I have seen a few on sale at ebay and was wondering if it is worth purchasing as a private email server.

Not really. The software is no longer supported (although you can run alternative software on them) so there are no patches or updates available. The OS is very easy to use though so if it is for a simple site and email to get you started, it might be worth a look

Not really. The software is no longer supported (although you can run alternative software on them) so there are no patches or updates available. The OS is very easy to use though so if it is for a simple site and email to get you started, it might be worth a look

Wow talk about going 360 degrees in an answer!

The answer really should be more of a depends on what you would like to do, if you are just looking to host a few simple webpages and email for those pages, than yes I would say its worth it, I have bought Cobalt 550's for as little as 60.oo$. There is no way that you are going to touch any other webserver/appliance out there for that amount.

The pluses

Low Cost
Low Power Consumption
Cheap Parts
EASY to use
Easy to Maintain
Looks Cool


The Minuses


No longer produced since at least 5 years ago
To run properly you have to install new Firmware/Software (learning curve involved)
Community of less than 100 dedicated users that will answer question
Some of the early boxes will not run the late software (rag 1 & 2 avoid)


these are just a couple of the reasons, I personally am a fan of the machine and have been for 15 years, so I am bias, but they are not for everyone, and I would really only suggest them for the hobbyist or someone on a serious budget. If you need to do serious web-hosting and plan to make a business of it then you should look elsewhere.

I am in the hobbyist category and love mine, but it was cheap and easy to setup and get running and I got machines for less than 150 total (one being a backup) with MAX everything configuration.

The pluses

* Low Cost
* Low Power Consumption
* Cheap Parts
* EASY to use
* Easy to Maintain
* Looks Cool

The Minuses

* No longer produced since at least 5 years ago
* To run properly you have to install new Firmware/Software (learning curve involved)
* Community of less than 100 dedicated users that will answer question
* Some of the early boxes will not run the late software (rag 1 & 2 avoid)
Agreed, 100%. Maintaining a Cobalt RaQ of any model these days is practically a full-time job. If all you want to use it for is a private mail server, by all means, go ahead and do so. Keep in mind, in order to keep up with standard email authentication (SPF, DK, DKIM), you'll need to make some beefy modifications to the MTA.

Running Cobalt Linux (the preloaded OS) is not recommended. It's so old and insecure that you'll be exploited within a week. I've got three RaQ appliances, and I wiped the drives and installed Strongbolt/BlueQuartz2 on them, and in order for this process to succeed, you have to flash the ROM.

I'd suggest just setting up a whitebox on it, install the distro of your choice, and run it as a mail server. As mentioned, they're great for hobbyists, but they're no longer effective in a production environment.

You will learn a ton, working with older hardware. They might work great as backup servers, especially if you have a rack set up already. I thought this was a cool lot to start with (2x 1U Cobalt Raq4)

They are running Redhat Linux. Might be less of a headache and may not need ROM flash.

bit.ly/uXYej4 (link to Ebay auction)

Not sure when the auction expires or how much you had budgeted. Mac Mini OSX Lion will work as a server too - and you can use it in a desktop setting.

Cool.

I actually even learned a few things from you guy's. Thanks for the schooling on these, as I was wondering my self if they are worth the money to grab one for toy'ing around with or just slide and go with another project.

Is there any other places besides eBay that has some good pricing on these types of servers, and/or places such as a community for users who use them like the hobbyist above! ;-)

I see them pop up on Craig's List every so often, but I would go with a complete working Cobalt 550 from eBay you should be able to get one for about 50.oo shipped if you watch for a while, then upgrade the RAM to Max, and find two old ATA/IDE drives that are 40Gb each(you can run one, but since they are easy finds for free to nearly nothing why risk it).

You can take the processor up to a 1.4 if you want, RAM to 2GB, and HDs to (2) 120GB's if you need to max one out.

I have never spend more than about 80.oo$ even with all the upgrades.

Any other question feel free to come see us.

I was wondering my self if they are worth the money to grab one for toy'ing around with

They're a great platform to learn on :D

I'm sure there are many, many hosts still hosting Cobalt Raq's in their DC's :)

I used to work at a place with hundreds of RaQ3 and RaQ4. As a few comments above, they were quite nice to use (once patched to fix a few kinks and with extras/updates added from places like solarspeed.net). Less popular after Cobalt were bought by Sun who went and stopped the ChiliASP support.
Low spec, 300-450MHz (RaQ 2 was MIPS not x86). IIRC RaQ4 OS was based on about Redhat 6.2 and still mentioned Redhat in lots of commented files! The original software wouldn't cut it security-wise these days, I suspect, and a web server is a high-risk application. For learning, for a local/intranet server, or to install a new OS, I'd say you'd probably get good value for the prices mentioned.

I think they are a great 1ru device for their day. :)

Read your question about old cobalt RAQ servers. My company has a few hundred RAQ3 and RAQ 4 servers pulled from our data center. They come in the original box and with manual. They all have what was the latest 550 OS at the time. Will be selling them on eBay next week. min bib will only be $20.00 per unit. You should be able to get one for min bid. We still have some left in service for a few customers that refuse to move to another platform. Hope this information has been some help.

Read your question about old cobalt RAQ servers. My company has a few hundred RAQ3 and RAQ 4 servers pulled from our data center. They come in the original box and with manual. They all have what was the latest 550 OS at the time. Will be selling them on eBay next week. min bib will only be $20.00 per unit. You should be able to get one for min bid. We still have some left in service for a few customers that refuse to move to another platform. Hope this information has been some help.

How much to ship one to the UK?

RAQs were the best :) I worked at a company w/ hundreds of them also back in 2000 or something. I just retired a RAQ3 and RAQ4 that were doing DNS for the past 10yrs!

RAQs were the best :) I worked at a company w/ hundreds of them also back in 2000 or something. I just retired a RAQ3 and RAQ4 that were doing DNS for the past 10yrs!

Any chance of picking up the RAQ4?

Any chance of picking up the RAQ4?

Sorry, we're going to put each of them in the conference rooms here since they served the company so well for so long. :)

Sorry, we're going to put each of them in the conference rooms here since they served the company so well for so long. :)

Daww, Oh well :)

I will have to go and check out the infernal "rear cupboard of antiquity" when i get some spare time and see if i have any Raqs hidden away still :D

I admit to having played with a small number of them sevreal years ago and was a little hooked on the colour ... and the ease of soldering stuff into them :D

I mainly stuck with the RAQ3 although I had some RAQ4s and a RAQ550 some where ... until my coloured box fetish slid on to SGI Indy and Indigo 2s.. I know i still have a teal indigo 2 at the back of the cupboard which i occasionally show to my son and tell him how much they wre new :D

I can honestly blame my WHT membership on the Cobalt RAQ too ... as it came up as a nice place to lurk and read RAq stuff in the old days :D

Personally I would pickup a decent budget box or VPS and load BlueOnyx on it.

http://www.blueonyx.it/

BlueOnyx is a linux port of BlueQuartz (RaQ4) and is in active development. It offers a nice interface for someone looking for a nicer interface than webmin, but don't need reseller or other features to host a few personal sites.