A use for my old CAD workstation

[Rickster71]

Was looking to see if I could put my old CAD workstation from my circuit design days to use as a music server?
I'm open to any OS you guys recommend.
It's been a while since I've booted this thing, and can't remember if I updated the OS from Win NT to XP.

It's a Dell Precision 610 workstation new in 1999.
Has dual 550 Zeon III processors and two SCSI 10k RPM drives.
May seem crazy, just hate to see it go to waste.
Any thoughts?
Thanks guys,
Rick

 

[Boerd]

I have an antique too - it runs Slimserver and iTunes (so slooooooow) and I keep all my music lossless on it (multiple HDs - I always have a backup). How big are the HDs?.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I think it comes down to "Could you make this noise making, electricity sucking, piece of Computer history which belong to museum" work as a music server - The to this answers is yes, but should you ? - NO!
Get this junk out, and get something modern, using low power chip which will be easy on your electrical bill

However if you want to tinker (ofcourse you do) you can try Squeezebox Server http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squeezebox_Server and here: http://www.mysqueezebox.com/download which available for lots of OSes and they have big support for 3rd party hardware forums here: http://forums.slimdevices.com/forumdisplay.php?f=18

I had old Amd K6-2 machine which I was running as my Router/Firewall (using Ipcop) for a while - it was fun but annoyed me in the end... due to noise

 

[Rickster71]

Thanks guys!
The 2 drives are 18 G.
Regarding the drive noise, some years back they issued a firmware upgrade that quieted them down a little.
I'm sure it simply slowed the rotation a bit. Also it will be setup in my basement, so the noise may not be much of an issue.

Guess I'm just having a hard time throwing this one out; I'm sure I don't have to tell you two what it cost back in 1999.
My dad grew up during the Great Depression, and I'm sure I've inherited some of the save, fix, don't waste mentality.

 

[j_garcia]

SCSI is kind of gone these days. You could possibly just swap it out for a MUCH larger drive for dirt cheap and keep everything you've ever had that was digital on it I am using an even older CAD station as a hub for all my photos and music as well, though I only turn it on when I need it, rather than leaving it on constantly.

 

[krzywica]

I just built my aunt a music/media server with an Atom based platform. Thats a barebones kit and all you would need is memory and a hard drive, so your looking at around $300. IMO this would be well worth the power savings of you running your old dual CPU, SCSI power hog.

On the other hand you could still use your old workstation if you wanted....you would likely want to add an extra drive for storage, if its from 99 no SATA and it might not have IDE either.....your best bet would be an external 2TB USB drive. But your USB is likely 1.1 which is very slow....so you can either get an internal drive and purchase a SATA controller or get an external drive and get a USB controller. The SATA controller+internal drive being the cheaper better option IMO.

If you want to get an idea of what squeezebox server looks like this is what I have setup and you are welcome to have a peek...thats the little Atom box running in my basement.....

 

[Nemo128]

I am so strongly considering ditching my eGreat M34A and building an Ion box with a small internal SDD to stream content and do basic PC stuff... you guys always talking about it makes me get the itch.

 

[krzywica]

I am so strongly considering ditching my eGreat M34A and building an Ion box with a small internal SDD to stream content and do basic PC stuff... you guys always talking about it makes me get the itch.

Well I wasn't referring to him using it as a HTPC......there are other options that would be better suited for this. Like the Acer Revo, or Zotac Zbox. IMO the NMT+YAMJ+Aeon is still superior though, although it is a lot more difficult to configure initially.

 

[bandphan]

With his fireball networked he could have fun with a music only system