Back in the day...

Feb 06, 2024

I got in a conversation the other day with a fellow computer forensics guy from the before times, back when we had to support so many different operating systems and hardware.

We talked about some of the really crazy stuff we used to have in our data centers. Did you know there was once a time when F-Response offered a subject for SCO Unix? I don't even know if SCO Unix is still around, but back in the day we had a couple of customers come calling and ask if we had support for SCO, so what's a fledgling start-up twenty years ago to do?

Photo by Kevin Woblick on Unsplash

Ebay.

Yes, back in the dark ages of Windows Vista and SCO Unix, we did exactly that, we went on Ebay and bought all kinds of old hardware and installation media. In our data center at one time we've had each of the following:

IBM AIX server

The beast had a warning label on the side that read "CAUTION: TWO PERSON LIFT." They weren't kidding. That really was a two-person lift server, and when it spun down its disks for the final time I couldn't help but feel a somber sense of duty when I handed it over to the recycle guys.

SGI O2 Workstation (Goblin Green no less)

This one was a fun acquisition. When I was in college, SGI machines were all over the place. In fact, Silicon Graphics used to send trucks out to the plaza for the nerdly-inclined to climb onboard and test out the hardware. It didn't hurt that their workstations had cool curves and exciting graphics (for the time). I was tickled pink to support SGI Irix, even if the number of requests for it never seemed to exceed zero.

The HPUX box

This one wasn't much to look at, and even harder to work with, but we had it, and for a time explored getting F-Response to run in HPUX. In the end, it proved more work than it was worth, but it was an interesting experience for sure.

Sun Sparcs!

Sun was the longest hold out in the non-intel based world of F-Response. In fact, we still have one today. Workhorse of a machine, it was a pain to develop in, but a solid performer hardware-wise. Sun Microsystems made things to last.

Why am I bringing all this up?

Well, mainly because it was fun to look back at the platforms we supported and why, and also to let you know that we try very hard to bring F-Response to the places it's needed.

Today, that's Windows, Linux, and Apple OSX. Where will it be in the future? I don't know, but if you've got something you'd like to request, let us know and we'll see what we can do.

Thanks!

Now, pardon me while I search ebay for a nice Commodore 64.

Warmest Regards,

M Shannon