mattst88's computers - AlphaServer DS20L

Specifications

See the benchmarks I've collected.

Alphaserver DS20L 
cpu			: Alpha
cpu model		: EV68AL
cpu variation		: 7
cpu revision		: 0
cpu serial number	: 
system type		: Tsunami
system variation	: Shark
system revision		: 0
system serial number	:
cycle frequency [Hz]	: 833333333 
timer frequency [Hz]	: 1024.00
page size [bytes]	: 8192
phys. address bits	: 44
max. addr. space #	: 255
BogoMIPS		: 1657.40
kernel unaligned acc	: 0 (pc=0,va=0)
user unaligned acc	: 0 (pc=0,va=0)
platform string		: hp AlphaServer DS20L 833 MHz
cpus detected		: 2
cpus active		: 2
cpu active mask		: 0000000000000003
L1 Icache		: 64K, 2-way, 64b line
L1 Dcache		: 64K, 2-way, 64b line
L2 cache		: 4096K, 1-way, 64b line
L3 cache		: n/a

Story

In March 2008, I was lucky enough to snag this system off eBay less than 3 hours after it'd been listed.

Unfortunately, since the system was decomissioned after use in a government agency, it didn't come with any drives. This is pretty standard practice and not a big deal except that the DS20L requires a slim (laptop style) CD-ROM drive with a strange JAE 50 Pin interface. I tried and couldn't find a double ended JAE cable anywhere except some 3rd party HP parts dealers. They wouldn't sell it for less than about $30.

I also was unable to find the hard drive assembly rails necessary to secure the internal SCSI drive. Another issue is that the system only has a single 4 pin molex power connector. The JAE cable provides the data interface and power to the CD-ROM, so if you have this cable, one 4 pin molex is all that is needed. Since this JAE cable is no where to be found now, I bought a molex splitter to power the SCSI drive and a standard desktop CD-ROM drive connected to the internal IDE during the Linux installation.

Unless I find a pressing need for a CD-ROM drive after the operating system installation, I'll buy a standard laptop CD-ROM drive and a JAE to IDE adapter commonly found on eBay.

For reference, the JAE cable and hard drive assembly kit are Compaq part numbers:

I think one reason I had such trouble finding these parts was because I was using Compaq part numbers instead of HP part numbers. These appear to be the relevant HP part numbers:

Addendum: 18 July 2008

I found another DS20L owner who bought four of these systems when a local tech center was decommissioned. One of his is nonfunctional, and he was kind enough to (1) put up with my questions and (2) send me the parts I didn't have including:

Unfortunately, some years later I let someone borrow these parts and they lost them.

Pictures