Where can I buy a RaQ? Looking to mess around with one!

Try ebay or get one from http://frontstreetnetworks.com I got some of mine from them :)

I'd like to buy this: http://store.raqware.com/product_info.php?products_id=317 but pretty expensive for a 450Mhz

Well, don't look at the Cobalt ( RaQ or Qube ) as a normal slow PIII.
From using them for years, I find them stable and reliable for their age.

If you want it cheaper, try ebay, there should be a few going around.
Don't bother about people telling you that there is no "official support" for the device, since usually all these "official" support are plain useless.

There are numerous support communities out there both free and commercial.

Have you ever used a cobalt before? If not try the RaQ3 or RaQ4, they are a little easier to configure and to find parts for.

Well, don't look at the Cobalt ( RaQ or Qube ) as a normal slow PIII.
From using them for years, I find them stable and reliable for their age.

If you want it cheaper, try ebay, there should be a few going around.
Don't bother about people telling you that there is no "official support" for the device, since usually all these "official" support are plain useless.

There are numerous support communities out there both free and commercial.

Have you ever used a cobalt before? If not try the RaQ3 or RaQ4, they are a little easier to configure and to find parts for.

Alright, EBay it is then! I have never touched one of these things and would like to learn. :P Someone did PM me saying that he had one in the office that they were no longer going to use and was willing to sell... They never did get back to me...

Be careful when you buy from eBay though... they maybe cheap but the risks are a little higher. Good luck and enjoy your future unit :)

Be careful when you buy from eBay though... they maybe cheap but the risks are a little higher. Good luck and enjoy your future unit :)

Thanks! Maybe it will turn into the Cobalt BEAST!

If you buy from RaQware, you're getting a reconditioned system that's probably better than the "factory original" on eBay - new RAM and hard drives, etc., rather than the now 5-6 year old components in the eBay model.

It's old hardware anyway. I bought both my
RaQ 3's from eBay (both from USA) and I had
no issues at all. I don't think anyone seriously
buy RaQ's today to set up a hosting business.

They use them if they get a whole bunch of them
for peanuts from an old ISP or if they've had them
for years. The money you pay for a second-hand
RaQ 550 you get a brand new Dell 1U server for
to install CentOS+BQ on..

Well I would if the price is right :)
A RaQ can be reconditioned to work properly if you know how to, and their form factor is very small which makes them easy to deploy.

Low Heat, low engery consumation and small space take up can mean I would still be able to place some Qubes behind a 6 stacked RaQs :)

Not for major hosting, but still good for other stuff.

But still... if I need to pay a few hundreds for 1 unit... thats a little over priced.

RaQ's are some of the most stable and hard working servers still available. I can say that if you aren't doing intensive website hosting - using these for cache/DNS/mail servers will provide you with an excellent little workhorse for a cheap price.

I'd like to buy this: http://store.raqware.com/product_info.php?products_id=317 but pretty expensive for a 450Mhz

Well, you can buy cheaper!!! But you get what you pay for.
Buy your RaQ on ebay, replace any defective Electrolytic caps, install new fans, install new CMOS battery, install new 512MB DIMM (room for one more), install 2 new 80GB hard drives, install the OS, (may need to reflash the ROM) AND test...

Then add up the cost of the ebay unit, and all the new components, add a little for your time.

Well... Who's to say anything electrical is wrong with it?! Why new fans? You just assume there going to be shot? Once again, how do you know the cmos batterey is dead or near dieing to begin with?! Why would I NEED more ram then is already in the unit?! Here it comes again... Why would I need to add 2 80GB HDD's... How does the OS contribute to me spending more money? I think you missed my first post with the keywords "mess around with" Most units on ebay come will all of what is needed to run. ;)


I just realized why you might have posted all of this... YOU SELL THE DAMN THINGS! :P

Well... Who's to say anything electrical is wrong with it?! Why new fans? You just assume there going to be shot? Once again, how do you know the cmos batterey is dead or near dieing to begin with?! Why would I NEED more ram then is already in the unit?! Here it comes again... Why would I need to add 2 80GB HDD's... How does the OS contribute to me spending more money? I think you missed my first post with the keywords "mess around with" Most units on ebay come will all of what is needed to run. ;)


I just realized why you might have posted all of this... YOU SELL THE DAMN THINGS! :P

Well.... as a customer that purchases around 10 units from him, here is what I have to say....

When I purchased, the mailman broke one of the units when shippng... CPU got ripped off, MoBo scrapped and even the HDD bracket was dented... gwaugh knew about this and shipped to me a brand new MoBo! ( motherboard ) free!

Some months later I found oxidation on one of the Power cables that connected the PSU to the Motherboard on another unit and we asking around where I can buy a replacement. He saw my postings on a mail list and sent me another new cable for free!

You will never get this kind of support from the ebay sellers.

They are much cheaper but usually support is rather limited. If you know the cobalts in and out, maybe you should try your luck on ebay and see what happens, but you you are a complete Newbie to a cobalt then maybe you should consider twice.

A Cobalt is not your regular 1u server box.

