Stackable '90s Intel Network Gear

[@JakeCovey]

10/100 speeds are based on thigh size

[@clabretro]

10/100 thighs

[@mayshack]

Thigh speed internet, amirite?

[@wesley00042]

I worked as a sysadmin at a small magazine publisher. My first task as a new employee was figuring out why everyone in my part of the office (including me) had basically dial up speeds to the file server. Turns out there was a fully-utilized 220T in the back of the supplies closet. Basically 20 editors and layout artists were vying for their share of the single 100Mbit connection back to the main switch and the collision light was nearly solid. This was in 2005. I swapped it out for a Netgear managed gigabit switch and was the office hero for a week.

[@clabretro]

wow!

[@peppigue]

what happened the next week?

[@Tony-rl2fr]

What have you done for me lately?

[@greenerell484]

haha

[@user-wu4cw5ed5w]

-"I shall see some youtube videos." -"I am back. I am an expert now" - it made me cracking up so hard xDD

[@clabretro]

😂

[@user-wu4cw5ed5w]

@@clabretro that's as funny as it is true

[@dross1705]

Put that on a t-shirt. It was funny 😁

[@zigforjustice]

Seeing the dust reminded me of doing a bootloader upgrade on a Cisco 3560. During the upgrade it runs the fans at 100% (typically

[@clabretro]

haha

[@PauIieWalnuts]

Self-cleaning rack oven

[@locnar1701]

When these came out, I was a college student who was working at a research lab. We did a beowulf cluster with 16 nodes and had one of these Intel switches at first. It couldn't handle the full bandwidth load after about 9 nodes. Started out at 100mb/s, then would crap out to 95% after 9 machines, and down the line as we added more nodes. No Bueno. The Cisco switches, they just kept the full 100mb/s per port fine and dandy

[@clabretro]

ha, great story! I plan on eventually getting a few of these to stack. I know I made jokes about Cisco but I have no doubt Cisco gear probably runs circles around these things under any real use haha.

[@timballam3675]

You needed the 550T

[@nickwallette6201]

Well, it's 24x 100Mb ports in only 2U. Compromises had to be made. What did you expect? ;-D

[@BREADSTICKEMIR]

Man Cisco is good though

[@Koutsie]

you're killing it with these videos, im about to enjoy another 37 minutes of late 90's retro tech goodness! hats off!

[@clabretro]

thanks!

[@dougermouse]

I worked with the team that made those Intel products. I sat between Norm and Todd, the guys who did the GUI you played with. The stories I could tell!! Seriously, if you want to talk, let me know. Don't diss LAN MAN, he was on all our products back in those days and I miss his crazy winged self.

[@clabretro]

I would be! you can message me at the email in the channel's about page! also no disrespect intended towards our friend LAN MAN

[@TheErador]

This ^ is why I like the retro community, a lot of the players from back in the day are still around and willing to talk

[@dougermouse]

done!@@clabretro

[@combusean]

How did "Intel Design Mafia" get past the suits?

[@MitchyTheKid4095]

@@dougermouse Which campus was this being worked on? I worked at HF for 14 years. Never saw one of these until now.

[@graybandit1140]

"I don't know how to configure Cisco switches, time to go watch some KZbin videos." "I'm back...I'm an expert now."

[@cobrabuilder9336]

As far as configuring the Cisco, We used to just pull he config as a txt file and make our edits. then paste it back into the terminal. this made it much easier and the reason why cisco was preferred by most of network engineers i worked with including myself.

[@Aruneh]

Indeed. That's what we were taugt when I did CCNA/CCNP. We also had to write all configs from scratch in notepad and paste them in when doing tests.

[@wesley00042]

Cisco switches were configured by doing a lot of cutting and pasting in a text editor and then into the switch.

[@clabretro]

wish I had thought of that!

[@joshgay2385]

^this... And once you get to the third or forth switch you have a good batch of basic configs in a document.

[@itsbigwood5175]

That looks a lot like warehouse dust to me...forklift tire residue 😂 Super light, dry, and greenish gray when it gets in the air

[@clabretro]

yup I think you're right!

