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$100 Linux Wall-Wart Now Available

Posted by kdawson on from the not-to-be-confused-with-wal-mart dept.

nerdyH sends us to LinuxDevices for a description of a tiny Linux device called the Marvell SheevaPlug. "A $100 Linux wall wart could do to servers what netbooks did to notebooks. With the Marvell SheevaPlug, you get a completely open (hardware and software) Linux server resembling a typical wall-wart power adapter, but running Linux on a 1.2GHz CPU, with 512MB of RAM, and 512MB of Flash. I/O includes USB 2.0, gigabit Ethernet, while expansion is provided via an SDIO slot. The power draw is a nightlight-like 5 Watts. Marvell says it plans to give Linux developers everything they need to deliver 'disruptive' services on the device." The article links four products built on the SheevaPlug, none of them shipping quite yet. The development kit is available from Marvell.

13 of 464 comments (clear)

  1. How much for a multi-ethernet-port version? by davidwr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This would be cool for a pocket-sized router, firewall, packet sniffer, etc.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
    1. Re:How much for a multi-ethernet-port version? by Crispy+Critters · · Score: 2, Insightful
      print server, dhcp server, squid server, local dns server...

      Everything you need to make the home network a usable network, rather than a collection of machines accessing the internet.

      Multiple ethernet ports would be nice, but as long as the cable modem can use USB, not as big a problem as it could be.

      "Eventually, prices are expected to drop to around $49" Wow. That is cheap enough to buy just to play around with.

  2. Power line networking by oldspewey · · Score: 4, Insightful

    From the linked page: "This device connects to the network using GbE"

    Does it strike anybody else as strange that this device wouldn't have power line networking built in?

    --
    If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
    1. Re:Power line networking by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Does it strike anybody else as strange that this device wouldn't have power line networking built in?

      Yes and no. It would make sense for it to be capable of powerline networking, but you'll still need to ran a patch cable from the main network (be it router, cable modem/dsl box, whatever) to either this device (if it were powerline network capable) or another powerline network plugin device.

      --
      This guy's the limit!
  3. Add USB + WIFI or Powerline and... by jhfry · · Score: 1, Insightful

    ...you could deploy these things as camera servers anywhere you had power. Locker rooms, hotel rooms, etc!... awesome!

    Actually I do think these things have a place, though I am not sure exactly how I would use one, except maybe as described above.

    --
    Sometimes the best solution is to stop wasting time looking for an easy solution.
  4. Re:Sounds like a great industrial espionage device by oldspewey · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... because wall warts with a tail plugged into the nearest network port wouldn't attract any kind of attention.

    --
    If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
  5. Re:Ethernet by Bertie · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Torrents!

  6. Re:Sounds like a great industrial espionage device by poot_rootbeer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... because wall warts with a tail plugged into the nearest network port wouldn't attract any kind of attention.

    Was that intended to be sarcastic?

    How much time do YOU spend analyzing at the rat's nest of cabling located under your desk, where the Linksys wireless router and the three daisy-chained power strips live? Less than an hour per year, if you're anything like me.

    I would dare say that an espionage device that disguised itself as a wall wart would be more likely to be discovered based on network analysis ("hold up, what's this device with the unfamiliar MAC off of network port 73?") than based on a visual inspection of the site.

  7. Actually not a bad idea by Weaselmancer · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Not torrents per se, but a dinky 100 computer sitting somewhere. Doing something...naughty.

    If you get caught you're out 100 bucks. So what? Cheaper than an RIAA settlement letter, for instance.

    Not that I'd ever advocate such behavior. Oh heavens no.

    --
    Weaselmancer
    rediculous.
  8. Re:Sounds like a great industrial espionage device by turing_m · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ... because wall warts with a tail plugged into the nearest network port wouldn't attract any kind of attention.

    It really depends on Murphy's law. If you were planting the device, you would be caught red handed and receive fines and a jail term.

    If the device was planted by someone you were interviewing in your office, it would escape detection for 5 years. Your company's trade secrets (in a convenient folder labeled "top_secret_company_docs") would be stolen by a larger competitor and used to drive your company out of business. Additionally, you would be fired 5 years later as a port audit discovered the device in your office.

    --
    If I have seen further it is by stealing the Intellectual Property of giants.
  9. just hook up a fast USB 2.0 drive and you're set by djdavetrouble · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I love how easy everything sounds when you precede it with "just".
    You and I both know there is no such thing as a fast USB 2.0 drive, DESPITE THE SPECS.

    --
    music lover since 1969
  10. Re:Did anyone else read this as by amirulbahr · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If they'd spelled it correctly (e.g. "wall wart") without the caps and hyphen, it wouldn't have fallen into the same framework, and everyone wouldn't have read it and gone, "Linux Wal-Mart? WTF?"

    The insidious kdawson strikes again.

  11. Re:Ethernet by diqmay · · Score: 2, Insightful

    did you considered a USB hub?