Server Donation Time Again!

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It is that time again.  We have approx 35 servers to donate to a good home.  These are servers that Wikimedia has used on the projects for 3+ years, so they are out of warranty and just not fast enough for us to keep using on the cluster.
The servers will go out to homes for folks who are willing to pay for the freight.  They are as follows:

  • Dual CPU 2.5 GHz AMD
  • 3-4GB RAM Each
  • Most have 80 GB or larger HDD

Disclaimers: The Wikimedia Foundation does not guarantee the operation or use of these servers in any shape or form.  They are old, some may have dying fans, bad hdd sectors, and the like.  Servers have been wiped of information, and they ran through that, but no promises on function!
If you would like to receive some of these servers for your NONPROFIT use, please email servers@wikimedia.org.  Please include in your email how you will be using the servers, and the address they would be shipped to.  We will review all requests and try to fairly pick out where they go.  (Selection process may be refined, but it also may just include throwing darts at a board to break up ties.)
Additions: Due to request, the servers are indeed located in Tampa, FL USA.  Zip code 33602 for shipping purposes.
Rob Halsell, Operations Engineer

Archive notice: This is an archived post from blog.wikimedia.org, which operated under different editorial and content guidelines than Diff.

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I guess the servers are located in the US, right?

Thanks guys! It is great to see that the Foundation is asking community members first so we can make best use of resources to further the mission. It’d be very helpful if you could add to the post: *zip code the servers are coming from (for those who don’t know, the servers will be coming from Tampa, but a zip code makes getting an estimate easier) *Estimated package weight + dimensions With this information, community members considering placing a request can get a good estimate for shipping charges, so they will know ahead of time whether they can afford the… Read more »

Friedel :

I guess the servers are located in the US, right?

I have updated the post, but the servers are in Tampa, Florida, USA, zip code 33602.

I also do not really have package weights because I have to put more than a single 1U in a box, as I do not have individual boxes for them all. We shipped last years donations in this manner with no issues, however, it makes them slightly heavier.
However, to ship a dozen or so servers UPS ground across the US was less than 300 bucks. (No insurance, no frills, ground delivery)

Can you send some of them to Cuba?

Has anyone asked the chapters whether they want to have some of the servers? Maybe the toolserver guys would be interested.

Shipping internationally must be legal from the US to destination, so no, they cannot go to Cuba. (I am sure there is some kind of loophole that would legally allow this, but they are not worth that kind of time and/or paperwork.) A few toolserver folks already knew about this. If they wanted them, I would image they would say so. However, these are servers that are old, and they tend to need faster things. On International folks, sorry but for this, it may not be worth the price of shipping them someplace. Keeping it in the US is cheaper… Read more »

Just for the sake of curiosity what’s the time frame for a decision?

It was depending on the number of entries and interest. I have gotten dozens of emails, so I have started to put them together presentation style for simple review of all of the serious ones that fit the request (non-profit or education and such). When I finish it up sometime in the next week, we will close entries, kill the email address, and start making a decision. So I figure open for another week or so, but no hard deadlines yet.