[@easproul]

Gotta admire how even a coating it is... 😂

[@MarkTinberg]

a little foam air filter on the intake as part of the design would probably make a lot of difference, although you might need more fan then

[@JesseTheStig]

My mouth dropped when you opened that case but glad it was just able to be cleaned with a simple dusting!

[@clabretro]

same haha

[@jonathandennerly7472]

Looks like that dust buildup comes from whatever warehouse it was sitting in. The tyres on forklifts wear down over time and leave that rubbery black dust everywhere, absolute pain when you're fetching something that hasn't been moved in years.

[@majstealth]

wow, a serial port with the data you need for it right on the device, how revolutionary! /s

[@maxbroomfield5392]

Even though some of this gear is almost twice my age, I still love learning about old gems like these. Thanks for the videos Clab!

[@clabretro]

Glad you like them!

[@blademan7671]

Omg. I had a 550T in my home lab. Pseudo layer 3? Good value. Stunned that you have them and made a video!

[@mamba3968]

I don't know why but retro IT just amazes me. Just imagine throwing a switch to the bin without resetting it first, thats unimaginable from today's standards. Keep it up!

[@llearch]

To be fair, that switch looks like it was "wiped" according to the relatively loose standards of the day; not everyone works in high security areas, and if it was a factory (as many other folks have suggested due to forklift tire dust) then chances are it's a minimum effort wipe and you're done. Things have moved on a ton since then.

[@MegaKrustyman]

32:54 "Tank, I'm gonna need an operations program for Cisco C2900 series." 5 seconds later... "Let's go." Very Matrix - I love it!

[@clabretro]

😂

[@nicholascopsey4807]

I think maybe that the riser was not completely seated in the connectors, some of the b-roll showed it sticking out of the connector a fair bit.

[@clabretro]

you might be right I'll have to try reseating it!

[@Natsumidragneelkim]

If I remember correctly, the modules had to have the license key uploaded via FTP from the disc that came them.

[@clabretro]

interesting... like the stack modules?

[@Natsumidragneelkim]

Yes

[@taldmd]

Their design is actually closer to 80s/90s HiFi equipment, lovely.

[@clabretro]

agreed!

[@DarkT3ch]

One thing I'm happy about with your channel, and I guess it's me being silly to have not really thought about it sooner, despite "retro" being part of the channel name, I really love that all this hardware gets another chance in the spotlight again, even if it's for testing or historical or learning purposes, it's quite nice seeing old devices like those (on your channel) come back to life and serve some purpose, rather than getting crushed/destroyed. If I was going to be a Greek tech philosopher watching the natural cycle of how tech evolves, it would bring a tear to my eye. Alright, I'm done making silly jokes, seriously, this is good stuff, keep up the good work!

[@clabretro]

Thank you! That's exactly my hope. I think it's a shame when this stuff just goes to the recycler. I didn't even know this Intel networking gear existed until a couple months ago, and based on how hard it was to get the software (which I've got up on archive.org now) I suspect a lot of other folks didn't either.

[@DarkT3ch]

@@clabretro I'll be up front, intel switches, I sure as heck didn't, but nevertheless I'm happy you've gotten them and they have some purpose, again, even if it's minimal. In some ways it reminds me of my roots (before I had money) when I'd regularly save stuff from the e-waste recycler and repurpose it for my own use, computers, networking gear and even some game consoles. It's been years since then, but humble beginnings.

[@TIMLPDE]

I rarely comment on videos as i barely got anything to say, but: Ive found your Channel thanks to the sun thin clients and got immediately hooked. You got a calm voice and not using any background music is a good choice, although if you think otherwise, I wouldnt mind. Your videos are AMAZING as an ongoing system administrator - just started my apprenticeship. Dont underestimate how much youre teaching us with a simple hobby, it helps a lot. Thank you, i hope youll love doing what youre doing as much as i love watching your channel! Greetings from Germany. =)

[@clabretro]

thank you! I'm glad to hear that.

