What to Do With a $99 Wall Wart Linux Server

Guanine writes in with a follow-up to our discussion a few months back on the SheevaPlug: 1.2-GHz ARM-compliant processor, 512 MB DDR2, 512 MB flash, USB 2.0, gigabit ethernet, in a package the size of a wall wart, for $99. Saul Hansell's Bits Blog in the NY Times talks about a few applications for such a device, whose price point Hansell claims will drop to $40 before too long. "The first plausible use for the plug computer is to attach one of these gizmos to a USB hard drive. Voila, you've got a network server. Cloud Engines, a startup, has in fact built a $99 plug computer called Pogoplug, that will let you share the files on your hard drive, not only in your home but also anywhere on the Internet. ... [Marvell's CEO said] 'Eventually you won't see the plug. We want this device to be in your TV, your stereo system, your DVD player.'"

Comments

Re:Wireless Version

[Nursie]

It's got USB and an SD slot. You can get wireless devices that fit in either, so I should think it'll be ok.

These things are largely useless

[qoncept]

"The first plausible use" for the thing is better served by a OpenWRT/dd-wrt router. As a web server, you might as well be using the computer you're on, or, if you're servering outsite your LAN, you should pay for real webhosting. I DO think it might be a good starting point for my networked home thermostat or even a full home automation system. But it's probably overkill.

URL to purchase the wall wart

[pfigura]

The actual link where to buy the wallwart was pretty deep linked from Marvells website. This is apparently the official place to buy these things: http://www.globalscaletechnologies.com/p-22-sheevaplug-dev-kit.aspx

Re:Could this save power?

[Nursie]

Take a look at this page.

Martin Michlmayr is a debian contributor/porter/activist/whatever with a keen interest in these sorts of devices, he published some early power use figures.

But in short, yes, I think you'd save a lot of power. Though you'd have to buy an HDD caddy and take the power consumption of that into account. We're still likely talking about a lot less than a full PC.

As for it being possible - Using samba, a linux box can appear to windows machines in much the same way a windows machine does - with exposed shared directories and shared printers. It's fairly simple, though I've not done the printer bit for some time.

Re:I've got one

[Lumpy]

booting from SDHC is not there yet but booting from SD is solid.

I've been using these for weeks now. also the dodgy flash can be overcome by running a full scan on it and marking the bad spots, I prefer running off SD though.