Restoring the Web Server That Changed the Internet - Cobalt RaQ Part 2

[@jdbarney]

Crazy to think there was a time, not that long ago, when people were perfectly happy running a webserver with a single PSU and a single spinning HDD. No hardware redundancy, load balancing, or fault tolerance. Love the channel - keep the content coming!

[@KiraSlith]

Lessons were learned over the years lmao

[@nadtz]

The low end web server market is probably still filled with it.

[@idahofur]

Actually with good hardware. It could run for years. I had Novell servers that would run for years. The battery backup, psu or fans would get worn out. But, the stupid server would just keep going. Also you did have an occasional HD fail too.

[@jdbarney]

@@idahofur Okay - that sent me down memory lane. I too ran a bunch of Novell Netware 4.1 (and GroupWise, and Border Manager) back in the day. The "redundancy" for the main file server was a cold standby with identical hardware. Just swing over the external SCSI drives to the other box and boot.

[@DevynCairns]

​@@nadtz I don't think there is one anymore - anything new on the low end is just cloud, from either specific web host specializers with no maintenance, or something more generic like AWS/GCP/Azure. They can make much better use of the hardware and run hundreds of customers on a single rack unit. And then the hardware reliability side is entirely out of your concern, they just have their own contractual obligations they commit to which causes them to do redundant power & storage. It's mostly the high end where cloud bills get absurd that people start to look at colocation these days.

[@dadrad]

The checkerboard pattern is likely leftover from an asset tracking tag.

[@theserialport]

Interesting, I guess that seems like an obvious one but didn't understand the checkerboard pattern for it. Thanks for commenting!

[@gordonfreeman320]

@@theserialport Asset tags/stickers typically have an anti-tamper layer built in, leaving that checkerboard pattern behind when the label is removed.

[@RickMunday]

I just commented the same, and scrolled down to find your answer.

[@Kara_Kay_Eschel]

I was figuring it was a warranty ‘void’ sticker.

[@jannikmeissner]

Yes, and these were still used later. I had the same pattern on some IBM servers I bought back for my first home lab after moving out of my parents' house. (so, technically my second home lab)

[@cal920c]

I love how the bootloader says: LEAP OF FAITH!

[@tnwnl]

Love how little has changed essentially. It boots a Unix-like OS, has network connectivity and exposes services we have all known for years and still use today.

[@ivanlawrence2]

“Relic from this bygone era” cut deep - that felt personal.

[@lahmyaj]

10:35 - lol don’t know why but you had me in stitches with that fumble of the HDD 🤣

[@mobzi2644]

12:18 I think the CPU heatsink should be oriented 90° arround. The fin should be in the direction of the airflow to allow more air through and more surface area to the moving air. Great video btw

[@warmadmax]

same here

[@adslf874yti3q7u4hf83]

I thought the same thing, but if you watch the disassembly montage (0:47) that's how it was installed originally.

[@Technoguyfication]

@@adslf874yti3q7u4hf83 Or the last IT guy to take it apart for maintenance installed it the wrong way around, and that’s not how it came from the factory.

[@arjanvuik2004]

When I was dabbling in hosting a website back in the day, I had one of these. I think this was 2004~2005-ish. The RAQ3 was obsolete, but perfect for what I wanted. If memory serves, I even had Debian running on it. I believe you had to upgrade the BIOS and then you could boot an image from the network. You could also show custom messages on the LCD, but I don't know anymore how that was done... Fun to see one being restored!

[@RoyHess666]

8:30 that pattern is from an asset tag, I remember them silver asset tags back then when I worked in IT for a bank

[@javabeanz8549]

While I didn't work with a RaQ server, I did work with a lot of those machines back in the day. My first Linux server was a 486 based machine. Eventually, I had a server colo'd at one of my ISPs. I had servers colo'd for years, but a motherboard died, and I moved to cloud hosting around 2016. For about 15 years, I ran firewalls, DNS, web and email servers for ISPs.

[@vk2ycj]

I had three Cobalt boxes in about 1999 and they were magic devices. I thoroughly enjoyed your two videos and your presentation style. I'm looking forward to following your channel. Thanks.