[@Nick11625]

As an IT guy I LOVE the way you explain everything in detail but keeping it simple so non-tech folks can understand and enjoy your videos! The only problem is that now I have to buy all this retro networking gear because I feel the need to play with it😂

[@clabretro]

haha

[@webluke]

For that time, the Intel management Windows application would have been super innovative. Mikrotik was disruptive with its WinBox and lower prices some years later. They also use that 192.168.88.x default IP range. I wonder if there was some inspiration from the Intel gear.

[@clabretro]

Interesting about the default 192.168.88.x range. Also I need to try discovering it again but with a new network set -- I wonder if it just set it to the subnet that already existed in the app. Also I agree -- this thing discovers new devices (on different subnets!) faster than Ubiquiti gear haha.

[@AnonyDave]

The only thing worse than software that failed to get archived due to stupid download systems back in the day, is software from companies that got acquired just before the internet really picked up. I have some stuff for debugging a scsi bus (for a project idea I had a while back, think bluescsi but can handle lvd instead), but the company that acquried them never put the software online. Several more acquisitions later and the only thing left on the internet (even the archive) from that first company is a document from a training program they used to run *rolls eyes* 1996 and earlier is just pain unless you know a disc hoarder

[@clabretro]

Pre-2000s stuff is *very* hit and miss for sure.

[@AnonyDave]

@@clabretro I absolutely love bitsavers for the work they've done archiving stuff from the before-times. I just wish they had the resources to get everything from then. *sigh*

[@LogicalNiko]

These were some of the first enterprise switches I worked on outside of Cisco and 3com gear. Intel donated a few 510Ts to the ACM Lab at the UofI in 98 or 99. Before that most of our gear was running on a few rings of 10Base-2 rings. At the true per port packet switching was a bit of a luxury in a lot of locations. And you also had some very strange mid-tear and large campus gear using 4-8 port switching hubs, large hubs with port security that did bit shifts to prevent sniffing, packet concentrators and the like. By 2000-2005 they pretty much were all obsolete by relatively affordable switches with decent backplane speeds. The temp light was generally because lots of companies started re-wiring networks and would use any random place to toss a lot of this gear. Plenum spaces, HVAC closets, in the back of cupboards, etc. It wasn't too surprising to see these things running in 80-95 degree ambient temps for 5-10 years. Plus running a decent backplane speed was a pretty hefty task...right now a single off the shelf ASIC could keep up with 100Mbps Full Duplex but there were some pretty decent ICs needed back 26 years ago.

[@chaseohara4781]

"Manageable Hub" *blinks* wait, wha.... 😂

[@clabretro]

yeah what would you even do with it? i needed to see it in that UI though! haha

[@dricci]

The only thing I can think of is maybe enabling or disabling ports?

[@jfbeam]

It is if the management module is in it. But having one, it's useless; it's just an RMON engine. There's really nothing to configure - it's a f'ing hub. (I think mine is in storage. It's pretty useless - even when Intel gave it to me for free. Back in those days, lots of companies gave loads shit to ISP engineers.) [It might allow 10 and 100 at the same time, but it's been decades since I bothered to even touch mine]

[@barywhite2025]

@@clabretro I had a 3Com PS40 hub, which was probably from around the same time. The management basically allowed statistics monitoring. But it also allowed you to create multiple segments, which was pretty much the same as creating a VLAN and adding say ports 1-8 to it. The idea was that you could uplink each segment on the hub to a more expensive switch port, albeit at the cost of an uplink port in each segment. Loving the look back at all this older technology.

[@djtecthreat]

My elementary school had these, I was fascinated seeing them flash away and was sure we were now in the future.

[@samsthomas]

My memory is that “interface range…” is a much more recent innovation than you would think. On the positive side for the Cisco, you could script configuration with expect or create a config in a text file with a script and do a “copy tftp run”. Both of those methods scaled much better than pointy-clicky or even “interface range”.

[@v12alpine]

true, or even just cut and paste into the cli... the lack of cli in the intel doomed it for any large scale application.

[@samsthomas]

@@v12alpine we deployed a bunch of Bay 350Ts. Similar curses/text screen menu configuration to the Intel. Fortunately once deployed we rarely had to modify the configs, but we never bought another piece of kit without a proper CLI.

