Introduction
I bought this machine used on E-bay, hoping for a bargain (the low-end B100 is normally $2000, I believe the B200 is around $8-10,000) What I found was that used Bomgar machines are likely to be unusable.
(Which is probably why you rarely see them on Ebay.)
This also means that when you buy this machine new, it has zero resale value.
Tools
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You will need a special set of security hex-bit screw-driver tips to get the cover off this baby. (I think I got mine at Microcenter, but I've seen them elsewhere for under $10 for 32 bits.)
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There are a number of these screws on the sides, and back. Then the top slides back and up & away.
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We are looking at the marketing side of the box. Its in a 1U format to be rack-mounted.
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Here is a close-up of the ports on the front. You usually hook this up inside your company firewall.
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I did not see the console port documented. It uses a RJ-45 connector (more properly called an 8P8C connector.) I don't know what the pin-out on it is, but as you'll see, its connected to the serial port.
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In background, you can see the huge fan which blows across the motherboard. I think this is the one making most of the noise.
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Walking around to the back of the box, you'll notice that inside the Bomgar is just a regular PC motherboard with its back panel jacks buried behind the back of the enclosing box.
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Its an MSI MS-7005 Ver. 2 motherboard, phoenix D888 BIOS, 256MB PC2700 RAM, w/ a 40GB WD drive, and a MPW-6200F 185 watt power supply.
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The HDD is dated July 2004, so this box is six years old. I'm sure they are using more up to date hardware now.
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Here is the power supply. Its a slim one to fit in the 1U box.
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It has its own fan. Along with the CPU fan, and four fans up front by the HDD, and a big honking fan blowing across the motherboard, this thing will never overheat. On the other hand, it puts out a prodigious amount of noise when turned on. You would not want to have this in an office or home. Into the closet!
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Now we can see the hidden ports from motherboard better. You can see how the ethernet cable is brought around front, and likewise the serial port.
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The video connector actually works, (onboard graphics on this board.) This allowed me to see the system boot Mandrake Linux.
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Here is the Grub boot loader screen. I did log in to this machine in single user mode. If you manage to find a used Bomgar, with no password, possession does not mean you can get it to work. There is no way to reset the box to factory defaults without already knowing the password.
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Woe behold the owner who forgets their password, and has stopped paying Bomgar for maintenance. You will need to re-up your maintenance contract to get into your machine.
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Since the management of this box is only intended to be done through the web interface, logging into this machine from the console gave me no traction.
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Mandrake 10.0 boot screen.
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Bomgar apparently creates a special boot image for every customer, with the customer's domain name cooked in.
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Not much point in this, other than preventing your customers from reselling their Bomgar boxes. Essentially when you buy one of these, its resale value is zero the instant you sign for it.
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This is why you do not see them on Ebay often, and why you should be leery of trying to buy one used. You need to acquire the domain name the box was registered with at the same time.
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Failing that, the Bomgar company may take you in. Apparently they would have been willing to re-acivate this box for around $2,000 per seat (thats how many technicians can use at a time.) Plus 10% of total per year for maintenence. Since this box goes for $8-10K with a five-seat license, you are getting an old used machine for more than the new one goes for.
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2 comments
My motivation in creating this tear-down was to better publicize what I consider Bomgar's bad policy for their hardware. They make an outstanding product, with what I regard as one single huge limitation. Bomgar has done everything possible to prevent re-sale and re-use of their hardware. Essentially, being in physical possession of the box does not entitle you to use it.
This turns the "If you can't open it, you don't own it" manifesto on its head. What is really troubling about this is that Bomgar used open source software extensively in the creation of their product.
Everyone needs to make a profit, or they can not stay in business, its just not clear to me that Bomgar is giving back as much as it gets.
On another front, I see it as a waste creator. Essentially this appliance is designed and intended to never be re-used. A company which goes out of business is like a tree falling. It decomposes, and ends up having much of its essence recycled into new growth. The assets get sold and used again-- but not Bomgar appliances. They are essentially junk which is only worth their weight/cost as scrap.
Dargon F -
thank you so much i needed the help fixing my good old bomgar
NS PIGS -
I have never seen a teardown on a deck before! Very cool.
Kyle Wiens -