Bastet 

Bastet is our backup host. Bastet is a Sun SPARCstation 5, running Debian GNU/Linux for the SPARC. The CPU runs at 110 MHz, has 256 Mb of memory and the usual assortment of SCA, SCSI and Ethernet ports that come with every SPARCstation. Backups are done over the network, handled by Amanda. Dumps are stored on 8mm 112m tapes using an Exabyte 8250C tape drive (SCSI, of course). Handling backups is taxing work, but it only lasts for two hours every couple of days. So, Bastet doubles as the LAN's database server, running MySQL and supporting a number of databases.

Bastet is one of the Khemetic (ancient Egyptian) moon goddesses. The name itself is apparently wrong, the ‘right’ one being Bast. The Bast cartouche has a female image, a vase (bas) and a pair of loaves of bread. These were the the preferred offerings to the goddess. The loaf shape represents ‘t’ in phonetic Egyptian, so bas-t-t ends up being mispronounced Bastet. Still, I like the sound. The name ‘Bast’ itself means the ‘tearer’. Bast is the cat goddess, but she has a dangerous side: she has the Utchat (eye of Ra), making her a holy avenger. Later, she was toned down to a family goddess.

Change Log

2002-09-20

Following the last ever AISB old kit give-away, Bastet now has 256 Mb of RAM, but the Exabyte tape drive has started acting up. Either that, or Sony tapes are worthless. Considering recent evidence, I'm inclined to believe the latter.