[@jfbeam]

@@v12alpine SNMP. That was supposed to be The Thing[tm] back then. Of course, these things were so primitive there was very little to configure. Cisco IOS on a switch was quite a nice thing, but again, switches do very little. "interface range" has been around for a long time; support for it on switches may have taken a lot longer as the firmware rarely changed. Replacement / direct editing of the startup-configuration is still a very common method for initial and mass configuration.

[@MarkTinberg]

"interface range" is really hard to program templates around, it's much easier to just loop over a list of ports and template out each one individually than try to programmatically figure out which ones can be combined and which can't, it's only useful for by-hand interactive setup for small or highly labor-available environments.

[@MarkTinberg]

@@jfbeamSNMP still is a major thing, although SNMP SET is less used for pushing configuration on modern equipment than the new hotness of NETCONF with XML, but you still find modern network management that use SNMP SET and GET just like this Intel does with a gui management tool, eg. I maybe misremembering but I thought Apple Airports used SNMP the same way with their desktop gui app. Printers too sometimes use SNMP for detection and interactive config like HP, IIRC. That's aside from SNMP GET/GETBULK still being the most efficient and standard way to collect metrics from manged devices. Server software has Prometheus and stuff but the base OS and network is probably polled SNMP.

[@waterflame321]

I'm a simple liquid. I see new video i click

[@clabretro]

🫡

[@VideosVlogsThatsIt]

Big nani moment

[@waterflame321]

@@clabretro is joke. you know because water. Well I guess on fire... flaming liquid?

[@JaredConnell]

​@@waterflame321don't be ashamed of who you are. It's nobody's business what state of matter you're in! Flow freely, brother.

[@silvercoulter]

I drip

[@geraldnichols1886]

I don't remember if the range command was available in that version of the IOS...but, as a work around...you can type the commands in a text editor and copy and paste them into the CLI. Using text files you can setup config templates and copy/paste entire configs once you've edited them, or edit a config outside of the switch and just tftp it over to the Cisco device.

[@clabretro]

wish I thought of that, comparing the tftp config loading between the two would've been interesting

[@ximalas]

Sometimes I use awk(1) to generate the needed text.

[@ShainAndrews]

I always built my Cisco configs in text and pushed them out. Have to make sure your terminal software didn't just blast it out though. I remember getting competitive data sheets on Intel and HP for this era. I never once saw either of them in my markets so it was kinda neat to finally see one. Keep up the good work.

[@clabretro]

I did notice this thing had a remote config loader, I might have to try that.

[@travispulley8899]

Cool stuff, and excellent quality production! I'm procrastinating some PC repair work, and this was a nice break before getting back to that.

[@clabretro]

thank you!

[@nathanstaab]

Ha! I havent seen these in years. Intel donated a ton of gear to a bunch of high schools in Arizona - as their fab was basically right down the road. It was a combination of those and 1000FX modules out to the classrooms. They had a 550T "routing" switch that had 8x 1000FX ports. all done over OM1. I was able to get one of those 550T's and there is an undocumented username and password to grant you admin access if you lost the username and password.

[@clabretro]

interesting!

[@stuffedpetcatty]

wow that 510t looks like its seen some action... and thats some INTENSE reassembly music! love it clabbert!!!🦕

[@zelllers]

New clabretro, let's go!!!!!!

[@MadITGeek]

Did not know intel even made enterprise network gear- they are well-known for making Nics, but not this. Now I know :)

[@clabretro]

same here!

[@CheapSushi]

I just like the look of the big chips on the PCB. Cool to see these still work.

[@Codeaholic1]

Loving your networking topics lately. Just need some Juniper or Nortel gear

[@clabretro]

those are definitely on the list!

[@Ronnocbot]

@@clabretro Nortel for sure! Truly fascinating systems.

[@Codeaholic1]

I worked for a university where we transitioned from ATM fiber links between wiring closets with piles of Cabletron hubs to all switched ethernet on Nortel hardware. It was a crazy time for networking. The stuff you could do with vlans, EAP, and VRRP was awesome.