[@davidgrubbs616]

Excellent professionally edited “how to” videos from you guys. VO sounds great and easy to follow pace. Best of all no crazy graphics or effects to show off upfront that “we know how to use affect effects.” Well done.

[@daveamies5031]

Back in around the turn of the century I installed many of these RAQ's and Qube's they were a great product that was reliable and easy for our customers to use, my boss was really sad when they were discontinued and tasked me to try and find a suitable replacement, there was nothing like them, we ended up with a Linux distro (forget the name, it's 20 years ago now) that was had similar features that we installed on IBM 1U rack servers or SFF PC's as My employer was a small system Integrator that was a certified reseller for Apple and IBM, but it was never as clean a solution as the Cobolts.

[@BKHD605]

Wow what a channel to discover. Been a while since youtube has recommended me a gem. The sticker on the front looks like it was an asset tag, similar to a void warranty sticker. These usually have some superglue-like adhesive and a unique ID used to keep track of company assets often linking to an asset management system.

[@thetechconspiracy2]

The strange silkscreening for the capacitors is the same way Apple indicated it during the 80s and 90s, it's likely that the board designer came from Apple and designed the silkscreen on the board the same way they did previously.

[@ask4kobebeef]

What better way to stop unauthorized repairs than to confuse the repairman so if they do it wrong the results woud be catastrophic.

[@nickwallette6201]

@@ask4kobebeef It was more likely just convention on whatever their EDA tool was. All PCB design software has a library of common footprints. Unless there's a need to (or your org demands that you do, for compliance with internal SOP or whatever), then normally you wouldn't redesign all your own from scratch.

[@haydenc2742]

Pull that little sticker and put a single drop of 3 in 1 oil on the spindle of the fan Very cool restoration! Keep em coming!!!!

[@mrmotofy]

I think engine oil or gear lube might be a better option. Seems the thicker oil will stay in better. I've had light oils run out and have to add more then ultimately trash it cuz it just won't stay running.

[@haydenc2742]

@@mrmotofy Too thick..needs to be thin to soak into the sintered bearings in those fans, use the stuff that has teflon in it

[@haydenc2742]

@@mrmotofy I will give it a shot with something like 10w30 then I guess thicker might be better

[@SDAune]

I have one of these that has the same issue. You have motivated me to dig it out and replace the caps. I used to use it as a web server but ran a different operating system called Rackstar OS.

[@theserialport]

Interesting, had not heard of rackstar. We will check it out as we are looking at software options that we’ll cover in the next video

[@SDAune]

@@theserialport Well that was easy, I found the iso. How can I send you a link?

[@theserialport]

Cool you can email [e-mail] and upload it to archive.org

[@Sb129]

Idk if I said it last video but RaQ is just the perfect name for this thing!

[@saberkok8209]

I was hopping that you change the hdd into a sd card instead. By doing so, you save way more eletric and weight. Thumbs up for the effort.

[@lagos8010]

This is comprehensive and engaging. I absolutely love this.

[@moo3993]

It would be awesome to see the website that may still be on that HDD in the next episode! Subbed

[@KeritechElectronics]

The soldering part is pure art! Lovely restoration.

[@Draknem]

Crazy to see these videos pop up just half a year after I got my RaQ 2.

[@Krafting]

Just discovered your channel, and I really like it, I love this kind of video, I hope you'll get even more old hardware in the future !

[@stefanbuscaylet]

Congrats guys. From your first video I asserted the HDD just lost the data needed to boot but i clearly called that wrong. I’d get an image made of that HDD. I never directly worked on HDDs but worked with a bunch of guys that did and they talked a ton about reliability issues they had including the rotational bearings leaking which obviously isn’t good as it then smears over the media and the heads. Excited to see your next video. Liked and subscribed.

