Why a Quadra 605?
Dana Sibera (madwoman with a mac)
15th May,2002

Choosing a web server probably isn't something most web users do. I don't mean merely selecting a provider for hosting services, or going with an ISP's default homepage, but physically choosing a machine to do the work of serving pages out to the world. It's usually a task reserved for the server admins (or people close to them) of the world. These people are paid good money to pick the fastest, most reliable equipment for a specific job. Second rate machinery isn't going to get a look-in - after all, a business and it's employees depend on a running system that brings revenue.

So what's happening here? I belong to another group who do the same job, but without the earning to go alongside. As a hobbyist who's taken an interest to running her own site, on hardware I own, and have full control over I too get the choice of picking just what I want running the show. Obviously I've picked a Quadra 605 - a fairly small mid-level Macintosh when it was released in 1993 the Quadra is by no means a powerhouse. Indeed, out of the Quadra range it's one of the weakest models. Powered by a 25Mhz LC version of Motorola's 68040 CPU, it had no FPU. Accessing the internals is a task best described as beyond simple - 2 clips at the rear lift the entire top from the machine exposing all the internals. This is managed so easily because there isn't a great deal in there. One RAM expansion slot to carry a 72 pin SIMM, one expansion slot, and 2 VRAM slots - which can take the video ram to a staggering 1Mb.

I still haven't answered the question of why. It's an old hardware thing. The closest parallel I think I can bring to it is to look at drag racers. There are restrictions and rules to build around, while trying to pull the best performance from what you have - I used to be the typical gearhead, following the stories of which racer is doing what this season, what they're racing in, and the strategies they're using to win. It's about getting the most possible out of the limitations given. If drag racing were simply all about going as fast as possible as... well, as fast as possible, then nobody would be using piston driven engines with wheels. Racers would be riding horizontal rockets, or massive rail guns and the like. My web server is the same, I work within the set of limitations I've imposed on myself. Stemming from my interest in 68k processors, aesthetic design and macs, I chose a Quadra. I like Unix style OS's, so I chose Linux. I'm a masochist who loves stretching everything I can out of the least-capable looking equipment, so a 605 was the only choice for me.

I can't let an article about Quadra 605s go by without touching on the aesthetics. I simply adore the design. It's so purely clean, flat, and slim. There's no excess design, it's all function from the front panel carrying it's ID to the single buttonless floppy insert. 4 clean round feet to keep it high enough off a desk for the intake fan to pull cool in. It all just works for me, and I'm sure to a non-mac addict it's like explaining love for the colour purple. It just is.

Back to the hardware, it's not all stock-605 inside. As one of my first hacks on a working mac, I overclocked this one from the original 25Mhz to 33, by resoldering the set of resistors used to set the Clock Generator. A spare 32mb SIMM goes in place for 36Mb ram, and a full FPU capable 68040 was swapped in. Along with the clock speed increase and FPU came a much greater heat output, so I've clipped a heatsink on top. Combined with a fan running upside down to pull air up into the case (in this design, it makes an incredible difference) the stock 270mb HD and an Apple RJ-45 ethernet card, I have the server I wanted.

Before becoming a server this 605 served as a play-with-linux machine. I'd installed Debian Linux a few months before setting everything to work on the web, and covered THAT exponential learning curve thoroughly. There's nothing like learning a new and not-so-familiar OS to keep you awake nights in a row!. On top of Linux runs Apache 1.3.9. It's all part of the appeal knowing there's very little separating this tiny server from many of the massive systems serving any number of sites worldwide - Linux and Apache.

Where to next? Extending the abilities of my page. Angela (she's a girl) has been serving for over a month now and done a fine job, keeping up well with dozens of requests a minute after I've posted comments on slashdot, happily ticking away. I've recently installed PHP4, and learned enough of the language to add a few pieces of interactivity in places. Next up will be MySQL and a little more organisation of the site. I plan to write more - what better way to present my articles than the way it -should- be done. Dynamically generated pages, a consistent interface and a very cute, awfully pattable Quadra.

If you have suggestions on improving this site/server/etc, or have done something similar, feel free to email me. Various rants about Quadra obsessions are most welcome :)