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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."

13 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.

  2. 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
  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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
  6. 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....

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

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

    --
    What?
  8. 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)
  9. 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?
  10. 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.

  11. 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