OMG I love this. I have so many questions. What are the rules? How much does a server weigh? Are the servers shared between throws? What do they do about damage for the next thrower? Are they using different “standard” configs or weights depending on ability level? Etc…
I wonder what the optimum server is. Naively I think a 1U is better since its lighter, maybe a supermicro/odm build since all the fat has been cut away.
But there is the question of balance too. Often on your typical dell the weight is concentrated at the back on one side because of the PSUs.
And what is the best throwing technique? For a 1U full depth server I think Id want to try a frisbee or discus style throw, but that would require a lot of grip strength.
Are there different classes? Perhaps there should be a caber-toss style event for those 13U servers you get with the vertical line cards, and a two person event for yeeting those really big routers.
What about blade servers. The server is just a card that slides into the larger chassis/frame. So, is the server the whole chassis, but wouldn't that mean you a multiplier for how many are being thrown? Or is it just the card?
My sense is a 2U, with those solid handles on the side will allow you to yeet it hammer-throw style. You'll have excellent grip, and the slightly thicker body might cancel out any weird aerodynamics.
Guess blade servers are the meta, probably with a shot put (I believe this is the English name) style technique. They should be a bit less awkwardly shaped.
Though with ML the new hotness they should throw those servers, something with 2 Epycs and 4 H100 perhaps...
I would go for a 1u with redundant PSUs on each sides and with 4 hard drives in the front (the spinning kind, not those fancy nmve thingy) to counterbalance the PSUs.It should be pretty well balanced without being too heavy or big to handle.
Of course the only way to know for sure is to try, any donors ?
> Up to 40 server-throwing athletes will show their raw power
So this is by hand, right, as in humans throwing servers?
As opposed to using slingshots, catapults, trebuchets, etc. like in punkin chunkin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punkin_chunkin), which would also be interesting and might require a different strategy due to blade servers' aerodynamic properties.
I mean all that code still runs on servers in a data center. “Serverless” really just means “stateless”. You can just huck the servers they use for your service.
I used to take part in a similar event at a lan party in my youth, with dead hard drives instead of servers. They're the perfect discus. Distance was recorded by where the hard drive stopped instead of where it first landed, so underarm bowling became the top strategy. I think the record was well over 200m using one of those round seagate pocket drives.
As a former discus thrower, I love this but also want to say it is beyond unlikely that anyone was throwing anything 200m, unless you mean down a sheer mountain face...
Sorry for the confusion, I meant that because the measure was from where the disk stopped (instead of where it lands), people were bowling the disks along the ground so they 'rolled' on their corners. Think ten-pin bowling instead of discus.
Sorry, dude. It's impossible. No one can roll a ball on grass for that distance let alone a hard drive. Most professional athletes can't even kick a ball for more than 100m, let alone "well over 200m"
I wonder how odd I am about these things. Due to the environment I grew up in, anger is something I struggle to deal with in a healthy manner. It has taken a long time to learn. When I was young I would not think twice about this kind of thing and find it fun. As I get older i do not find that I enjoy it. In fact its a little bit off putting. Watching groups of humans cheer for the destruction of something they are angry at. Something about it hits wrong in my old age.
I mean, I understand that the economics are there for those servers to be thrown away, and maybe all of these that are thrown away are actually broken. But we're talking about a good amount of waste here, in an industry that's not particularly famous for its environmental-friendliness. Making a spectacle/joke of it feels completely out of place. Ugh.
Reminds me of a rumor in the first dotcom boom, where it was said that Larry Ellison would do 'laptop clay pidgeon shooting' from his yacht(s). He allegedly would have entire pallets of laptops carted onto the ships, take it out to open water, have some sort of contraption launch the laptops over sea and guests would shoot at them like you would at clay pidgeons. Seemed to be too outrageous to be true, but at the time (if I recall correctly) there were pictures of the setup on the boat. But this would have been 25 years ago, maybe I'm misremembering. I did a quick google but nothing obvious shows up. Anyway recall this?
This is crazy. Brings back a vivid memory from y2k when I was ten, how I was very sad after looking at a $5000 laptop behind a shop window. I had a reference for $5000 in my head, because we have then just sold our apartment for the same amount, before leaving the country for the West. I was absolutely certain that neither I nor my parents would ever be able to afford it.
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[ 0.17 ms ] story [ 152 ms ] threadBut there is the question of balance too. Often on your typical dell the weight is concentrated at the back on one side because of the PSUs.
And what is the best throwing technique? For a 1U full depth server I think Id want to try a frisbee or discus style throw, but that would require a lot of grip strength.
Are there different classes? Perhaps there should be a caber-toss style event for those 13U servers you get with the vertical line cards, and a two person event for yeeting those really big routers.
Gloves to stop the finger shredding at a minimum.
Cleats on the feet for grip and maybe forearm protection.
Skin tight Lycra everywhere else so that clothing doesn’t get caught, but also to accentuate the figure of the system administrator.
https://xkcd.com/705/
I envision a hammer throw, though I feel like a server thrown that way could be extremely dangerous.
Though with ML the new hotness they should throw those servers, something with 2 Epycs and 4 H100 perhaps...
https://youtu.be/VS-dL81ArkA
So this is by hand, right, as in humans throwing servers?
As opposed to using slingshots, catapults, trebuchets, etc. like in punkin chunkin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punkin_chunkin), which would also be interesting and might require a different strategy due to blade servers' aerodynamic properties.
Here's mine - "Javelinux" - attempting to spear a distant stuffed penguin toy.
Yes, it was a grass surface, but not lush grass - more closely mown and patchy, on hard soil.
Curious to see the shot put equivalent - old UPS units nestled into ones neck before launch?
As far as I’m concerned it’s because throwing absurdly heavy -but still recognizable- objects is funny.
I mean, I understand that the economics are there for those servers to be thrown away, and maybe all of these that are thrown away are actually broken. But we're talking about a good amount of waste here, in an industry that's not particularly famous for its environmental-friendliness. Making a spectacle/joke of it feels completely out of place. Ugh.