HI, I was wondering what you guys thought of the Sun Cobalt servers. I'm looking to get one for about 130.00. I wan't to get a rackmount server for testing and for a file server maybe. E-Mail and stuff like that. The specs are as follows.

Processor AMD K6 300 MHz
Cache 512 KB
Case 1U Rackmount
Memory 128 MB
HDD 13 GB
Other Power Cord Included

Sun Cobalt RaQ 3 300 MHz 128MB RAM / 13GB HDD - RaQ3 OS Pre-loaded

Would it be worth it?

99% of the people would tell you that its a bad choice but I am that other 1% that loves the cobalt :)

they are good workers but don't expect them to do wonders for you.
They can handle a small number of low volume sites or a few medium sites.

But are you completely sure that it has a 512KB cache?? I thought normal RaQ3(s) have only a 64kb cache?

I'm not 100% sure but thats what the auction said, I decided to get the Cobalt so I will see how it goes. I just want to use it in my home in my Rack or put it on my desk. For a FTP and a small site just to play around with. Wont be a production or anything.

I'd probably stay away from it, but mostly for software issues. Cobalt's Linux distro is obviously defunct, and the software is ancient by today's standards. It's also said to be difficult to install an alternative distribution on them (though this may only be the MIPS models...).

In any case, it's a cheap machine. If you keep it off the internet, or upgrade the software manually and pray that it works properly, I'd say it's probably a good purcahse.

Well It will probably be connected to the internet. But nothing big Like I said I'll be using it for testing and plus it looks cool :P. What im wondering is in the future if I wanted to can i put my own motherboard in there? Like a server motherboard? So i can put like a P4 or something in there with Redhat. and how would i get the display and stuff to work if i did that?

Well, I don't think the powerbox can support our modern day boards... Its only 45 to 60 watts if I did not remember wrongly.

the Cobalt's MotherBoards are specially made for the chasis, so replacing it with something else maybe a problem.

Unless of course, you replace the powerbox, replace the motherboard, replace almost everything in there.... but then all you have got left is a metal casing :P

If you want a cool case why not get a 1u case and paint it blue? :stickout:

Like others have said, the software is very old, so it's not very good for "testing". The programs/scripts that can run will execute very slowly, and cause the load on the server to shoot up.

But Does the case have a LCD in the front :P. Plus I like these cause apparently there easy to deploy. From what I have heard you can possibly get them to run with updated software.

Keep in mind that Cobalts are no longer support by Sun. No OS updates, security fixes,etc. I think they've even dropped their paid-incident support.

Also the Raq 3 is so full of security holes you would be likely be hacked in a short time without adequate percautions.

Well Doesn't matter if its hacked its not going to be used for production like i said.

it can be upgraded only as far as AMD K6-III+ 450Mhz w/256 cache and 1GB memory. you can go to store.raqware.com to buy parts to upgrade.

then you can upgrade the ROM by downloading RaQ550 OS and upgrading (make sure you find documentation on this as you will have a big blue anchor if you mess up on choosing the hardware when prompted). once updated, you can go to cobaltsupport.com or depopo.net, these two sites will probably be 2 key sites to go to keep the software/patches up to date on RaQ550 OS. cobaltsupport.com i believe will have updated patches for RaQ3/4 OS as well.

kernel updates are posted on nuonce.net and raqtweak.com for RaQ350 and RaQ450.

For the ROM upgrade when you select the type of system you select what system you HAVE not what you want right? "The CUrrent ROM INstalled" Also I have also ordered a RaQ 4, So ill be getting a RaQ 3 and RaQ 4. The RaQ 3 I ordered on ebay over the weekend they said would be shipped soon in the E-Mail but they would not give me a date so i called tuesday and the lady said that there was no way to find out. and she couldnt tell me when it would be shipped. SO i called wendsday and they said it was never shipped because it was never marked paid :| so now i just recived an email TODAY saying that the order was processed and will take 1-5 days to ship.