Post by dxmax on Jun 7, 2022 12:50:10 GMT
I didn't know where to post this. If something isn't done to preserve the SETI@Home project early data, it is at risk of being lost forever.
Years of Early Alien-Hunting Data Are at Risk of Being Lost Forever
Years of Early Alien-Hunting Data Are at Risk of Being Lost Forever
...Now, more than 20 years later, the computer hardware that launched this epic quest is facing an unknown fate as either scraps in a salvage heap or, perhaps, a museum artifact. Eric Korpela, an astronomer and the director of SETI@home, announced that the obsolete Sun Enterprise series servers that initially linked the network were sent to Berkeley’s Excess and Salvage department, and that the Digital Linear Tape (DLT) tapes used to store the project’s first six years of data would likely be discarded as well, a development he called a “bittersweet milestone” in a recent post on the project’s forum.
“These machines are no longer made by a company that no longer exists and are running on an operating system that no longer exists,” Korpela said in a call.
“They served admirably for a decade or more,” he continued. “I think it’s kind of sad if they just fade into history without some evidence that they were there. We run through things so fast that they get lost unless we make a direct effort to save them.”
Since his post in March bidding farewell to the hardware, Korpela has fortunately received some interest in the items from the Large Scale Systems Museum in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. But their potential rescue is still far from assured, as they occupy a nebulous middle age for computing technology: Old enough to be defunct, but too young to be considered ancient digital artifacts.
“These machines are no longer made by a company that no longer exists and are running on an operating system that no longer exists,” Korpela said in a call.
“They served admirably for a decade or more,” he continued. “I think it’s kind of sad if they just fade into history without some evidence that they were there. We run through things so fast that they get lost unless we make a direct effort to save them.”
Since his post in March bidding farewell to the hardware, Korpela has fortunately received some interest in the items from the Large Scale Systems Museum in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. But their potential rescue is still far from assured, as they occupy a nebulous middle age for computing technology: Old enough to be defunct, but too young to be considered ancient digital artifacts.
