq ML370 T02 (1).jpg

Compaq ML370 T02 (2).jpg

Compaq ML370 T02 (3).jpg

Compaq ML370 T02 (4).jpg

Compaq ML370 T02 (5).jpg

wow man!
Sorry I made you spend all that money 😁
Beautiful creatures!!!

Scraphoarder wrote:

eisapc wrote:

Some more Compaq boxes in the collection include the Systempro, Systempro LT, Systempro XL, Prosignia, Prosignia 300 and Prosignia VS.

You lucky bastard 😎 Please post pictures of those Systempros so we can drool over them!

🤣 😁 😅 😎 😲 😮 ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ (y)

aries-mu wrote:

wow man!
Sorry I made you spend all that money 😁
Beautiful creatures!!!

No problem 😀 I spent 25€, which I believe it's a fair price for both seller and buyer.

Wow fantastic deal!!! We're a team, man!
And we helped the environment!!