Hardware
This page contains a range of hardware monitoring metrics and other data about each of the computers that I maintain. Almost all of this data is redacted on the public version of this web page, but I've added photographs and descriptions of each of the machines.
active machines
malorie
Active since
2019
Model
Home-built
SSH hostkey
ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 AAAAE2VjZHNhLXNoYTItbmlzdHAyNTYAAAAIbmlzdHAyNTYAAABBBIRlbIT28ZKEATgU78pzL2+eZJIkVMfDOllF+OcIGnHCk6xz3FMyA3IsWxxcWO3G1EkMUtqT7BtQE3pPFIsDacQ= root@malorie
SSH public key
ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIBd2r5pUA1tuN4q+yqnqFR8C4RI2AtUBpvAPPm/s6+2g 2019-11-28_malorie
Current workstation. It uses much less energy than any of my previous builds, and delegates a lot of work to intermittently-powered servers.
lyra
Active since
2018
Model
Lenovo ThinkPad X260
SSH hostkey
ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 AAAAE2VjZHNhLXNoYTItbmlzdHAyNTYAAAAIbmlzdHAyNTYAAABBBFqQ/yJCycbp1cj+GdxRZt0QgREsVDTP99G7L4BuXkLWSflX3qPb1Fvfh4fhiYLsODa39Dt9BxzdN/Wui499gL4= root@lyra
SSH public key
ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIM/0hC6s5TemNjx3EIF/Ro1gTVm4WaKQWerKas5EoSYq 2020-02-19_lyra
Current laptop.
red-water
Active since
2014
Model
Home-built
SSH hostkey
ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 AAAAE2VjZHNhLXNoYTItbmlzdHAyNTYAAAAIbmlzdHAyNTYAAABBBOz/IcP2sGeoFMTuMtHRj+KScBkkvqevSQwdUVgltR7pPetxtdTsdwagN4UjgC4r+aFiL26GYsGI9xBlI/OGUZ4= root@artemis
SSH public key
ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIAW2HMgDmV1hI3Bwc2YrJu2nWLWXuGWdAK5wq/gOjQdV 2020-02-19_red-water
This enourmous pink cube got me through most of my PhD. It used to be water-cooled and exceptionally powerful; I treated myself to the pink case to celebrate the end of my second Google internship. Over the years, it's become less necessary to have such a power-hungry machine switched on all the time, so I now use it for more specialized and intermittent services.
gurnard
Active since
2014
Model
Home-built
SSH hostkey
ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 AAAAE2VjZHNhLXNoYTItbmlzdHAyNTYAAAAIbmlzdHAyNTYAAABBBI/+MTeOwB31V4q7EYgfid07hp92+bpCZqASXyt5cPektqrGD//jPMFRisI+quJLlr1p574/OcrulzLB+T1v1iY= root@katrina
SSH public key
ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIKB74KwQS2tppSVXtd66pakUWoica5d0nkmLFG8Fplqq 2020-03-02_gurnard
gurnard once belonged to a postdoc at Queen Mary University of London, who absconded with it when he moved to UCL. I inherited it from him when he left to greener pastures; it's currently a server, using mostly scavenged parts. It still has the white QMUL CS department sticker on the front.
katrina
Active since
2010
Model
Home-built
SSH hostkey
ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 AAAAE2VjZHNhLXNoYTItbmlzdHAyNTYAAAAIbmlzdHAyNTYAAABBBNrQbGkAw55XFeyd6RX2jh62uDNphlhWSFwna/lB3yxdnXKThdfN9agodMS57e99P3Xf0Nytwb5t3QV5p65EQag= root@screwtape
SSH public key
ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIL9Dx7YMbK+lTk9mxCotM6eC32mTOWpMdCbhXy7iev+E 2020-09-27_katrina
This was the first PC I ever built! I was quite excited about installing and using Arch Linux on this machine, so I used a Dremel to cut a Tux logo out of the side of the case. I was unfortunately careless, and so the penguin is...upside-down. Tux is illuminated from behind, similar to the Apple logo on old Mac laptops, and I used yellow Quality Street candy wrappers to colour in the beak and feet. This machine was my workstation throughout my undergraduate days. It has fairly modest energy requirements, so I currently use it as a server.
inactive machines
aurora
Active
2014 – 2018
Model
Lenovo ThinkPad X230
SSH hostkey
SSH public key
I had bought myself a new Lenovo E540 before starting my PhD, which proved to be highly unsatisfactory. I put that machine's SSD into a second-hand X230, which served me well through most of my PhD. This was the last model of ThinkPad X-series to have the cherished prominent hinges, high-quality trackpad with physical buttons, and various other important features. Lenovo has been slowly ruining this series of laptops for years.
overtoom
Active
2012 – 2014
Model
Apple MacBook Air (13", mid 2012)
SSH hostkey
SSH public key
max
Active
2009 – 2012
Model
Apple MacBook Pro (17", late 2008)
SSH hostkey
SSH public key
This was the first MacBook Pro to have a unibody design, and the last major model to feature a matte screen. It was easy enough to disassemble that I was able to pull the screen out of the lid and colourize the Apple logo in the 1977 colours, using strips of Quality Street candy wrappers. There are stickers that can be applied to the glowing Apple logo to achieve a similar effect, but my version was invisible when the screen was switched off; the colours would magically appear when the screen's backlamp was illuminated.
nicollette
Active
2006 – 2010
Model
Apple iMac (20", late 2006)
SSH hostkey
SSH public key
This was the first computer I bought for myself.
PowerMac G4
Active
2004 – 2006
Model
Apple PowerMac G4
SSH hostkey
SSH public key
eMac G4
Active
2002 – 2005
Model
Apple eMac G4
SSH hostkey
SSH public key
iMac G3
Active
1999 – 2003
Model
Apple iMac G3 Tangerine
SSH hostkey
SSH public key