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World's Smallest Linux Box Fits in RJ-45 Jack
An anonymous reader writes "German electronics company Kleinhenz is shipping a network-enabled Linux system built into an RJ-45 Ethernet jack. "Picotux" has a 55MHz ARM processor, 2MB of Flash, 8MB of RAM, a serial port, and five lines of GPIO. It measures 0.75 x 0.75 x 1.4 inches (19 x 19 x 36mm), and weighs 0.64 ounces (18 grams), packaged in a metal housing. A wireless 802.11 version appears to be on the horizon, too. So, if you've ever wanted to network-enable, say, a robot, boombox, or model airplane, this could be the system for you." Is this really the world's smallest? It looks a bit chunkier than a tiny gumstix machine.
True, it's no workstation, but still the specs are enough to leak trade secrets across the Internet, and the size is such that the bug may go unnoticed by your employer's IT maintenance department. So if you are infiltrating an "evil" company and you value your afterlife more than you value your life, go for it!
Sounds like a cool way to firewall individual rooms or areas.
Great as a wiretapping device! ;)
1's and 0's should be free.
The wireless version is cool as well, but the systems need two more things:
a: For the wired version: Support for Power over Ethernet. This way, separate power isn't needed in many installations.
b: A single USB port for both versions.
Do those both and you now have a general purpose wired and wireless glue for attaching pretty much arbitrary devices to the network.
Test your net with Netalyzr
Now, take two and put them back to back running a variant of iptables/whatever to build a "on the cable" firewall.
meh
but I can go buy a cheap desktop for that
Just because you can doesn't mean you should. This is an embedded systems solution, not a desktop replacement. If you play in that world than you knwo 100 euros is quite inexpensive.
The PC is just too big, too fragile, too power-hungry and too unreliable for a lot of tasks where these tiny machines could be used--even if the computational power-to-price ratio is so much larger for the PC. People in the automation world probably remember a few years ago how the PC-based "soft PLC" would reduce costs and replace all those proprietary, expensive traditional PLCs. Never happened and never will because PCs are too general purpose and inefficient. To this day all I've ever used software-based PLCs for is simulation.
For those who are unaware, PLCs, or Programmable Logic Controllers, are esentially purpose-built embedded computer systems used to monitor and control industrial equipment. The bulk of them today are about as powerful as a 286 PC or even less and they cost as much as or more than a high-end PC. Despite that, the hardware and firmware/software in a PLC is designed from the ground up for deterministic, hard-real-time operation and I/O intensive applications. They also do not have processor fans, hard drives and other unreliable mechanical parts.
That is why these tiny Linux machines are so interesting--even if they cannot do as much as a PC or are more expensive. They could be the beginning of a standard, truly open platform for embedded systems. If the processor unit can fit in an RJ45 jack, then in the future we could do away with racks of PLCs and make field equipment control itself. The stuff I can imagine is mind boggling to say the least.
Wow, I guess every laptop in the world is also overpriced, being less powerful and more expensive than a similar desktop.
Mods are sniffing glue today...