Via Cable

Via Cable Collage

Since 2002, I have operated this web server on a continuous basis via a cable-broadband internet connection.

Cable Modem

A Motorola SB5100 cable modem is used as the internet gateway. The job of the modem is to limit traffic and bridge between the Cat5 ethernet network and the cable company's coaxial cable.

NAT Router

Since the cable connection is shared with other users, a NAT router allows the cable connection's single IP address to be shared among all of them. A port forward is used to relay web server traffic to the proper location.

Web Server

After being passed through the NAT router, your request travels via twisted-pair ethernet cable to the web server. The web server, called Andreas, is a modest AMD Athlon system running Debian GNU/Linux version 4.0. Apache is the web server software.

AMD Athlon 1800 (1250 MHz)
512 MiB RAM
80 GiB hard drive
10/100 Mb/s ethernet
Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 Operating System
Apache 2.x
PHP 5
MySQL 5

Power Supply

The server is connected to an APC BACK-UPS ES 500 uninterruptable power supply, which is battery-backup unit. The battery will supply the server with backup power in the event of a brief power outage to prevent reboots. In case of a long-term outage, the UPS will not supply the server with enough energy to continue operating. In the case of a long outage, the UPS will shut down the server and the site would be unavailable anyways due to the reliance of the cable TV system on amplifiers which are powered from the grid.

The State of Pennsylvania has the ability to produce over 45,000 megawatts of electrical power from its fleet of coal and nuclear power stations, and we enjoy an incredibly stable supply of power but at the cost of dirty air, polluted water, radioactive waste needing treatment/disposal, and the consequence of being responsible for 1% of global carbon dioxide emissions while housing only 0.002% of the world's population.

Energy Supply

Unfortunately, the electricity powering this site still comes mostly from coal-burning industrial power stations, as does 40% of the electrical power generated worldwide. The prime supplier of electrical energy to our local grid is the Sunbury Generation power plant in Shamokin Dam, PA, USA. The Sunbury Generation plant burns bituminous and waste anthracite coal to produce heat in boilers. The heat is used to boil water to make steam, which drives steam turbines, which in turn rotate generators to create electrical power.

Sunbury Power Station
THE SUPPLIER OF ELECTRICAL POWER