Classic Macs in the Intel Age

Upgraded Quadra a Great Server for Vintage Mac Networking

- 2008.05.21 - Tip Jar

My Turn is Low End Mac's column for reader-submitted articles. It's your turn to share your thoughts on all things Mac (or iPhone, iPod, etc.) and write for the Mac web. Email your submission to Dan Knight .

Time to pick up work on the Vintage Mac Network again - but a little different this time. I figured I'd make a series of article, writing about PowerBooks, compacts, and desktops in separate articles.

Centris 610

For now I'd like to talk about just one machine: The Quadra 610 server.

This baby is maxed nearly to the max with a PowerPC 601 upgrade, ethernet, a CD-ROM drive, 26 MB RAM (68 MB is the max), and, finally, an LCD monitor.

It primarily works as the server on my network, although I also use it for performing tasks just a bit too heavy for the 680x0 chips and, of course, web browsing.

You might wonder, "Is it really worth the effort and money to upgrade such an old machine?"

In my opinion, it is. With the PowerPC upgrade, this baby is as fast as Quadras get and never lets me down. I also wrote the first Vintage Mac Network article on it. (The Apple Design Keyboard is also really nice.)

Apple Design Keyboard

It fills many functions in my home: file server, print server, LocalTalk bridge, web browsing machine, writing machine . . . I could go on forever.

It's really useful, too : )

interior of Centris 610Anyway, if you happen to find one of these machines, consider buying it. It's a lot of fun seeing it grow from an old 68040 machine to a full-fledged PowerPC server.

Why use it as a server? Because it's silent. Because it's slim. Because this baby never gets above 95°F.

Finally, it's easy to upgrade. That case slips off very easily, and - unlike ye olde Compaq Deskpro 133 - the case is roomy. Sadly, there's only one NuBus slot (an optional feature).

Earlier I said, "Because it's slim." That's right. If you are running short on space, these are very nice servers. They use the "pizza box" case and fit almost everywhere. Remove the keyboard, mouse, and screen, and you've got yourself a headless server.

video, SCSI, and AAUI ports AAUI, serial, and ADB ports
Ports: DB-15 video, SCSI, AAUI for ethernet, 2 Apple serial, and 2 ADB ports.

Additionally, the port array on the back is big. Two ADB ports, which means one for keyboard and mouse and one for a joystick. (Very useful for vintage Mac gamers such as myself), and of course there's the standard DB15 video, SCSI port, printer port, and modem port - all packed into a slim, pretty little case.

If you have plans on networking your old Macs, this machine will make the perfect server.

Next time: the PowerBooks.

Editor's note: The photos accompanying this column are of a Centris 610 here at Low End Mac headquarters. The two models are physically identical, although the Q610 runs 25% faster.

Go to the index of articles by Carl Nygren.

Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject.

Join us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Google+, or subscribe to our RSS news feed

Today's Links

Recent Content

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Opinions expressed are those of their authors and may not reflect the opinion of Cobweb Publishing. Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all.
  Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2016 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Low End Mac, LowEndMac, and lowendmac.com are trademarks of Cobweb Publishing Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad, iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, Mac Pro, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
  Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it, and we don't share the information we have with others. For more details, see our Terms of Use.

Follow Low End Mac on Twitter
Join Low End Mac on Facebook

Page not found | Low End Mac

Well this is somewhat embarrassing, isn’t it?

It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Perhaps searching, or one of the links below, can help.

Recent Posts

Most Used Categories

Archives

Try looking in the monthly archives. :)

Tags

802.11g 802.11n 68030 68040 Apple April Fools clamshell iBook Classic Mac OS FireWire FireWire 400 G3 humor iBook iMac iMac G3 Intel iOS iPad iPhone LaserWriter Linux Mac MacBook Air Mac clones Mac mini Mac OS 9 macOS Sierra Mac OS X Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Microsoft OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard OS X 10.7 Lion OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion OS X 10.9 Mavericks OS X 10.10 Yosemite OS X 10.11 El Capitan Performa PowerBook PowerPC Rodney O. Lain SCSI Thunderbolt USB 1.1 USB 2.0
Page not found | Low End Mac

Well this is somewhat embarrassing, isn’t it?

It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Perhaps searching, or one of the links below, can help.

Recent Posts

Most Used Categories

Archives

Try looking in the monthly archives. :)

Tags

802.11g 802.11n 68030 68040 Apple April Fools clamshell iBook Classic Mac OS FireWire FireWire 400 G3 humor iBook iMac iMac G3 Intel iOS iPad iPhone LaserWriter Linux Mac MacBook Air Mac clones Mac mini Mac OS 9 macOS Sierra Mac OS X Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Microsoft OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard OS X 10.7 Lion OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion OS X 10.9 Mavericks OS X 10.10 Yosemite OS X 10.11 El Capitan Performa PowerBook PowerPC Rodney O. Lain SCSI Thunderbolt USB 1.1 USB 2.0

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
Cult of Mac
Shrine of Apple
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
The Vintage Mac Museum
Deal Brothers
DealMac
Mac2Sell
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End Mac FAQ

Affiliates

Amazon.com
The iTunes Store
PC Connection Express
Macgo Blu-ray Player
Parallels Desktop for Mac
eBay

Low End Mac's Amazon.com store

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact Page not found | Low End Mac

Well this is somewhat embarrassing, isn’t it?

It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Perhaps searching, or one of the links below, can help.

Recent Posts

Most Used Categories

Archives

Try looking in the monthly archives. :)

Tags

802.11g 802.11n 68030 68040 Apple April Fools clamshell iBook Classic Mac OS FireWire FireWire 400 G3 humor iBook iMac iMac G3 Intel iOS iPad iPhone LaserWriter Linux Mac MacBook Air Mac clones Mac mini Mac OS 9 macOS Sierra Mac OS X Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Microsoft OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard OS X 10.7 Lion OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion OS X 10.9 Mavericks OS X 10.10 Yosemite OS X 10.11 El Capitan Performa PowerBook PowerPC Rodney O. Lain SCSI Thunderbolt USB 1.1 USB 2.0
at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link