LAN XXVIII Wash up List

[TeaLeaf]

Copied idea from Toby's post last time.

• Pre-ordering of steaks to be done for LAN XXIX and future LANs.  We'll be able to increase the range of steaks (e.g. porterhouse, ribeye too) and guarantee availability.   The chef is still a cock though.
• Switches seemed to perform admirably.  Only one played up which I am told by Lib was due to the router presuming we were under a DDOS.   Once DDOS protection was turned off on router the switch seemed to be fine.  Toby, can you confirm?
• How many ports were reported as faulty?
• Define plan for switch replacement if required, timescale is 'by LAN XXX'.
• Keg for the Black Cherry Mild needs to be sent back to Sussex (it was not quite finished when we left, perhaps <10 pints in it).  We need to get someone to get it south, even if we have to do it in a series of legs where we 'pass the keg' and gradually work our way towards Sussex.
• Awards - who and what were they?  Did I miss them or do we need to sort now and who has the trophies right now (Helping Hand in particular).
• Minutes to be posted to Council (Penfold) for action
• Rob's been advised about the slowness in the kitchen on Saturday lunchtime and Saturday night, he has said that this should not happen and we'll keep an eye on it for next time.
• LAN tables - we're seeing more and more bend and some of the systems being brought along are really testing their weight limits imo.    I think we need to (a) mention this to the hotel as we had one collapse where the leg was not properly locked and (b) consider bringing in a rule that all PC cases need to be under the table and not on top.  A rule change like this would also help accommodate the ever bigger and wider monitors that we are seeing.   Interestingly, if PC cases were under the table then DZ's 34" wide screen would not be a problem as two would fit side by side with a few inches to spare.

[smilodon]

I might be able to help with the keg, at least part of the way. Maybe my area NW London/Hertfordshire to the brewery. The solution to the desk problem sounds like a winner. Some of the desks looked very loaded and those tables have seen better days.

[OldBloke]

For the little we used it I thought it worked OK.

Competition wise, it was only used for CS:GO based games. L4D2 and TF2 were run from member's own rigs.

Outside of the comps it was only used for a late night run on Arma which also used the TS server.

The CS:GO/Deagle comps could, in theory, also be run from rigs but it's nice to have the server overseer (me) changing maps and restarting to order.  

So the big question is ... does it still have a place at the LAN?

[smilodon]

If we do decide to make future LAN's more 'interactive' i.e. online seating plan, competition sign up, team rosta's, results, announcements etc then having a central server to run them from seems useful. Then again I'm sure there is a lot of work involved, that I'm not qualified or clever enough to do, so the benefit received might not be worth the work required? If so and we can always run competitions from someone's PC then it does seem a bit redundant.

If some new game comes along that does require dedicated server software to run then we might have to think again. If we do want to keep a server rig on standby then I think the community should own it rather than expect to use Oldies personal desktop?

[Whitey]

If the Internet is as good as it was for this LAN then the online seating plan, sign up etc could easily be run from BA5.  It means that once configured it could be used from one LAN to the next without needing the LAN server.

[Penfold]

I'm all in favour of losing the LAN server.

I'll write up the minutes from Council and GS the post up with action points to those concerned.

Wherre is the keg currently?