A Linux Server Express for Portable Wi-Fi?

crome wonders: "The new Apple Airport Express is a little wonder of technology. It packs a wi-fi base station with all the usual capabilities of base stations plus the iTunes over network thing in one little square appliance that plugs directly to the power plug in the wall. I have a few of these and I am quite happy with them. Often however, when I most need a wi-fi base station on the go, I also need a server on the go. For example, in my second home I have an old DSL modem, and I have an Airport Express but I have no way to share the connection over wi-fi because the Airport Express doesn't support PPTP. Having a similarly formatted small Linux server with two ethernet ports, a usable Linux distribution on it with all the tools one needs when traveling, and some disk space to save stuff would be great. Any hints on what components to use or anything that comes close to a Linux Server Express?" "A while ago, Cerfcube (a small start-up) had such small appliances, but they disappeared and the format (a cube) wasn't very practical. Since I don't seem to be able to find such a very small format Linux server, I am just going to build one myself. I plan to build one into an existing power adapter (mimicking the Airport Express) and cram into it a computer-on-a-chip, a small disk, and two ethernet ports."

Comments

Nano-ITX

[guard952]

Build a nano-itx pc.

Re:Nano-ITX

[aminorex]

How? You can't buy the boards.

Re:DLS modem

[jm92956n]

What's a DLS modem anyway?

A DLS modem is a small piece of hardware that is now believed to be extinct by most credible computer scientists. Current available evidence suggests the item was once used as a telecommunication device.

Alternate theories include a submitter without a spell-check device.

They've had them for years.

[b00m3rang]

Laptops.

Use flash memory

[egarland]

The Linksys NSLU2 may be a good palce to start.

TomsNetworking has a good article about messing around with it.

Add a USB network card and a big USB key and you should be good to go (it has 2 USB ports).

related...

[rbochan]

not an appliance, but a Live CD: ZoneCD

Re:Am I missing somthing?

[2nd Post!]

Hmm, maybe the print server and the speaker hookup for the AirTunes feature. Or the 'by design' plug and go feature of the Airport Express.

Re:DLS modem

[insomnyuk]

DLS = Didn't Learn Spelling

WRT54G

[bobthemuse]

Why not just use a pair of linksys WRT54G routers using the Sveasoft firmware? At under $60 each, not going to find a reliable solution much cheaper... firmware update allows all sorts of neat features, including VPNs.

Re:WRT54G

[DamnYankee]

Actually what you wrote in the Sveasoft forums was that you "regretted subscribing" along with verbage designed to start yet another GPL flame war in the Sveasoft forums.

We promptly refunded your subscription - as you requested.

There are many other (and more appropriate) places than the Sveasoft forums to discuss GPL issues, such as here on Slashdot.

Source code is always released for our binaries, albeit with up to a two week delay. When firmware is stable we release it publicly, with source, at no cost. Look for the public version of Alchemy in the next week or two as we move to the new Talisman firmware development.

Re:WRT54G

[Malor]

"designed to start yet another GPL flamewar" -- oh please. I was expressing an opinion, and quite gently. I have never before been banned from any public discussion forum, under any alias.

Normally, I would go read what I wrote to be certain that my memory of events and of what I said is correct, but, gee, I can't read it anymore. It never occurred to me that you'd actually ban me for a dissenting opinion, so I didn't save a copy.

If any bystarnders are actually looking, I suggest you go read some of the many hundreds of posts I've made over the many years I've been here. I'm not a troll. I think about what I say before I say it. I make no pretense of perfection, but go read some of what I've written, and think to yourself about whether that person would be likely to start a flamewar. I'm pushing 40, for chrissake. I have better things to do.

Contrast that with the numerous people talking about the abuses perpetrated by Sveasoft. There's an awful lot of smoke here. Perhaps, just perhaps, there's a fire?

James is very, very good at sounding reasonable, but behind that reasonable facade lurks a very nasty fellow indeed. Read some of the stuff at the link above for some examples.

And James... nobody is begrudging you making money on your project. At least, it sure doesn't sound like they are. I know I don't care... make all the money you like. And I pay for quite a bit of the free software I particularly like... send wishlist gifts, that kind of thing. I had no interest in shutting down your project. If anything, I wanted to help it.

I, for one, just don't think that your glue work is any more valuable than the work of all the people who came before you. I'm cheerfully willing to help subsidize that kind of effort. I am not, however, happy about seeing GPL code hijacked. Thousands of programmers have put in millions of hours to make your project possible, and you are in essence spitting on them. Shame on you.

Even a two week delay, by the way, is unacceptable under the terms of the GPL. And when I posted my message, it had been more than a month and closer to six weeks. I'd have to check my post to be sure, but I'm nearly certain that it was this time delay that I found pretty questionable.

Again, to the world at large.... I'd suggest spending your money elsewhere. Support projects with ethical leaders. False DMCA notices and falsified hack reports, if true, are way, way, WAY into unacceptable behavior, and shouldn't be supported.

Re:WRT54G

[dubl-u]

There are many other (and more appropriate) places than the Sveasoft forums to discuss GPL issues, such as here on Slashdot.

There are better places to discuss your own GPL compliance than your own forums? It would seem to me that unless you're trying to cover something up, the very best place to talk about that is on your own site.

Try having a single house...

[bergeron76]

I'm sure with all the money you'd save, you'd proabably be able to afford the greatest of wifi technologies.

Please don't confuse the sarcasm of this post with some twistedly severe and unbridled jealously of your multi-home ownership. ;)

Re:DLS modem

[tverbeek]

What's a DLS modem anyway?

It's obviously a typo for "LDS modem", a device knwon for sending out packets in pairs, trying to connect with non-compliant devices and convert them to use their own rather strict proprietary protocol (popularly known as "mormon"). LDS modems originally supported one-to-many connections, but now only work in one-to-one mode.