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Stealth Computers: NY Times on Mini ITX Modding
securitas writes "What's smaller than a breadbox? Or a toaster? Or a teddy bear? The New York Times has just discovered mini-ITX based computers (Google /CNET mirror, minus the pictures). It's a nice overview of the mini-ITX scene and suggests that small form computers are a hot growth area while the traditional PC business languishes."
Things I would like to see.
A new Linux distrubution, one aimed at including the most efficient
programs currently being developed: Blackbox, Thunderbird, Firebird, Dillo,
etc. Debian C3?
A 2.6 kernel running on these things so they're more desktop resonsive, work on swsup to be stable enough that the computer will always be instant-on available, thus
never needing a reboot.
Start a project that aims to develop extremely efficient programs designed
to run very well with slow procs like these. Hell if you can web browse
on a C64, this can be done.
If word of this can get out, then more people will question the Intel and
Microsoft monopoly.
Any other suggestions?
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The first time I saw one I thought I was looking at a desktop stereo -- you know, the boxy plastic-and-chrome kind you'd put in an office. I didn't believe it was a computer until I got a look at the connector array in the back.
And that was without putting it in an ET doll or a fishtank.
I want to get my hands on one of these. With a wireless ethernet card and a set of speakers hooked to a built-in sound card you could make a very nifty wireless MP3/streaming audio player -- one that the wife wouldn't object to having in the living room.
Someone you trust is one of us.
These form factors are even cooler. The smallest one, Femto XTX, is a mere 49 cm^2 (thats 7x7 or around 2.5"x2.5", smaller than a floppy disk!). These motherboards will be coming out commerically in early 2004, and still has a PS/2, USB, Serial, Sound, Ethernet and VGA. The 1.5 Ghz C4 coming out soon will scream on that machine. Put linux on it and the possiblites are endless!
I have three of the mini-ITX's in a rack that I made for $6 worth of home depot parts. I use them as diskless nodes. Total cost each is around $180, this includes board, power supply, ram, and network cable. The entire rack fits on top of one of my towers.
They take load off my desktop box by doing things like DNS, httpd, dhcpd, fetchmail, procmail, qmail, postgres, etc...
However I would like to see them move to gigabit ethernet.
For the robot geeks these boards offer a lot
After reading a lot of info about the various mini-ITX boards, cases, and so on, I settled on this configuration:
The total was less than $500, and I could have reduced it some more if I'd been willing to place orders with 3 suppliers, rather than getting everything from one place (logicsupply.com).
While this machine is underpowered for a lot of computing tasks, and is a joke for playing games on, it should do just fabulously as a SMB/NFS file server, web server for pictures of the new baby, and so on. I'm downloading the Fedora beta (Severn) as we speak.
The total power draw for this machine ought to be about 30W. Even at inflated California prices, that's less than $5/month to run. Plus, since the motherboard and case are both fanless, it should run very very quietly, and should be small enough to just tuck away on a shelf somewhere.
Now I get to wait anxiously and see if my expectations match reality.
http://www.openbrick.org/
Anyone who's truly a geek or just a regular slashdot reader already knows about case modding and the whole mini LAN brick size cases. HA, I have my copy of Maximum PC right next to me and every issue is about case modding, not to mention all the other case mod web sites.
I think the NY Times needs to do an article on phase cooling or water cooling.
Everytime I tell someone I have a watercooled case with water pumping through my system I get to see the largest eyes this side of the Mississippi.
The reasons are:
Smaller == cheaper - less materials, less labor.
Smaller == faster - less propagation delay for signals, faster switching time for logic.
Smaller == quieter - lower EMI through shorter transmission lines
Smaller == less power - all of the above add up to less juice spent as heat
Sorry but there is no way computers are getting any bigger. Say goodbyte to those big honking PCI slots because all that stuff is going to get integrated onto one little chip and you'll thank them later when you can buy the whole thing for $50.