[@dieSpinnt]

Bending leads, soldering them and then cutting: HERETIC! [1] Oh, and thanks for the entertaining video and reviving this precious little bugger!:) [1] a) Bending leads: "bowlegs" ... professionals like to laugh at this, very long ... and it can be seen after years ... as a flagship of your skills, your business card:) Hehehe. We use proper bending tools, like bending gauges. The legs have tolerances and mechanical parameters, which are described in the datasheet of the manufacturer. b) c) First have a close look at your (precisions/electronics) wire cutter. Cutting soldered connections afterwards applies stress to them. This is not necessary. I repeat: It can't be done without it and this kind of stress is just not necessary. Soft solder connections are very sensitive to any mechanical stress. This introduces weak points (like "cold" joints) that may be the cause of intermittent failure. Tomorrow ... in 10 years ... who knows. What we know is that they are at worst sporadic and you will NOT FIND THEM without loosing your faith in your expertise at least 5 times, hehehe. Also: Who cares ... 10 years may be a long time, with the repaired board most likely in other hands. So not our problem:P Professionals see this at the first glance ... and have a good laughter:) Solution: We cut the legs to measurement (BEFORE!), then use a magical device like a soldering frame or other holding tools, to hold the candidate in place. Then we solder. WITHOUT that long "heatsink" which you cut afterwards away, hehehe. (This was problem Number 2 after the physical stress. Both are not good practices, when soldering, easily avoidable and do cost nothing but learning another workflow. BTW: The "correct" and professional one:P Okay ... soldering frames, holding/pressing arms or adhesive tape (if you do not have a frame) costs money). Excuse my lead-free rant. But this is tradition. You can't have a KZbin video that includes soldering without someone in the comment section knowing everything better!!!:P Great video and a great job!:) Subscribed

[@dieSpinnt]

By the way, your video also has horror elements. When I saw the well-known soldering station from our local manufacturer from Swabian in Besigheim (Weller in Germany) (time code 6:51), I was totally shocked by the 650 degrees temperature. We Germans are just not used to Fahrenheit. Hehehe:)

[@dieSpinnt]

Oh and what I said above. It is always better to ask someone who has learned the trade and worked professionally in that sector. I mean personally, not via internet. He or she can and will explain you several more reasons why it is not a good idea to bend/solder/cut. Including how your workpiece looks afterwards. Like "Kraut und Rüben" ("cabbage and turnips", meaning everything mixed up), or simply beautiful to look at. With good practice and the equipment you have(that Weller), you can achieve handiwork that is clearly distinguishable from wave soldering or other machined solutions. And by that I mean better looking, aesthetic ... so to say in the realm of "prettiness";) Oh, I should stop, or someone could think I had some kind of soldering fetish ... How absurd! So. Watching your next video, now!:)

[@nickwallette6201]

I find this to be a bit of pearl-clutching. I've worked on a lot of electronics, and while -- yes -- professionally produced electronics pretty much always have pre-cut legs before soldering, this is far from the worst thing the product will likely endure. A couple weeks ago, I opened up a Yamaha musical instrument and there are capacitors inserted unevenly -- like, tilted to one side with the legs at different lengths. Last weekend, I was inside a Juniper router and one of the screws securing the motherboard to the chassis had gripped the board and cranked it up a few threads above the standoff it was supposed to be resting on. I took apart an industrial PSU a few days ago that was so cram-packed I had trouble gripped the capacitors with pliers (which I had to, because there was no room for my fingers.) I think, after having their legs clipped by flush cutters, they're going to be just fine. Don't you worry. They can handle it.

[@justinchampion5468]

I always loved the old Cobalt servers, and wanted to own a Qube version when they were still a thing... Neat to see you messing around with the raqs. Also (In edit) - The checkerboard pattern appears to be tamper-edvient sticker residue... Probably (as someone else said) an asset tag or other sticker meant to prevent removal without being rather obvious.

[@kam_mil]

When I watched your first video about the raq, In my mind I was sure that this is a big channel! I hope you continue making this type of content and your channel grows :)

[@old-school-rigs9378]

I have to say I'm am truly a huge fan of this series

[@awd42]

This is like the computer version of the Flatbush Cats channel and I'm here for it!

[@Veeb0rg]

I've always wanted on of these, even if just to have that blue translucent face in my rack cabinet. Love watching old hardware being restored like this.

[@oceania68]

same here

[@LiLBitsDK]

Cool video, hope to see many followups on this one... Was actually looking at buying one of these myself the other day just for tinkering with... I remember back in the day when they hit the market... It was HUGE!

[@InitialiseDisk]

I’m starting up my channel and you’re exactly who I try to mimic in terms of production. I can’t imagine how long it takes you to edit these.