[@DarkVeilGaming]

Hey, finally something similar to what I have! I have a pair of Intel 210T hubs sitting in my garage, makes me want to get them out and use them - they connect together with this huge beefy cable, love it :)

[@clabretro]

nice!

[@pmsrodrigues]

Watching this reminded me I had a pair of Intel routers with the same exact management interface in the early 2000s, each at the end of a dedicated E1 line. Same case design as well.

[@d3yuen]

My homie clabretro ballin with your C2950! We only got Catalyst 1950's 😅

[@clabretro]

😂

[@jimjimmy3367]

crazy, i bought one of these from a thrift store when i was a kid and used it for my home lab for a while

[@Constabruity]

9:53 you just assembled it more efficiently than the manufacturer is all.

[@clabretro]

I'm a professional

[@marcviej.5635]

wow what a rollercoaster to find that software, i was already accepting the fact that you'd never find the software to keep the disappointment to a minimum but bam you got it 😁 nice video

[@idahofur]

Years ago I picked up a used Intel Netport Express print server. Works great for all the old stuff. Web interface looks just like that. Lucky for me I went right over to Intel's website and grabbed the last firmware upgrade for it and such. At the time I only really known about HP jet direct print servers and a few others for home use.

[@jasoncooper6320]

I had one of these in my small business years ago and was so proud of it. One of the first pieces of pro network gear we purchased. Had the module with diagnostics LCD. Very nostalgic. Thanks for posting!

[@clabretro]

very cool. that LCD module is slick. thanks for watching!

[@Mr_Meowingtons]

the inside of that looks like the place I use to work at.. we had 3 Huge Hi Def plasma tables and that dust was everywhere. and that's what the inside of our computers looked like.

[@PaladineGFH]

Once again another great video. I have to say that you finding all this great retro network gear kind of makes me jealous. While I am not into the older network gear like you are I still keep an eye out for that thing I can't live without.

[@RayneYoruka]

32:50 "I don't actually know how to configure a cisco switch, I've never done it" so I'm gonna watch some youtube videos. I'm back, I'm an expert now" 10/10 I love it, you've got me right there, I gotta sub now just because of that~~

[@craigmurray4746]

Back in 2004 when I was doing my "diploma" at my "college", I remember one of the instructors/on site admin playing with a managed Intel switch - I think it was 200 something series. I remember being fascinated as up until then I didn't know such a thing existed. I knew about and had used hubs and unmanaged switches, but managed switches blew my 18 year old brain.

[@kgottsman]

Had the 510T for many, many years until I refreshed with Unifi gigabit a few years ago. They were real workhorses. Worked great for almost 20 years.

[@clabretro]

these things seem tough

[@redgek]

> I'm back, I am expert now I feel called out. Also love the music in cleaning and reassembling segments. Very comfy videos, thank you for sharing!

[@clabretro]

thanks!

[@anthonytidey2005]

I believe that it has Cork on it as it was designed and possibly manufactured in Cork, Ireland.

[@CSCITEK]

Compressed air is my friend when dealing with dirty hrw like this. Also I get to spend time outdoors :D

[@waytostoned]

I ended up scrapping mine for needed parts that be useful down the road. The power suppy is AT based, so somewhat useful with older smaller cased AT machines. Was able to use the memory on a few video cards, to expand the ram. These machines take a crapton of power to run, compared to more modern routers. I still have a management interface expansion if you want one.

[@clabretro]

I would be interested, you can message the email in the channel's about page if you want!

[@ricardobornman1698]

Cool comparison between these two titans and judging from the dust, it's a testament as to how well the Intel kit was built.

[@RobThaDestroyer]

Dell poweredge 2950. Finally got an os on it. It is a mini jet turbine in noise

[@The_Electronic_Beard]

So cool! Never had my paws on any Intel network gear. Thanks for the vicarium!

[@efedevirgen5835]

the thing i love about(and sad about)is how easily repairable/servicable it is

[@ssmg]

I sneezed just watching this, seen too many of these types of dust magnets doing IT in a small town

[@TheColinputer]

That dust reminds me of what was inside some switches i got from a shipping company. I figured it was soot from all the forklifts driving around every day. Most places round where i am used LPG powered forklifts.

