Good news! After the last post, I spend some "quality time" with my modem and terminal program getting deeper into the Net than I usually go. It took a bit of effort, but I've found one of my old systems still running. The log files indicate some interruptions, but I had set up the system to recover gracefully from various types of failures. There's not much activity on the system, as shown by the log files. It doesn't really look like the people that worked for the company that owns the system survived the Problem. But it's a good place to set up the mail system for these postings. There's plenty of data space, and the system's connection to the Net seems pretty stable.
It will be a good place to set up my first mail system, and I can use it to jump around the Net into other systems for backup mail systems.
The operators of the system don't seem to be around. I don't see any root user activity like I'd see if things were normal. This system was at a fairly remote physical location (I don't think I should tell you where it is), and had good physical security. And it was built for a lean operation. It could go on doing its job unattended for a long time, which I guess it is still doing.
All it needs is power....electricity. I recall it having a good connection to the power grid, and a high priority on the 'keep power on' list. Even though the physical location of the site is remote, its power grid 'location' is pretty near a reliable source. Even so, I think that I have to keep its description pretty generic. Not just for obvious reasons, but because it's the first system I've found. I've got to get this one set up first, and then find some more systems for backup purposes and get them set up. Once that is done, I can tell you the mailing address so that we can start communicating.
But I wanted to get this post up there so that you knew I had a bit of success. I've found this one system, and I'll start working on getting it set up. Then I'll have it look for some other systems, and I'll get it set up. Once I get three or four systems set up, I'll tell you.
When they are set up, I'll be able to post a bit more regularly. For right now, I'll be working on the mail systems setup. Not too much detail on that process, because I suspect that you'd like to hear a bit more of the story about the Problem. I'll start that in the next post.