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Data Center In a Shoe Box

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the size-matters dept.

eldavojohn writes "How would you like to have a data center that uses just 14.5 watts and weighs 255g? It's also only as big as a shoe box! The Register looks at a few solutions to network area storage that make buying a dedicated data server on a rack look like a relic of the past. Yes, it runs Linux."

22 of 146 comments (clear)

  1. Ogg Support??? by netsavior · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yes, it runs Linux.

    yeah but I doubt it can play Ogg files.

    I for one welcome our shoebox dwelling data overlords.

    1. Re:Ogg Support??? by raddan · · Score: 2, Informative

      Just as a point of reference, I have a Soekris net4801-60 connected to a USB-audio adapter, PCI USB2 card and external USB hard disk, and this machine plays MP3s just fine. It was a little bit of a gamble when I purchased the hardware, since I did not know if it was fast enough, but I did some tests using mpg123 on a similar machine (AMD K6) and it handled MP3 playback just fine. I briefly thought I was in trouble when I discovered that the USB-audio device could only playback audio at 48KHz, but surprisingly, the Soekris is fast enough even to upsample 44KHz to 48KHz and play it back. It works well as long as I don't do big network transfers while I am playing music. BTW, the box runs OpenBSD, not Linux-- more out of familiarity on my part than technical merit. We're talking about a 586-class machine here, so I suspect that the machines in the article will do MP3 playback just fine. Ogg, I don't know-- I don't use it.

    2. Re:Ogg Support??? by dfranks · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The Alix series is definately worth checking out. We use their 2c2 board in our STACS field communications device that provides a VOIP switch, EV-DO, dual (WAN and LAN) 802.11g WiFi, INMARSAT BGAN satellite terminal, radio interface, GPS in an IP65 weatherproof, dustproof case at under 14 lbs. And that includes a SLA battery good for around 10 hours of operation. There is another processor on board, but the Alix provides the linux hub that drives the entire device and makes normal operation completely automatic (just turn it on and browse/call/etc). Dean dfranks -at- solomontech.com

  2. AppleTV by clare-ents · · Score: 2, Informative

    http://www.mythic-beasts.com/appletvdedicated.html

    15-20W, 1Ghz Core Solo, 256MB RAM, 40GB disk, already plugged in, masterswitched and ready to go.

    disclaimer: I'm one of the company founders.

    --
    Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. (Einstein)
    1. Re:AppleTV by clare-ents · · Score: 2, Interesting

      If you watch TV shows when you're sat in the data centre I guess is might be. If you're after a cheap dedicated linux server (and *lots* of people are) good luck finding something cheaper.

      --
      Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. (Einstein)
    2. Re:AppleTV by prennix · · Score: 2

      They're hosting them at their data center. so the size is completely irrelevant... seems like non news, as it doesn't seem to be "on sale" as the FA would suggest...
  3. Data center at 5400 by iamhigh · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Right, just what I want... a data center full of laptop hard drives running at 5400 RPM.

    I wouldn't even want that bottleneck at home.

    --
    No comprende? Let me type that a little slower for you...
    1. Re:Data center at 5400 by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yeah, but could you imagine a Beowulf cluster of these things?

      --
      My blog
  4. Not even close to a data center by h4rr4r · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Heck, not even close to a server or a SAN/NAS. 1TB of storage and a 266Mhz cpu mean that you would need a real data center full of these shoeboxes to get any real work done.

  5. Smart boxes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I have been thinking of setting up such shoe box server. It would be nice to have ftp, and maybe bittorrent, running without too much noise or heat. And saving the planet too, since it would cut down my carbon footprint.

    1. Re:Smart boxes by Nursie · · Score: 3, Informative

      Funny mod? Oh well.

      May I recommend a Linksys NSLU2?

      266 MHz Arm chip. Not the fastest thing in the world, but you can install a full debian system onto it. I have one running torrentflux-b4rt over lighttpd. It also runs ushare so that the Xbox 360 (or other UPnP device) can stream the media. It also runs samba, which I expose via SSH so I can listen to my music from work.

      Downsides -
      It's slow. Real slow. Install and update of packages through the debian system, takes AGES.
      If you're unlucky you'll get one that runs at 133 MHz and have to de-solder or cut through a resistor to get it up to full speed (quite easy really)

      Upsides -
      The only noise is the hard disk caddy and disk you choose.
      You can leave it on all the time and it won't bump up your electricity bill by much.

  6. Even smaller servers by miller60 · · Score: 4, Informative
    Those are pretty compact. A little while ago the Tzywen blog featured a number of novelty micro-servers that make the Plat'Home servers look like heavyweights.


    Then there's an oldie but goodie: the World's Lowest Power Web Server, running on a single AAA battery and a bank of potatoes.

    --
    RichM
    Data Center Knowledge
    1. Re:Even smaller servers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Great. Now the World's Lowest Power Web Server has been slashdotted. They might even have to change the battery.