[@theserialport]

Thanks, we’ll take a look

[@alvinnorin8820]

Hahah, subscribed. Promotion worked.

[@InitialiseDisk]

@@alvinnorin8820 haha thanks!

[@tmanF4]

Incredible content. Exactly the stuff I’ve craved! I’m super lucky to be coming in as a subscriber so early on,I know y’all will blow up soon 🎉

[@comfy39]

This is such high quality content. I'm impressed :) Definitely subscribed for more.

[@tezinho81]

The check pattern was 100% an asset tag. I've seen hundreds like this.

[@PsRohrbaugh]

So glad you re capped the board!

[@felixg3]

I would love to see you running a modern website on this. Obviously not something fancy, but some simple static stuff. I would recommend an IDE2CF adapter to give it flash memory and upgrade the fan to a little noctua NF-A4x10

[@drgti16v]

I miss my RaQ 3 and Cube 2. They were great devices for a 2nd hand SOHO setup

[@JB2X-Z]

This was BEAUTIFUL! Thanks for going through the process~

[@dantechgeek]

Very nice restore. LOL at that RAID prompt during bootup.... I had a single drive as my web server back in the days too. Thank you for this. I will keep looking for a reasonable price RaQ server on sale somewhere. Have a good day.

[@LiLBitsDK]

it does have a socket for a second hdd afaik at a 90 degree angle to the board (check some pics of the motherboard)

[@dantechgeek]

@@LiLBitsDK Yes I'm very aware of this. I was talking about my dedicated web server hosting options we had to pay for back in the 90s. Thank you for the input.

[@almostanengineer]

That sticker was likely a tamper evident seal, perhaps an asset tag removed when it was decommissioned

[@Midee]

I didn't know you could clean case fans like that! 😳 8:44

[@TK-wk4hs]

Check pattern is from an asset tag, used in gov and large orgs to identify items in their db and assign to users

[@Shiunbird]

The sexiest soldering b-roll on the Internet for sure...

[@simonstergaard]

Ahh..i remember these... nostalgia. my first site ran on one of these.

[@danielfisher1515]

Quite satisfying to watch!

[@dzltron]

I had a k6-2 box back in the day, great cpu.

[@nickwallette6201]

I just recapped a Dell motherboard from the P4 era that used positive-side markings on the caps like that too. It's nowhere near as common as the negative-side marking, but it isn't an error. It's just a different convention. PS., I got almost every cap on that P4 inserted correctly, remembering to observe the "backwards" polarity marking. But I did mistakenly reverse one of them on the 12V rail. It actually worked fine for a little bit, and then I happened to be tracing an (unrelated, pre-existing) issue with the PS/2 mouse port not working, and noticed that one of my newly-replaced caps was already starting to bulge. I was starting to feel a little concerned that maybe I had underestimated the ripple current demands or something. I pulled it out, then noticed the markings, and immediately felt better.. and then worse... but better again when it was fixed. :-)

[@callumedwards9298]

In the first video you mentioned converting one to a newer system would be cool to see you go RISC-V or arm and keeping the front display working! worlds the limit! :) keep up the awesome work.

[@bhollingsworth]

What's incredible to me is the fact that a modern Raspberry Pi is more powerful in every measurable way than one of these ... and these cobalt servers were the thing to have 20 + years ago.

[@JessieMHadaller]

Inserting the RAM sounds crunchy 😋

[@thedefinitionofgamer1392]

Your channel is great I like it! Keep up the good content

[@ediik]

Our asset stickers left those checkerboard patterns, too. Its like a security Feature so you can see there was something before. Dunno why...

[@MrKrezol]

I remember such a checkerboard pattern that was left behind by a warranty sticker. This might have been an asset sticker or rack tamper sticker

[@EdwardHanley]

Great video series on the Cobalt. I hope your channel grows. Keep them coming. I used NetWare with SFT for HA for the web servers I ran back then. I still work for Novell today which is OpenText now. I'm all Linux today. I have my Weller solder station also. I have replaced many components over the decades.

