[news.sysadmin] ncoast is living on borrowed time; or, HELP!!!

system@ncoast.UUCP (North Coast Computer Resources) (09/18/88)

As some of you may be aware, ncoast blew its third CPU board in two years over
Labor Day weekend.  We got ncoast running again on a borrowed CPU board on 
Sunday the 11th; but we must return it in a month, and until then we are 
trying to be careful with it.  In the meantime, we *must* get off the current 
hardware; after the "loaner" CPU is sent back, the Plexus is history.

Needless to say, we need HELP!  And fast!

We are looking for any or all of the following:

* Corporate sponsorship.  Very much preferred from our standpoint.

* Donations of hardware and equipment.

* Donations of money to purchase equipment and/or phone lines.

* Pointers to any or all of the above.

Ncoast, in addition to being the home base for comp.sources.misc (and badly in 
need of archive space for same), is the de-facto "backbone" for northern Ohio 
and Pennsylvania.  It also provides a service to local users, including some 
companies such as BP America.  However, to date it has done so out of the 
pockets of its owners, who cannot continue the expenditures and cannot afford 
to repair, upgrade, or replace our current hardware.  We are instituting a 
system of usage fees, but this will not be of help in the current situation.  
In order to continue operating we need to replace our current system with one 
that can better handle current and future loads; and, preferably, one with 
better designed ventilation, or at least cooler-running cache memory (the 
problem that has destroyed three CPU boards so far).

If you are willing to help us with this or know of someone who might be, 
please send mail to "uunet!marque!ncoast!system" or 
"system%ncoast.UUCP@hal.CWRU.EDU".

Thank you in advance for all your help.

North Coast Computer Resources
Cleveland Public Access UN*X (ncoast) System Administration Group

Rich Garrett
Bob Weinberg
Brandon Allbery