[@John-McAfee]

Turning into my favorite tech channel, buddy. Really awesome stuff and enjoy your content.

[@JZB-2022]

Great video! Can't wait for more videos to enjoy as I start my new Network Engineer job!

[@clabretro]

thanks! and congrats!

[@poofygoof]

we had a pair of these at my first job out of college, I think they were 400-series, but looked like your units with the DB9 management port. ISTR they could only handle 400mbit across the backplane, so just a few machines doing large file copies could slow everybody down. they were big, power hungry, and didn't always autonegotiate correctly, but worked well enough into the early 2000s for my employer. (one was still retained for older gear after the building was rewired to support gigabit...)

[@gomergomez1984]

Man these are cool since I like retro things, be nice to find with 10/100/1000 ports if they were made.

[@badspecgamer128]

I sneezed just watching that cleaning

[@veylenn]

I loved these switches "Back in the day". Super reliable. Installed tons of them (was an IT consultant working in a sweat shop at the time) Not sure whats up with your FX module. It does look like its not seating nicely. IIRC they would push all the way in *before* having to use the screws.

[@clabretro]

yup completely right! needed to reseat the riser and module board, working now!

[@jamesbonner692]

I see it can also work wirelessly. With that wireless cat 5 cable.

[@clabretro]

way ahead of its time

[@hw2508]

Like the Wizard of Oz turning to color.

[@-r-495]

very satisfying cleanup.

[@stevetheripper]

Loving the vids, awesome sense of humour. "I'm an expert now" - punk rock 🤘

[@tornadotj2059]

I deployed a whole bunch of these as an "upgrade" to our aging Networth (acquired by Compaq) network. These things were awful. STP issues out the rear that they never could figure out, and speed issues as reported in other posts. I did some research and came to the determination that these were almost certainly built by D-Link for Intel. I don't recall now if it was an Intel engineer that told me this (I knew some of their networking crew very well) or if I found out some other way. I was also using Shiva VPN gateways back then, and Shiva was acquired by Intel, this is how I got to know some of the Intel networking team. I'm almost positive they ended up at Computer Reset in Dallas, as did our Shiva gear. I know for sure the Shiva gear was there as I saw some of it in a recent KZbin video with my labels on it.

[@MarkTinberg]

Man, I haven't heard the name Shiva VPN in a looong time.

[@tornadotj2059]

@@MarkTinberg it was really good.

[@blackryan5291]

9:05 - Devoured by Karl Casey. That is such a hard beat. Karl snapped on that. Great choice my friend 👌

[@clabretro]

yes!

[@alexanerwalls3757]

I would highly recommend buying an ESD vacuum if you're dealing with dirty boards a lot, the SCS 497AJN is a very common model of them. I highly recommend folks to not run boards under the sink because of possible salts in the dust. better off just blowing it off with an air hose tbh

[@floodo1]

that assembly montage, lit

[@Cr4zYH3aD]

If there's no interface range command, I would do it on notepad like interface f0/x then your config then exit then the next interface etc... and just paste it into the switch after conf t. Nice video!

[@clabretro]

yeah wish I thought of that! thanks!

[@Xploder270]

A new video already? Damn this channel is a gold mine!

[@MadITGeek]

if you're gonna do a shootout-how about throw in Hp Procurve switches in there too-lifetime transferrable warranty back in the day. my Ex-boss swore by them. Now? in the Aruba era? not so much lol...but back in the day back in the era of those switches...

[@clabretro]

definitely. finding some Procurve gear is definitely on my list!

[@douro20]

A lot of Cisco stuff at the time used Intel GbE transceivers.

[@LeeZhiWei8219]

I love your channel dude. Funnily enough, after I got off work today haha... Super awesome to see your stuff man.

[@LeeZhiWei8219]

Oh so this was what the Instagram post was about, 😂

[@LeeZhiWei8219]

Btw dude, I dm'd you on Saturday, cause I wanna donate something haha... Didn't know another way to contact you.

