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Small Form SMP Boxen and Laptops - Where Are They?

Posted by Cliff on from the as-the-technology-gets-smaller-and-smaller dept.

3ryon asks: "I've been charged with procuring a high-end portable server containing two 1Ghz CPU's, 30 Gig of hard drive, and 1 Gig of RAM, all under $20,000. Ideally this would exist in a laptop footprint. Does this exist anywhere? My current idea is to buy a 1U server from Dell and a 1U LCD/Keyboard module and have a machine shop build an enclosure for them. Besides my need (a portable video encoder), I bet that sales people would love to be able to bring this sort of power to a client site." Even though computing technology has grown much smaller thru the years, I'm not quite sure SMP laptops are a possiblilty yet. A major concern of putting so much computing power in such a small space is twofold: heat and the electrical power needed to run it. I'm not quite sure that the manufacturers have found a way around that, yet. Is it possible to get SMP power in a smaller footprint than your typical desktop, however?

6 of 25 comments (clear)

  1. Sort of what you are looking for by The+Iconoclast · · Score: 5

    Tadpole is sort of what you are looking for. They make UltraSparc and HP PA-RISC based laptops. It doesn't look like they make Dual systems, but their stuff is definately worth drooling over.

    On the other hand, I wonder how hard it would be to design a Dual PowerPC laptop, of either Apple or IBM workstation variety, since those chips run real cool.

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    Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati
  2. Lunchtime? by terpia · · Score: 4

    Check the Good Ole "LunchBox" form factor! For those unfamiliar, they are basically just a small atx case that accepts standard atx mobo/peripherals and has an LCD display and keyboard that fold up to become part of the "case". It ends up being about the size of a briefcase thats double thick. Portable desktop power.

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    .sig wanted: Must be concise, funny, and display my cleverness.
  3. Rackmount by Gill+Bates · · Score: 4
    I don't think you're going to find this in a laptop. I'd go the rackmount route. For a case, you don't need to have one custom made - there are cases that accept rackmount equip (a lot of it is for transporting rackmount audio equip., but it should work for a small server also).

    Search on google for 'portable rackmount' or 'industrial PC' -- there are tons of places selling these things.

  4. Now Cliff done ruined it... by grammar+nazi · · Score: 4
    Cliff! You ruined the submission by answering it. As an editor of /. you should encourage disscussion, not sequester it with your own knowledge.

    In the future, please refrain from making comments that completely answer a submission, rather, enhance the topic by adding thought provoking thoughts, such as...

    "What might one do with a Beowulf cluster of such SMP laptops?"

    ...or inflammetory thoughts...

    "Finally, laptops might have enough processing power handle Mozilla!"

    ...or a comment that brings other market segments into the disscussion...

    "I'll bet that OS X would run lightning fast on such a laptop and how many simultaneous Napster downloaded MP3s could you play on such a laptop?"

    Just don't mention realistic facts that would make such a system unfeasable! By the way, this comment is mostly just a joke. ;-)

    --

    Keeping /. free of grammatical errors for ~5 years.
  5. This is the perfect answer by sleeper0 · · Score: 5
    Do a search on lunch box ATX and take a look at the results. These are "lunch box" sized PC's that are transportable but take normal components including full sized cd's drives, motherboards, cards, etc. They used to be popular back before laptops were everywhere, but they've kept them up to date for certain applications like yours.

    I found this one which seems pretty representative. Note that there is a picture of it with dual pentium II's. You may have to shop around for a system with a beefy enough power supply to cover the load from the system (this one comes with a 250w PS which probably isn't enough).

    I wouldn't seriously consider porting arounnd a 1U system with a rack lcd & keyboard. Those things are pretty damn unweildy even in the server room. These lunch boxes should move around pretty well.

  6. Do-it-yourself by MoralHazard · · Score: 4
    Overclockers, LAN enthusiasts, and do-it-yourselfers have been building non-standard enclosures (ESPECIALLY portable ones) for quite some time. There isn't much retail market for it, but I've seen a few projects that put performance systems into briefcases, rolling luggage, or just small, easy-to-carry boxes.

    If you get to Hardocp.com they should have a few links to case-modding pages and other relavant info.

    Anyway, as a guy who appreciates even case-hacking, I hope you go with something cool. There's nothing quite like having a unique-looking box to show off.