Meager Beginnings:
The machine known as Sphinx
was brought to life in the spring of 1996. It was originally a Compaq Presario 520 running Windows with a 486
DX/2-66 processor. In those days a DX/2-66 was a useful piece of machinery but it didn't take long for the instability
of Windows 95 to become annoying, so Sphinx was introduced to the world of Slackware
Linux. Back then Slackware was distributed as a group of 29 1.44 MB floppy images to be downloaded via
FTP. It took us ages to download all of the images via 14.4k modem, copy them onto floppies, weed out the
floppies with bad sectors, and get Linux installed. If I remember right, it was on the order of 2 weeks before we had
everything setup and configured.
Almost immediately friends and co-workers with accounts on Sphinx recognized the
merits of Linux. As a server, it was amazingly fast in comparison to Windows 95 and it seemed to run forever without
needing to be rebooted. Our hard work was paying off.
As times changed and technology advanced Sphinx was slowly upgraded to maintain
it's usefulness and keep up with the increasing number of users on it. Before we knew it Sphinx had over 200
users and was moving more than 10 gigs of web page and email data a day. So much data that we were wearing out our
welcome (free connection) at Oregon State University.
We needed to find a new home for Sphinx, so
I got together with long-time friend Ryan Boehm. (now a graphic design
graduate from OSU.) We started talking about the number of users involved and the great
services they were receiving. We went back and forth about the amount of money I had put into the hardware for Sphinx
and the amount of time I spent maintaining it. After a detailed discussion it was decided that asking users for
a couple dollars a month would help to maintain the services and would allow for improvements as well. (Even
better that the improvements didn't have to come out of my pocket.) The more we discussed it the better it got
so we decided to go into business doing Web Hosting. That was in the fall of 1997. It has since grown
to include other services including Domain Registration, Dial-Up Services, Wireless Internet Access, and Software
Development.
July 2007... Ten Years:
The original Sphinx has long been retired and many new machines (around 280 servers as of
July 2007.) are the workhorses for Kattare Internet Services.
We're not a massive hosting provider, and we like it this way. We
get to know our clients, we do the best job we can for them, and the
relationship is truly mutually beneficial. This is a concept I
think many large hosting providers really don't appreciate. We all
understand and appreciate that service is what sets us apart and
it is you, the clients, that feed our families and take care of
us.
With
the years of great service Sphinx and it's descendants have provided, we envision a great future for
Kattare Internet Services and the wonderful people (like you!) that make it possible.
Ethan Burnside
Founder & Systems Engineer
Kattare Internet Services
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