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Extreme Linux Server Available to North America

jcasman writes "CNet is covering an announcement from Japanese Linux provider Plat'Home on a low-cost, super tough Linux-based server, now available in the US, that can handle extreme heat and cold. 'The OpenMicroServer is kind of an "extreme" use server pushing the boundaries for normal, low-cost hardware. In a 624-day endurance test, the OpenMicroServer performed normally under 122 degree F conditions. The unit also employs a power efficient AMD Alchemy (MIPS) CPU and precise part placement based on thermo-fluid analysis to achieve semi-hermetic construction.'"

29 of 188 comments (clear)

  1. That would be by cephah · · Score: 5, Informative

    50 degrees Celsius for the rest of the world.

  2. Extreme use? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    So this server shouldn't get slashdotted?

    I say we test it.

  3. Ummm..freezing is now 0 F? by Seakip18 · · Score: 4, Funny

    It can handle down to the freezing point (0 degrees F), too. TFA can't be right. Though I got an American education, I'm pretty sure freezing is 0 C/32F. Looks like the article writer didn't read the specs.....sounds like somebody in Norway.
    --
    import system.cool.Sig;
    1. Re:Ummm..freezing is now 0 F? by Adambomb · · Score: 4, Funny

      sounds like somebody in Norway. Nah, its just intended for a NASA re-entry module computer.
      --
      Ice Cream has no bones.
    2. Re:Ummm..freezing is now 0 F? by joggle · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The value of Fahrenheit is that it has greater precision than Celsius (when just reporting the integer part of course). The other is that it is a bit easier for people to relate to: 0 degrees is cold!, 100 degrees is hot! Whereas in Celsius 0 degrees is somewhat cold and 100 degrees, well you're way past dead at that point.

    3. Re:Ummm..freezing is now 0 F? by CrazedWalrus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think that's what he meant when he said "(when just reporting the integer part of course)." People tend to think you're being overly anal retentive when you start quoting them decimal points in everyday conversation.

      In other words, Farenheit gives you greater precision without making you sound like a dick. :-)

    4. Re:Ummm..freezing is now 0 F? by OverlyGenericUsernam · · Score: 5, Funny

      My dating chances have vastly improved!

    5. Re:Ummm..freezing is now 0 F? by The+real+PoD · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think what you're trying to say is "Fahrenheit is easier for me because it's what I'm used to".

      As a South Aussie, Celcius is perfect,
      0 = bloody cold
      10 = cold
      20 = just right
      30 = quite warm
      40 = hot

      What should I wear if it's 65F outside? Without converting to Celcius I'd have no idea.

    6. Re:Ummm..freezing is now 0 F? by Ethan+Allison · · Score: 4, Funny
      Not to mention it's suited better to everyday life.

      the metric system for distance is pansy BS. if i'm going 100 of something, i want it to be legitimately fast. the metric(type) system for temperature is also BS. When it is hot, the temp should be in triple digits, not at 38C. the metric system just isn't scaled for awesome, and that's why the US doesn't use it. -Drew Heyman
  4. How about some details? by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Ok, so it's wide temperature range, low power, and low cost. How about some more detail?

      - Actual power consumption. (How does it vary with load and temperature? What voltage (range) is required?)
      - Price.
      - Processor speed.
      - Internal memory. (Disk? Flash? How much RAM?, ...)
      - I/O ports. (How many? What are they?)

    Etc.

    TFA was fluff.

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
    1. Re:How about some details? by harrkev · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Try to RTFA. There is a link to most of this stuff (except price). Dual GB and one 100 ethernet (not bad). USB connectors. The problem is that the thing appears to support CF as the only internal storage option. Great for an embedded system, but there is no way to add a hard drive, short of the USB ports.

      --
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    2. Re:How about some details? by harrkev · · Score: 3, Informative
      --
      "-1 Troll" is the apparently the same as "-1 I disagree with you."
  5. Forgot the most important question! by Dunbal · · Score: 3, Funny

    BUT - will it run linu..... oh, nevermind.

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  6. Extreme? by clarkn0va · · Score: 5, Informative
    0-50C is hardly extreme. (Use the AC adapter and it's 0-40C--same as just about any of the commodity electronic components in my home).

    Sorry if I'm not overly impressed.

    db

    --
    I am literally 3000 tokens away from the chaotic crossbow --Stephen
    1. Re:Extreme? by Flavio · · Score: 4, Informative

      Exactly. I design instrumentation for the power industry. We're talking about equipment which has to run at up to 70 C during the day, every day, with a target lifespan of at least a decade. That can get tricky, specially in humid environments (think of power substations installed deep in the jungle), but it can be done and has been done for the last 50 years.

      0-50 C gets close to consumer grade. As long as you choose power efficient designs, use a decent safety factor for the power supply and buy good parts (meaning no cheap electrolytic capacitors built with stolen formulas), there won't be any problems.