[@jimaki_37]

Really nice find. I hope that one use would be to use it as a game server for Quake, Counter Strike or Unreal Tournament either for LAN Parties or Online and have the kill feed, the winning player/team of the session etc. on the 16x2 LCD XD

[@gentle285]

I just watched the first part yesterday :)

[@LordNorthern]

Wow, tiny channel. Just over 5k subs. Looks promising though. I hope one day I'll be able to say that I was among the first 10k subscribers here!

[@Max_Marz]

wowww I think this is the first time i've seen someone wear an ESD strap for a youtube video.

[@tibr]

Fantastic quality on the videos + really cozy channel?! Subbed :D

[@blendingsentinel4797]

A new channel. Nice! Can't wait to see this adventure. :)

[@scoutkirby1764]

I think that checkerboard pattern may have been for some sort of third party warranty detection. Place I use to work for use to put stickers on that would leave that pattern behind to show if someone opened up their workstation when they shouldn't have (and realistically had no reason to)

[@ashifabedin]

Great video. I’m looking forward to more content from you!

[@tuapuikia]

I smiled when I saw the Linux boot screen with ext2😊😊😊

[@JorgeEscobarMX]

12:19 Wow! this moment is like watching a dinosaur roaming around in Jurassic park.

[@AmoyamoyamoyaYouTube]

I have a pair of RaQ3's and neither had the checkboard pattern sticker/printing so I suspect that was some branding or marking from the previous owner. An older RaQ2 I had also lacked the checkboarding. IIRC, I had mine co-located at Hurricane Electric until 2005-2006 before we retired them. Now all three RaQ's are just sitting in my store room. Sadge.

[@juanjogsi]

Wanted to let you know I loved the videos on the RAQ and look forward the updates on them. Also wanted to let you know this video will be shown in my classroom, as I teach IT maintenance and I think it covers many items. Also wanted to give you a suggestion for the other server, as you asked for: could it be possible to install a more modern linux (like puppylinux) and try to serve your own webpage? Thanks for your work.

[@dieklaue1]

love your videos, the style, music, jokes. Looking forward to the next mac videos :)

[@andreasrowicki6393]

Cool project, looking forward to see more!

[@jonathanhall2401]

That sticker is proably some kind of asset label, they would leave goop like if they we pealed off. I worked at an ISP from 2000 to 2009 and we had dozens of Cobalt boxes.

[@thebeeamberheardsdogsteppe6368]

the checkerboard pattern is left over from a Company Internal Asset Tag or a Warranty sticker

[@ahmedalshalchi]

I wish if you could do the same to the other server ... These beauties must not die ...

[@jimhughes1995]

The checker board pattern could also be from a Warranty Void if Removed sticker.

[@franklincerpico7702]

Oh yea, I'm subscribed now.

[@Dygear]

Just think that a Raspberry Pi 4 will be orders of magnitude faster than this system while also using an Oder of magnitude less power. This is an excellent video!

[@DiyintheGhetto]

I would love to link a couple of these today over different networks to get them going as one.

[@gordonfreeman320]

Would be fun to see a low-power modern motherboard put into the other chassis, like AM4 AMD Ryzen 3 or something along those lines.

[@secondc0ming]

even something like a Raspberry Pi would beat it handily

[@ConstantlyDamaged]

I actually have something like that. Ryzen 5 5600G MicroATX board 500GB M.2 Some ECC ram It sits at about 30W of power with a load of about 1.5 but can, of course, wind up for higher usage. Great little machine, and combined with a slimline water cooling setup it is silent and no-nonsense.

[@bzuidgeest]

Boring, has been done to death.

[@VolkerBaier]

That were inventory sticker. Sometimes similar ones to Warrenty Stickers are used, so you can't remove them without a trace.

[@f0y]

Yeah - the checkerboard pattern looks like the ones that are sometimes used for warranty stickers

[@WestleyPaynter]

I bought a few of these off ebay. one still had an ancient NASA website on the hard drive

[@alexbright7735]

That board looks awesome. This is my first video for this channel and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I like the old colourful servers. I always wanted one to play with. Like and subscribe done. 👍

[@FennecTECH]

sticker is from a logistics department. it identifies a machine in a companies inventory

[@MrWizard65]

Would be amazing if you could get this thing live on the web with a simple landing page and some information about the Cobalt server line and folks could visit it.

