Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015 | TechNews

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AUSTIN GONZALEZ

 

Serving up computers

Austin Gonzalez
OPINION EDITOR

Setting up a server is a challenging
task, not because of the depth of the knowl-
edge required, but the breadth. The first step
in looking at building a sewer is knowing ex-
actly what you want it to do. Server racks and
professional grade workstations can cost up-
wards of $6,000 used. Added to that is the cost
of running a server; a server will typically be
run 24/7, constantly drawing power from the
wall. Choose hardware that’s too powerful and
you’ll waste money on power; choose hard-
ware that’s too weak in the name of efficiency
and your workflow will stutter.

My personal server needed to serve
up three items. Firstly, I needed to support a
file server as a backup for my massive media li-

brary. I wanted to run a media server, Plex be-
ing my personal favorite, to serve up that me-
dia library whether I’m at home or at school. I
also needed a Virtual Private Network (VPN,)
to route trafi‘ic. A VPN and fileserver on their
own could be run off a $35 Rasberry Pi, but the
encoding of video files from Plex will neces-
sitate a multi-CPU system. This combination
will let me safely and secure stream and share
all of my multi-terabytes of files while also
serving as a backup so I don’t lose any precious
data.

Now that you’ve figured out what
benchmarks you need to hit, it’s time to look at
the form factor of the server you want to set up.
Servers can be run off traditionally sized tow-
ers, but also computers as small as a Rasberry
Pi or as large as 4U rack mounted professional
server chassis. Servers run differently from

standard PCs and often several times hotter.
I picked up an old 1U rack style server. This
PC is only a few inches think, but as long and
wide as a 40-inch television. The size isn’t the
only awkward thing about the server solution.
On boot, the computer sounds like a hairdryer.
Using extremely long cables, I can hide the
computer away in a space where it won’t bother
anyone.

The options don’t stop at physi-
cal size and power. On any server you won’t
need to run a typical operating system like
Windows; a more lightweight solution will let
you save on power and increase efficiency. The
hardest part of any server set up is figuring out
what software you want to try and tackle. Most
anything you choose will have a strong com—
munity with loads of documentation, but with
dozens of solutions it can be hard to choose.

After that it can be hours to get the hang of
your new system and finally set everything up
properly.

All this work can pay off extremely
well, however. For less than the cost of an old
laptop, you can set up a server with perfor-
mance equal to the best single-CPU PC while
simultaneously adding 8,000 GB of storage.
Ready-made consumer solutions could cost
that much without any storage and six times
less performance. As with just about anything,
many pretty pennies can be saved by taking
care of the work yourself. Setting up a server
can save your data, reduce load on your central
PC, and let you build your own cloud, but the
jump from one PC to two may prove to be too
much work for the faint of heart.

Sophomore Leadership Retreat exceeds expectations

Yusra Saxhan
TECHNEWS WRITER

This year was my second time at-
tending the Sophomore Leadership Retreat
and it beat all my expectations. I was pushed to
challenge myself and I tepidly inched into ac-
tivities that I was unfamiliar with. Usually, I try
my best to stay in my comfort zone but, much
like the majority of the students that attend the
retreat, I slowly began to feel comfortable with
the idea of taking risks and moving into my
learning zone.

The excitement began to build Fri-
day afternoon after class ended. I packed my
bags, and before I knew it, it was time to head
to Michigan. The retreat began with some in-
teresting ice breakers that entailed lots of high-
fives, a few dance moves, and tons of laughs.
Most of us saw faces that we weren’t familiar
with and in a few minutes, our networks grew
to encompass a multitude of classmates who
very quickly became our friends.

The very next morning, breakfast
was served and then we were all assigned to
groups to begin a series of team building ac-
tivities called Team Olympics. It was raining,
but that didn’t stop anyone from having fun. In
fact, in my opinion, the rain added an exhila—
rating aspect to the Team Olympics because all
of the equipment was slippery, which made the
activities a little trickier. When we began the
Team Olympics, my team, Shia Labeouf, con-
sisted of an accumulation of individuals, but
by the end of the Team Olympics, we defined
the term “team.” It didn’t take long for us to get

 

 

close, literally and figuratively, as the activities
required us to overcome our insecurities and
pull together.