    2. Re:Extreme? by JungleBoy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I agree as well. I regularly need embedded servers/controllers and ethernet switches that work down to -40 degrees (C/F are the same here). I install them on mountain tops in Alaska. What really annoys me is when the specs list -40 as the minimum operating temperatures, but they used crappy ethernet PHY chips that need to be kept warm, so they use a heater circuit. They never tell you this in the documentation, you just wonder why the power usage goes through the room when it gets cold.

      --
      "You never know when some crazed rodent with cold feet might be running loose in your pants."
      -Calvin
    3. Re:Extreme? by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 4, Funny

      ...you can forget about fans

      Even if they have cool looking LEDs on them?
      Nothing is more EXTREME than a fan with LEDs.

    4. Re:Extreme? by Yvan256 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Depends on the color of the LEDs. I've added blue LEDs to my CPU fan and it reduced the temperature by an average of 10C.

      However, a friend of mine used red LEDs and totally fried his GPU! What a moron!

  7. Half the story by JesseL · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How well does it work in a condensing atmosphere?

    It's easy to work down to 0C when conditions are perfectly dry, it's another story when everything starts to sweat.

    And what kind of airflow are we talking about when operating at 122F ambient?

    --
    "Prefiero morir de pie que vivir siempre arrodillado!"
  8. Semi-hermetic construction, huh? by roystgnr · · Score: 3, Funny

    How can something be "semi"-airtight? Does this mean that if you plug it in and drop it into the bathtub with you, you'll only end up semi-dead?

  9. Now the NEW most important question... by Zaatxe · · Score: 3, Funny

    But will it run Vista?

    --
    So say we all
    1. Re:Now the NEW most important question... by snowraver1 · · Score: 3, Informative

      No.

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  10. Re:On that note by vux984 · · Score: 5, Informative

    What is the difference between celsius and centigrade?

    In practical terms nothing.

    In technical terms 'centigrade' scale is defined as having zero at the melting point of ice, and 100 at the boiling point of water at standard atomopheric pressure. While celsius is defined as the kelvin temperature - 273.15.

    The reason for the difference was that the melting point of water is hard to measure precisely, due to the mechanics of melting creating an insulating layer of meltwater around the ice, that you can't simply stir to remove because that would introduce heat...which obviously is counter productive.

    So they redefined it in terms of Kelvin which could be measured more precisely, and renamed it to make it unambiguous which definition was being used.

    And where does "stat" come from when used in medical dramas?

    stat is from the latin 'statim', which just means 'immediately' or 'at once'.

  11. Did you know? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Many evolutionary servologists believe that the computers that function in modern server room environments share a common ancestor that existed before air conditioning and electric power generation. Ancient servers were likely powered by sulfur compounds and operated at much higher temperatures and pressures.

  12. That's not ruggedized by Animats · · Score: 4, Informative

    I just came back from the Embedded Systems Conference, where you see systems running on shake tables, or submerged in aquaria. With fish. -18C to 50C is not an industrial temperature range. Normally, the "commercial range" is 0C to 70C, and "industrial range" is -40C to +85C. It's all solid state memory, so there's not much of a temperature problem at the low end, as long as the humidity is low enough to avoid condensation or ice. "Thermo-fluid analysis to achieve semi-hermetic construction." - right.

    Also, the thing has a MIPS processor, and it's a bit late for that. It's not even AMD product any more; the Alchemy line was sold off to Raza years ago.

  13. Re:On that note by atraintocry · · Score: 3, Informative

    Regarding Celsius/centigrade, while the name change happened a few years after the change in definition, I don't think you can consider them to be separate scales. Some people still say "centigrade" and when they do so you have to assume that they're just using the wrong name, rather than start converting.

    Plus, Kelvin is itself based on the triple-point of water so we can't say that Celsius is based on water and centigrade isn't. They're really just synonyms.

  14. Re:On that note by danbert8 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Acutally, you can survive a limited amount of time exposed to space. See 2001: A Space Odyssey. Arthur C Clarke knew what he was talking about.
     
    Yes, space is very very cold. But vacuums are very good insulators, so there isn't much to take the heat away from you other than radiation, which is a very slow process to lose heat by. Your blood will boil from the low pressure before you'd freeze or suffocate.

    --
    Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
  15. Re:On that note by MichaelSmith · · Score: 4, Interesting

    An interesting side note though: I wonder how reliable those estimations are. I mean it's not like we've exposed human test subjects to outer space to check how long it takes them to die, right? One guy was exposed to vacuum when a pressure suit failed during tests. He was recompressed without incident after about a minute.

    Chimpanzees were deliberately exposed to vacuum in testing. They survived as well.
  16. Re:On that note by TheThiefMaster · · Score: 3, Informative

    You need two points (or one point and the size of one step) to define a scale.

    In kelvin's case it is:
    0 K is at absolute 0
    273.16 K is at the triple point of water

    Celius is defined with the same two points, as -273.15 C and 0.01 C. This definition makes the freezing point of water approx. 0 C and the boiling point approx. 99.9839 C

    Some of the above may have been shamelessly ripped from Wikipedia. "Degrees" character removed because Slashdot mangles it into "Â".