Thursday 9 June 2016

Operation Cassandra, Phase 1: Computing Equipment

I've made some progress on Operation Cassandra. The original plan was to embark upon the various phases of the operation in sequential order, but that's kind of fallen apart. Still, the phases help to keep the tasks somewhat organized.

The first phase is squaring away my existing computing equipment. In addition to two legacy Dell laptops, I've had a number of additional bits and pieces laying around, and those needed some attention. The plan has been as follows:

1. Check the functionality of an old laptop hard drive - After an old Rocketfish hard drive enclosure bit the dust, I bought an Inateck USB 3.0 2.5 Inch & 3.5 Inch Aluminum Hard Disk Drive External Enclosure to check the functionality of an old laptop hard drive. It didn't work, but I may give it another go at a later date.
2. Check the functionality of an old desktop hard drive - I used the same Inateck hard drive enclosure to test this hard drive, which is still functional.
3. Check the functionality of an old desktop hard drive - This was a different hard drive from my mother's old desktop computer. Not only was it still functional, but I was amazed to find that it had no malware on it.
4. Clear files and defragment both laptops - I've basically cleared the files, which feeds into Phase 2, but I haven't defragged them yet. 5. Optimize black laptop for OSGEOINT and podcasting use - After Operation Irene, my open source geospatial intelligence laptop sort of became my primary workstation. I want to clear some of the stuff that's accumulated (a lot of it has already been cleared) and optimize it for Phase 4 (Raspberry Pi GSS) and Phase 5 (Geospatial Information Systems) work, as well as podcasting.
6. Optimize green laptop for use as file server - I saw an article (Turn an Old Computer into a Networked Backup, Streaming, or Torrenting Machine with NAS4Free). Once I'm able to get a fresh laptop, I'd like to try my hand at turning my second laptop into a Network Area Storage.

Work continues. More to come.