[@aalvarez711]

that pattern is from an asset tag or something similar. It leaves that pattern when removed for tamper evidence.

[@SudosFTW]

The thing with this is, you can still run Debian 11 i586 on these given you max the RAM out, but the better thing to do is to instead run NetBSD. You should do this to the other unit if you get that one also working. The adhesive pattern is from an asset tag.

[@theserialport]

Thanks - we are looking into these options now. There is a NetBSD "cobalt" port but it is only for the earlier MIPS-based arch, running NetBSD x86 on these doesn't seem as straightforward

[@chrisjohnson7478]

@@theserialport The flash based linux kernel initialized the hardware than sets up to load and jump to what ever ELF file the boot command line says. I expect a NetBSD kernel would be fine, but of course the device drivers could be an issue, especially the front panel. If there is a front panel driver in the NetBSD/MIPS port, it would probably only need a slight bit of hacking. No need for the front panel if you are willing to configure NetBSD through the serial port.

[@johnhupperts]

10/10 channel. Nice

[@rickyrico80]

Top notch quality 👍🏼

[@toddfraser3353]

I expect the sticker was a way to identify the server on the rack. If they were a hosting company, it might have been the logo of their customer, who used that server. Or some abstract icon on it's function. The late 1990s Icons were all the rage, they screamed User Friendly. Also many customers came from a mainframe mindset, and wanted to see something that would identify that computer being theirs. The Cobolt plastic front and LCD display too was more about show than function which was the late 1990s way. Round edges were in.

[@MrWarneet]

Us NASA trained folks always trim the leads prior to soldering.

[@Anna-mp6qv]

great content 🎉

[@turtleschmiechen6155]

Great video thanks, it would be fun to make a modern linux version for these based on Gentoo where you could still use openrc.

[@RickMunday]

The pattern on the front panel is from a tamper resistant asset tag.

[@IT10T]

I am pretty surprised that the caps aren't worse, also it is pretty confusing as to why they marked the positive side like that. Nonetheless, great content, you got more than just informative going on here, its vintage electronic restoration with a little flair for cinematography.

[@AriAri-fi4ix]

beautiful!

[@daanmageddon]

Wouldn't it make more sense to rotate the cpu heatsink 90deg so the fins are in line with the airflow? Seems like the air intake is near the powersupply with space for another fan. The sticker residue looks like it came from a license sticker or some other sticker that is was intended to be "re-used" maybe. Btw cool vid, i remember working on a Raq3 once, worked all through the night to get our customers websites, email relay and ftp services back up. I never realized it was such an iconic machine, thanks!

[@chrisjohnson7478]

Air flow was essentially from the hard disk to the CPU. I can't remember about the orientation of the CPU heatsink, but we did sims and testing, so that was probably best for some reason. The PSU was too cool to be an issue.

[@glitchwrks]

That PSU is likely a refit, hence the small size in the big box. I don't have a RaQ 3 but the PSU cage looks like it's nearly the same size as the RaQ2s and CacheRaQs. EDIT: Watch putting stuff with quartz crystals in the ultrasonic cleaner!

[@DiyintheGhetto]

The other question I have is are all the caps the same size? IO didn't hear if you said that or not? Also That pattern on the front is some type of void of remove seal. It didn't come with the server out of the factory. It was placed in whatever facility that had it in play.

[@Differentunic]

Giving 90s tech some love! Would you be interested in restoring a silicon graphics pc? At the time it was around $80,000. Super advanced rendering tech. I have one that I can’t get working laying around and would be willing to send it in if it’s going to a good home. It’s a heap of SMD stuff tho and not a heap of documentation..

[@theserialport]

That sounds neat, let’s talk! Email address is on the about tab of our channel

[@Differentunic]

@@theserialport sorry for the late reply, but I can’t seem to find any email

[@imark7777777]

8:35 I thought that was obvious that checkerboard pattern is from eight inventory tag with tamper evident backing. A.k.a. remove the asset tag it's obvious that I got removed. I got a computer when I was younger for free through a program and I removed the sticker and it took forever but I got it off.

[@eliotmansfield]

use a heat gun to pre-heat the pcb, makes getting big through hole components that sinks all the heat out of your soldering iron out far easier.