It’s crucial to note that the Team
Olympics was the perfect prelude to the low
ropes course and the Life Mapping activity in
which we ‘mapped’ out our lives by writing
about our hopes, aspirations, values, and lega-
cies. I didn’t expect this activity to become inti—
mate, but again, my expectations were topped.
While my team discussed what we wrote dur-
ing the activity, I realized how much I appreci-
ated each of my team members because they
were all such amazing individuals who had
overcome overwhelming hardships. Each of us
had a unique story and we all paint these sto-
ries with different variations and hues of color.
The diversity, and at the same time, common-
ality that was shared among my group mem-
bers proves that we’re all different, and yet,
we’re all the same: human.

After Life Mapping, I embraced the
high ropes course. Of course, when I say ‘em<
brace’ what I actually mean is chickened out
for the first 10 minutes on the course. Before
climbing to the top of the high ropes course,
we were all briefed on how to transfer from
one element, or obstacle, of the course to an-
other and then we were told to pick a partner. I
cannot express how thankful I was to have had
a partner who forced me to complete the ob—
stacle course. To be completely honest, as soon
as I climbed to the top of the course, I looked
at my partner and said, “Would you be mad
if I backed out right now because this is too
high for me?” My partner looked at me with

  

a straight face and said, “Yusra, trust me; you
can do this and you’re going to do this so just
don’t look down, okay?” At that point, I knew
there was no turning back and I let my part—
ner lead the way. The results? An astronomical
feeling of accomplishment! I was so glad that
I was given the chance to take a safe and cal-
culated risk because this opportunity is usually
not available in our day-to-day lives. As fun as
the high ropes course was, it was exhausting
and I was ready for some dinner and a relaxed
game night. I fell asleep in anticipation of the
next day of activities.

By 7:30 the following morning, ev—
eryone was up and ready to go. My team was
scheduled for organic farming on Sunday
morning. Yellow beans, purple beans, purple
carrots, goats, and garlic were just a few of the
things we saw at the organic farm. As my team
members painted buckets that will be used to
collect crops, I volunteered to dice the cucum-
bers that were used to make veggie dip. We all
shared memories related to food as we headed
back to the lake front to kayak and canoe. Once
we reached the lake, everyone picked a canoe
or a kayak and we headed out into the water.
It was so relaxing to look out onto the lake
while canoeing and realize that we live in such
a big world. Sometimes, when we’re caught up
with our academics and extracurricular activi-
ties, we forget that our problems are really tiny
when they’re put into perspective.

As soon as we were finished kayak-
ing and canoeing, we were back in the water
for the boat building activity. Every team was
required to develop and advertise a boat made

  

of cardboard and tape. The commercial for ev-
ery boat was hilarious and it highlighted the
great amount of creativity that IIT students
have. The best memories I shared with my
team were made while we built our boat be-
cause it was intriguing to see all of our back-
grounds come together to contribute to the
best engineering feat that hit the water. It was
really a good time to take a step back and think
about the culmination of every team’s efforts
and to realize how close we had become in
such a short amount of time. Before we knew
it, it was over and we were on the buses head-
ing back to campus.

The chance to visit Michigan to par—
ticipate in the Sophomore Leadership Retreat
was such a blessing and, if you were on team
Shia Labeouf and you’re reading this, I just
want you to know how awesome you are. For
any second year students that didn’t attend the
Sophomore Leadership Retreat in August, do
not pass up another opportunity to attend the
retreat in October by visiting the Leadership
Academy website. The memories we made to—
gether will last forever because the Sophomore
Leadership Retreat was definitely one of the
most memorable events of my college career.
One thing that, I think, everyone was able to
take back with them was new connections. You
probably know what I mean when I say this,
because I’m sure you see familiar faces from
the retreat when you’re on campus and going
about your day-to-day activities. If you see me
on campus, don’t be afraid to walk up to me
and say “Hi” because if you don’t, I will!

 

 

Photos courtesy of II T Leadership Academy