R2-D2 Monitors Your Web Servers

1sockchuck writes "What happens when you hire Star Wars enthusiasts as the system admins for your data center? You end up with the R2-D2 server monitoring system. The staff at Japan's Syun (only if you read Japanese) have converted an R2-D2 DVD projector into a Nagios-based server monitoring system that alerts them whenever a server goes offline." Say what you will, but that's a lot harder to ignore than a beeper.

George

[Anonymous Coward]

is going to sue.

Re:

[The MAZZTer]

I was under the impression those DVD players were licensed?

Re:

[Gription]

I was just disappointed that it didn't bounce up and down while making all the wound up R2-D2 sounds.
It was more like R2-D2 kicking back...


(maybe some smoke coming out?)

Re:George

[dunnius]

is going to sue.

It looks like we may finally see the Chewbacca defense used in court for real!

Re:

[Provocateur]

Especially if you have a first name like Sosumi.

j/k

Link to the Youtube Video

[Anonymous Coward]

The site is getting hammered by slashdot but the entire article is basically just this youtube video so go here if and when the site dies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15rUkIJ25EE

Re:

[isorox]

The site is getting hammered by slashdot

No problem, C3P0 will say "we're doomed", and R2D2 will get on and fix it with some quality network cables [slashdot.org]

Re:

[commodoresloat]

The site is getting hammered by slashdot

Isn't R2-D2 sorting out all the extra traffic?

Re:

[luder]

By now he went nuts and zapped the whole team.

Re:

[RiotingPacifist]

Couldnt help but laugh when he lists all his linux configurations and then says all the hardware was won in a vista competition.

Cant help but think they should have gone a few further tho.
1) remove the R2-D2 software and replace with linux
2) upgrade the motors in the R2D2 to make him fast
3) replace the crappy projector with a holographic one (may require inventing of small portable holographic projectors)
& replace warning video with princess Leia starting clip
4) get R2 to show you the fault
5) profit

but

Obligatory Joke:

[DarkMage0707077]

Help me, DBA Server Geek...
You're my only hope.

Re:Obligatory Joke:

[Zosden]

I fear the day when my server turns to me and says I am your father.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

"Admin, who's your daddy?" WHAP!

Admin: cringe.

Server: "Damn right, you pasty-faced geek!"

Geek family

[DrYak]

Given how geekdom runs in family, I bet half of the /.ers have been born in a server room. I *actually* was.

(Printout listings make a comfortable bed, apparently)

Unrealistic!

[tumutbound]

Have you ever seen a network administrator RUN to fix a problem? I think not.

Re:Unrealistic!

[eln]

Well, not before they've spent 6 hours saying "the switch is configured just fine, it must be a server problem" first.

Re:Unrealistic!

[BSAtHome]

Sure we pretend to be busy so that it looks like we are genius. A network admin that needs to run has done a bad job at establishing redundancy. So, not on my shift.

Re:

[aarggh]

If all us admins took 2 minutes to fix a 2 minute problem, that would just serve to place unrealistic expectations that all problems require a 2 minute fix, thus leading to tears and suffering when a big problem occurs. And the user would probably also get upset!

I know of one guy here who has made a career out of looking busy walking around with a piece of paper while every 2 minute job takes AT LEAST a week! True! Unfortunately for us he is a moron, albeit a highly paid moron.

Re:

[bobbozzo]

I know of one guy here who has made a career out of looking busy walking around with a piece of paper while every 2 minute job takes AT LEAST a week! True! Unfortunately for us he is a moron, albeit a highly paid moron.

You found Wally?!?

Re:

[mollymoo]

I know of one guy here who has made a career out of looking busy walking around with a piece of paper while every 2 minute job takes AT LEAST a week!

You're not alone, most of us have managers.

Re:

[s0litaire]

It was their Bit Torrent line that was cut :)

Re:

[thewils]

Yeah, and most of 'em couldn't fit between the server racks shown in the video, either.

Re:

[njdube]

"Have you ever seen a American network administrator RUN to fix a problem? I think not." There, fixed that for you. ;-)

Beep beep bloop beep bloop blip blip

[Haoie]

Sigh, it was funnier in the movies.

These are not the droids your looking for

[madcat2c]

These are not the droids your looking for.

Re:

[Tink2000]

Those are not the mod points you are looking for.
You don't need to use that contraction here.

and the option is ?

[Kingston]

What happens when you hire Star Wars enthusiasts as the system admins for your data center?

What, there is a different type of sysadmin we don't know about ?

Re:

[badboy_tw2002]

Exactly! First thing that ran through my head was "Uh...the same thing that happens when you hire any sysadmin?"