[@LeeZhiWei8219]

Is there vlan trunking on this?

[@LeeZhiWei8219]

switch configs go very simple, for cisco, en, conf t, vlan x, Name x, int Fa0/1, switchport mode access, switchport access vlan x, or switchport mode trunk, switchport trunk encap dot1q, switchport trunk allowed vlan x,y then typically no shut. Quite simple lol.

[@clabretro]

yeah but no vlan in conf t with this old ass IOS version 😂. I'm bad at checking messages, I'll message you back!

[@dennisfahey2379]

The variation in IOS commands was a problem for Cisco in its large Merger and Acquisition days. Most of the products were brought in through acquisition and having been built by independent companies - who could not violate Cisco Patents - their command structures were different. And you are comparing an in-house built router with an acquired switch and at a time when the standards for VLAN and QOS etc were really going full mainstream. Jump forward a few updates and things not only coalesce to being consistent but also start to work as a unified system. IE you setup a VLAN on the router and the LAN switch will immediately know about it and is ready to join with less effort. I can recall a period where every network node you bought had its only config headaches. It was nice when things implicitly started to sense and cooperate with eachother right out of the box.

[@null_quinn]

i don't know why but every time i see one of these videos i click immediately... you're the only person ive seen that does stuff with retro tech exactly like me, with little to no knowledge and just experiments lol

[@clabretro]

haha it's the best way

[@TheducksOrg]

I admin'ed one of the 510T's 2001-2003. It was one of the only 100M devices in my department at the time.. hah (via a 100M hub module in the expansion slot)

[@drrenard1277]

I guess I appreciate the HP Procurve switch I had. it sits somewhere between those two machines and all ports were modules. was easy to set up over console

[@bruhzooka]

Those intel switches soaked the biggest cork!

[@chaseohara4781]

Legitimately my favourite way to find old software is to trawl old unsecured FTP archives, hahaha. For Cisco in particular, this is a goldmine. Haha

[@clabretro]

IBM too!

[@jfbeam]

They aren't "unsecured". They're intentionally open: Anonymous FTP. Left overs from a long lost era.

[@choppergirl]

This guy has never seen my massive tower of Cabletron Hubs. More blinkenlicht than Times Square on Christmas day. Big, brutal, beige, with manuals to die for, they provided 10bt in spades everywhere across every college campus and business I guess back in the 1980's. Before there was the Cisco behemoth, there was... Cabletron as the big dawg networking company.

[@somberrhombus]

The glow up intense.

[@tomteiter7192]

Normal looking gear from an industrial setting. I pulled switches or computers from racks in switch/machine rooms, that were literally filled up with dust. Sometimes they died after cleaning, because of fine metal powder in the dust being compacted by the blasts of compressed air becoming conductive enough between pins to produce short circuits or mangled signals

[@alc5440]

That dust explosion was wild. lol

[@TrolleyMC]

Wow what a lot of dust, great looking switches. The user interface looks super user friendly, any new Jr Admin or IT Tech would've loved this equipment.

[@clabretro]

Was thinking the same thing... would've been an incredible product for a "half-time" admin or someone that was just doing it on the side to keep things running.

[@john.smith.noname]

Intel Express 510T懐かしい！ 最初に勤めた会社がIntel のネットワーク機器代理店もやっていたけど全然売れずに社内ネットワークで使われてた思い出。

[@Megatog615]

that was definitely some warehouse dust

[@arizonapalms]

That first switch *really* needs to switch to nicotine gum. Also, I hate trying to find some obscure download or firmware and just met with an FTP that wasn't archived. Depressing. Even worse when trying to find something that was behind some kind of "enter serial number" prompt also.

[@MrKrezol]

By watching your videos, I’m an expert right now with Cisco and IBM gear

[@michaelloving8004]

The first cisco switch I ever bought was cisco 2924xl 12 port 10/100 and few years later I bought a cisco 2950 24 port 10/100 then cisco 1721 isr modular router rack version then a cisco 1751 stackable modular

[@tellyjoossens4186]

Ah man why do I watch these video's, now I want one...

[@jacquesb5248]

sometimes you need this old tech