On March 27, you wrote:
> Thats not the major problem (At least not i Sweden, because here most small 
> houses actually got a 3-phase connector), the problem is heat and old 
> disks. I am running a number of old VAXen with some friends, and we 
> can do this since our old school lets us lend a basement with free 
> water and electricity...  We have 2 x 6kW of watercooled aircoolers, 
> and sometimes in the summers that isn't enough. Then you get the 
> drive problems, old disks dont like to be overheated... :-( 
> 
> But if anyone has any ideas on how to run a 8600 or something similar 
> at home, i would love to hear about it.

  The biggest thing is stay away from water-type chillers.  They may
work great for some people, but in my experience, they *suck*.  A few
months ago, I moved out of an apartment that had water-type air
conditioning.  I'd have the thermostat set as low as it'd go all
summer, and the temp in the apartment would never get below 90degF.

  At one point, in the summer, I wound up getting a small window air
conditioner.  The apartment builders knew their water systems sucked,
so they constructed the windows in such a way that it was impossible
to install window air conditioning units.  I made a ducting system out
of cardboard and tape, put the unit on the floor with a drain pipe,
and I was all set.

  I'm in a house now, with *real* (i.e. freon) air conditioning and
it's like a blizzard in here if I want it to be...even in the computer
room.  I love it!

  The biggest problem now is the power bills.  Last summer, I was
paying around $230/mo for power.  This summer I expect it to be closer
to $300/mo.  Yuck.


                         -Dave