But anyway have you gotten your unit yet? :)

Not yet, I have been busy with other things... It's not for a production server, so it's really not that big of a deal where I need some guy trying to sell me his products... I mean selling as in he's telling me I need to purcahse two 80GB HDDs...

Support isnt that big of a deal either... I don't think he would give me any advice on how to set up something like software either... He's really of no use to me...

Oh yeah, I almost forgot...

When you make the purchase, it would be better to go for the RaQ4 or RaQ550.

If you got a RaQ3 or Qube3, you may need to do some soldering on the jumpers to make it use faster processors. Currently they are capped at 300mhz.

I wished I was in USA or UK :( No one sells these stuff here in Singapore, and the Japanese usually don't even deal overseas...

I have a slightly different opinion: while the faster processor can be useful, I tend to go for the "i" versions -- either Raq3i or Raq4i (stay away from 1's, 2's, and older Qubes -- they are MIPS-based). The "i" version comes with a second ethernet port (so you can use the box as a router or firewall, or have it on both your internal and external nets), and a PCI socket (so you can add various peripherals). Also, they usually have the second IDE header soldered in -- you can do this yourself, but it's a pain -- this way you can buy a second (5400rpm!) IDE drive and either go to RAID (I do this for all my systems) or add a second drive for space.

Compared to soldering in an IDE header, the CPU upgrade hack is fairly simple (I've done both).

When you get the system, you'll want to flash the ROM while the original OS is still working (there are instructions all over -- do it carefully or you'll have a boat anchor), then you can run anything you want. Load the 550 OS or Rackstar or StrongBolt on it and you've got a modern system that wil do a good job.

Buy some spare fans because yours will fail. Also, you can bump the RAM on any of these systems to a total of at least 1Gb -- IMHO much more worthwhile than the CPU upgrade, though they are orthogonal.

BTW, I try not to pay more than US$100 for a Raq3i on eBay, and US$150 for a Raq4i, in each case with CPU, RAM, and at least one disk. In general 550s are too expensive for me (though they may be worth it). BTW, many sellers don't know that they have "i" versions -- look at the photo and if there is a second RJ45 on the back and a covered-over space for a PCI card, it is one, otherwise not.

Good luck. (I just bought a lot of 5 from a local vendor (no shipping!) and am out of the market for a while).

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=010&item=200035423866&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1

Nope you don't need 2 80 gig drives unless you want to make a raid system. One good drive with 128 should be fine to "mess around with"

While the cap's can go bad (get pregnant) I have seen them still run long so it's not a requirement except for long term production use. The thing about the caps though is that if the fans died and the unit overheated so much it boiled the caps then the motherboard often takes a hit too and becomes damaged. I have actually seen the cpu socket turned brown by the heat... (that motherboard didn't make it even after the cap replacement...

Overheated boards are not accecptable for long term production use.

anyway...
The fans you just always need to replace as needed... and You should check them offten...

and the battery? Never Replaced one or had a problem yet...

I send people to raqport when they need a fast server though... You can visit his site here... (http://www.raqport.com/)

sorry for digging up an old thread.

i have 2 raq550's im no longer using that i could sell

How much are they?

they are the 1.2gig cpu's 256ram in each, no hard drive and come with a copy of raqware

not really sure what they are worth?

a friend said if they come with all the options around $1500, but ill let mine go for.. i dunno $800ish

im in australia too, but willing to send over sea's

Raq 4i on eBay (not mine!) now going for $53 + $35 shipping:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sun-Cobalt-RaQ-4I-Just-Pulled-20GB-256-2-NIC-COM-SCSI_W0QQitemZ330119127742QQihZ014QQcategoryZ51236QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Guy sez he has 200 of them.

I picked up mine for $169 off ebay and hardware wise its fine. Minus some random software errors here and there. All 450MHz, 20GB 256MB RAM. It worked out of box, but I restored it anyway. ;)

If you are getting a RaQ4, you may also want to try getting the 550 OS loaded. You'll have a much larger selection of packages you can install and mess with.

Actually either Raq3 or Raq4 will run 550 OS, or better yet, StrongBolt or RackStar, either of which is a more modern Linux/Apache/MySql/PHP, etc.

I have 1gb of ram in my RaQ4s... of course, I use a slightly newer OS.

they have always taken 1 gig. The problem is it isn't all addressable via the hardware. See the CobaltUsersList.com archives and you'll find the post from the motherboard builder.

Also, every RaQ4 with 1 gig I have ever seen has been unstable until it was brought back to 512. if you need more memory then the 512 then you need a new server.. not a new fat kernel that uses more memory.

Anyone who reads my posts know that I think highly of both CentOS+BlueQuartz (which is supported by NuOnce Networks, SolarSpeed, RaqWare, and most other reputable Cobalt service providers) and RackStar, which is a completely different effort, though also also based on a modern Linux kernel and software. No one other than you, Zeffie, still supports the Raq4 OS. StrongBolt is a conveniant installer for CentOS+BlueQuartz, which can be obtained for free from many places, most notably a good distro from Nuonce (www.nuonce.net).

Elsewhere on this board I have done an in-depth comparison of the 550 OS, CentOS+BQ, and RackStar here: http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=556418

Please try to be polite and informative in your posts.