Re:

[RiotingPacifist]

yeah some of us dont even have severs to run so we just sit on slashdot all day and post stupid comments.

Re:

[H0D_G]

...yet you post on slashdot, on a story about star wars? whilst being completely uninterested?

R2-D2

[eulernet]

And what monitors R2-D2 ?

Re:R2-D2

[cstdenis]

C-3PO of course.

Re:

[Architect_sasyr]

3CPU you dolt

For reference to all you young-un's Unix Wars [area.com]

God that makes me feel old.

Re:

[Suzuran]

I think you mean DEC WARS [bsd.org].

Hard to ignore

[Chris Burke]

Say what you will, but that's a lot harder to ignore than a beeper.

Yeah, but it's not as hard to ignore as the Chewbacca Server Monitor, who comes in and rips your arms off if you don't fix the problem.

Re:

[Suzuran]

Sounds like my boss.

Re:Hard to ignore

[Suzuran]

Spells like my boss too.

Re:

[bill_mcgonigle]

Damn, that's the funniest thing I've read on Slashdot this year. Kudos.

My friends are building something like this, Robob

[MRe_nl]

from their website http://www.robob.nl/ [robob.nl]

Robob is a robot that can be controlled trough the internet. By logging in, Robob becomes your physical avatar. Robob can be disguised as anything: a puppet on a bar chair or a hitchhiking Furby.

Robob is a telepresence project. It works by adding speech and recognizable humanoid features to a webcam. By optimizing the web interface it becomes possible to put your soul in Robob. You are Robob.

In the future we want to make a Robob network. The aim is to make it possible

Re:

[thatnerdguy]

You couldn't have chosen a better name perhaps? RoBob reminds me of Microsoft Bob [wikipedia.org].

let me know when...

[imneverwrong]

...I can get one that will go on site, and zap the (l)user if the problem does, in fact, exist BCAK. And then set their cubicle on fire using its tiny rockets.

Scotty + PC projectors = NOPs room

[Colin Smith]

Very cool bit of kit, shame it seems to be dead now. Highly scriptable too.
 

Cute

[Anonymous Coward]

Meesa bein' muy muy worried about da servers.

That's nice and everything, but...

[Dogtanian]

...what'd *really* be cool would be a Dalek server.

Provided it was capable of saying "Exterminate" in a harsh metallic voice and had real death rays for those troublesome cases of PEBKAC.

Actually, forget the server bit, you just want a Dalek, full stop.

Re:That's nice and everything, but...

[Gazzonyx]

But what if the admins are upstairs? However would a Dalek get up there?!

Re:

[bobbozzo]

Daleks don't climb stairs; they level the building!

Re:

[mqsoh]

Fly!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAT2RMOpWLE [youtube.com]

Very pretty

[caller9]

The only problem I see is that it would take a while for the projector to warm up.

Now if they made this thing capable of walking up and using a telescoping robotic arm to replace the cable, then they would have something. VPN from 200 miles away and direct this thing to do physical layer stuff for you. That would be awesome.

Still pretty nifty in a dog-and-pony show way.

Server trouble with robots = fun?

[Tychon]

My Japanese-fu is weak, but near the bottom of the original Japanese article: "Thanks to this [R2D2], we have become able to happily look forward to the occurrence of server trouble."

What? I don't care if you destroy Alderaan every time an error occurs, I will not happily look forward to it. Also, is it just me or is Japan the only country that will legitimately allow a business news posting to have smilies in it?

Why not?

[PPH]

C3PO is running marketing.

When I have server problems...

[CompMD]

My workstation loudly plays various audio clips and emails me the status from the syslog server.

Power issues: "I just canna dooooo it captain, I just DON'T HAVE THE POWERRRRR!" (spoken as Scotty)
Load average on any server reaching 15 times the number of CPUs:: "Shut 'er down, Clancy! She's pumpin' mud!" (Spoken with an Oklahoman twang)
User reaching disk quota: " [username, pulled from voicemail system] is looking at porn!" (my voice)
Overheating: "Coolant Leak! Coolant leak, everybody! We need to eject th

Nice.

[RustinHWright]

Almost makes me wish I were still a sysadmin and still had server alerts to set up that way. Almost.

Revenge of the Jedi?

[bchabot]

Was I the only one who noticed that when explaining the system, at 00:50-01:02 in the video, the translation reads: "These are purchased by a prize of the Windows Vista gadgets competition"?

So, the prize money from a Windows competition went to buy a Linux box, R2-D2 projector, etc?

Love it.

So in other words, it's not 3-d?

[ryanchappell]

So in other words, it's not 3-d?