  7. What what what?! by techpawn · · Score: 3, Funny

    So, why not ignore the chip and embrace a box that reflects an entire cultural ethos?
    Because I was promised a data centre in a shoebox not an over hyped home file server bottleneck machine!
    While we're at it, I want my flying car!
    --
    Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what your country did to you
  8. Um... data center != NAS server !=this by EriktheGreen · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This article is about a nifty little NAS server that's turn-key, runs linux, and runs on an embedded MIPS chip. It's neat, but it's not a replacement for a data center. Or most workgroup file servers. It's about on a par with the network attached hard drives that are pretty common in most computer stores now. Kinda neat, but unless you're into "japanese-ness" of technology that's all it is. This stuff doesn't matter....

  9. Begs the question by iminplaya · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just how many of these "data centers" would it take to fill Imelda Marcos' closet?

    --
    What?
  10. Re:Who is this meant for? by Kevin+Stevens · · Score: 2, Informative

    This seems kind of gimmicky. The price point makes it unlikely that any home users will purchase it when it is cheaper to buy a usb harddrive, but the form factor and hardware make it impractical for an enterprise setting where it doesn't make any real sense in a large distributed network.



    Though I suppose it could be good for a small office setting with file sharing needs...



    So theres that..

    This product in particular is weak and I am not sure why this review in particular made the front page, but I do have a NAS box of a different sort that works quite well, at least for my purposes. I live in NYC, and so my apartment is not much larger than a shoebox, and I got rid of my desktop awhile back in favor of just keeping a much smaller laptop. Laptops have small drives though, and I wanted more storage. A small NAS box fit the need perfectly- I got one by Synology that is a BYOD (Bring Your Own Disks) so it is upgradable and also supports RAID. The model I bought was fancy and runs linux and has a built in Apache, FTP, Windows Media Server, among other things and it runs linux... so you can hack around with it as need be- essentially it works as a miniature, quiet, low power server, which is exactly what I wanted. It sits next to my router and I never think about it. I put in some big disks and actually use it as a backup server for my laptop as well.

    In a family setting, if you convinced everyone to put their data on the shared disk as opposed to their local pc, you mitigate the risk of one of their machines breaking and them losing all of their stuff.

    These devices fit my needs perfectly, and I think as we see home networks grow and solid state drives proliferate, we will probably see more of these drives- SSD's will hold the OS and apps, and the NAS will hold all your MP3's, movies, etc- possibly with them being able to be accessed by the tv's and audio equipment in your house. It exists today on high end niche equipment, whether it will become easy enough to use to catch on with the masses is still kind of a question mark.
  11. Re:Yes, but by jd · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nononono. When it's shoeboxes, the correct clustering term is an Imelda Marcos.

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  12. YOU CAN'T BUY THEM. by Caspian · · Score: 4, Informative

    I'm sick of people Slashvertising these devices. You cannot buy them. Quoted from their own goddamned page: "We do not sell the MicroServer series directly to consumers.". Period, full stop, end of sentence. You can't buy them. Maybe the company you work for can buy them... presumably, if they want to buy many of them. But you, the consumer, the individual geek hobbyist, can't buy one to mess around with.

    --
    With spending like this, exactly what are "conservatives" conserving?
  13. Re:Who is this meant for? by gfxguy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Since I use my laptop for most of my work (it's quieter, uses less energy, and there's no performance penalty for practically everything I do, which is mainly just editing files), I'd been thinking of what a good desktop replacement system would be.

    First, the reason I still keep my desktop is for higher end video... games and occasionally video editing. So I was thinking along the lines of a replacement system that was as generic as possible...

    A small system with a brick power supply... it would only have those things necessary for extremely fast processing and graphics... so, CPU, memory, and a PCI express slot (or two). Absolutely everything else would be external (mostly USB), including keyboard/mouse, audio, USB to ethernet adapters, DVD players... the only other ports you might want are firewire (but then if it's got two PCI slots, you could always add one) and maybe eSATA.

    You could remove a lot of what the BIOS has to do... no floppy controllers, no parallel port, no built in video, no built in ethernet, no built in serial ports... all of these things can be done via USB, even if you need an actual serial or parallel port. It should make the basic system very simple.

    Because the basic system would just be CPU/Memory/PCI, it could be powered with a brick (no PS Fan), only one system/cpu fan would be needed (maybe one for video). It could be a lot smaller than a "shoe box," and sip power, and be a real desktop replacement.

    --
    Stupid sexy Flanders.
  14. Mini-ITX and Blades by bradgoodman · · Score: 3, Interesting
    It's not quite a "shoebox" - but same principal. I made a 40-node Mini-ITX datacenter a few years back. Very cheap, low-power, cool (temperature), etc.

    I still use one as my main server at home.

    Picts at:

    http://www.bradgoodman.com/pictures/itxblade.jpg

    http://www.bradgoodman.com/pictures/itxbladex40.jpg

  15. Cute, but no data center by nurb432 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I don't see any redundancy for starters.

    Also, a 'data center' is more then just lots of storage, people also run applications and 'services' ( like SQL ) in the "data center".

    For something to carry around in your bag or to stick in your garage or the trunk of your car, it might be nice, but please don't misrepresent it.

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----