What to Do With a $99 Wall Wart Linux Server 346
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.'"
Am I the only one... (Score:5, Funny)
that thought Wal Mart was selling linux servers?
Re:Am I the only one... (Score:5, Funny)
Nope. I was also very confused when I read that one server could fit into a package the size of a Wal-Mart.
Re:Am I the only one... (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
No, walmart promo items always end with 88 cents. Unless they are clearance, in which case it will be 50 or 00.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
We had this discussion in February. mcgrew (92797) said:
I hope they sell them at Wal-mart. A Wal-mart Wall-Wart would be cool!
Imagine a beowolf cluster of OW!! OW!! STOP HITTING ME!!!
In fact, I was secretly hoping they'll recreate that particular thread here, word for word.
Re:Am I the only one... (Score:5, Insightful)
Then I clicked around the Marvell site to try to find out how to buy it.
At $100, they should have a "BUY IT NOW" button on their site. They missed at least one quick sale from an impulse buyer here.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
The link to buy it [pogoplug.com] was right there in the summary and has a big magenta button on the first page that says "BUY NOW $99".
And I also couldn't help but notice that Marvell's page for the device [marvell.com] has a big clickable image on it that says "VISIT PARTNER PAGE TO BUY."
Re:Am I the only one... (Score:5, Insightful)
I've got one (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't really see the revolution here - it's a small headless server. A bit like an NSLU2 only a lot faster. They're pretty cool.
They also seem to suffer from dodgy NAND memory, which is a shame, and booting from SDHC is not yet very well supported. That said, they come with Ubuntu server pre-installed and it was trivial to turn it into a media server.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I suppose so, though the Apple TV has various video outputs, this doesn't, and (correct me if I'm wrong) probably has a much large power draw. Mine's a media server in the sense that it serves media to other machines, like the PS3 and Xbox360.
Re:I've got one (Score:5, Informative)
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.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't really see the revolution here - it's a small headless server. A bit like an NSLU2 only a lot faster. They're pretty cool.
They also seem to suffer from dodgy NAND memory, which is a shame, and booting from SDHC is not yet very well supported. That said, they come with Ubuntu server pre-installed and it was trivial to turn it into a media server.
I hope they don't have the NSLU2 disadvantage of not powering on automatically after a power failure.
This annoyance makes the NSLU2 unsuitable for remote monitoring where the electricity supply is unreliable.
The NSLU2 software distributions are also crippled (stripped down versions of utilities that break things like CPAN). Hopefully this one is more standardized and less unique.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
on't really see the revolution here - it's a small headless server. A bit like an NSLU2 only a lot faster
Faster and a lot more ram. Also this device is being explicitly sold as a "devkit" which means you get console and JTAG access (via a USB to dual UART/FIFO chip) out of the box rather than having to hack them on.
On the downside you only get one host-side USB port while the slug had two.
Bad Case of Wall Warts? (Score:4, Funny)
What to Do With a $99 Wall Wart
Wall warts are usually nothing to be concerned about unless they grow or spread rapidly. Usually you can just freeze 'em off--just be sure to get all the abnormal growth cells. It's a common wall growth caused by HPV (Hewlett Packard Virus).
Linux Server
Your warts are functioning as Linux servers? You may need to see a specialist ... and until you get that checked I would refrain from any prolonged exposure to GPL software.
... not something you want on your resume.
... the name is a bit of an obstacle. "Wall Hugger" or "Plug Pal" or even "Linux Lump" might have been more prudent for coining.
Count yourself lucky, it could be worse. My friend once had a case of $10,000 Server Room Herpes Microsoft Servers that kept him up all night
I applaud anyone who successfully markets this product
Re:Bad Case of Wall Warts? (Score:4, Funny)
...even "Linux Lump" might have been more prudent for coining.
Yeah... then when you create your Beowulf cluster of these you can sing all about your lumps, your "lovely linux lumps".
Re:Bad Case of Wall Warts? (Score:5, Funny)
I'm afraid to look online to see if Plug Pal is already trademarked.
Wall wart, not WalMart (Score:2, Insightful)
I had to read this several times to realize that the OP wasn't talking about something being sold at WalMart. Maybe Michael Robertson should add this to the Linspire line.
Re:Wall wart, not WalMart (Score:5, Insightful)
You're not the only one. Scary, isn't it, how a corporation's name can get that ingrained in one's head that anything similar immediately looks like it?
I was thinking, "Well, that'll be kind of cool, if I can grab a $99 server computer at Wal-Mart."
Re:Wall wart, not WalMart (Score:4, Funny)
That's what I think every time I see a mention to GM food [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Would that be Chevrolet corn, or Pontiac beef?
I'd worry about the Oldsmobile green. It's made from old people.
Re: (Score:2)
I just read "Chevrolet corn" as "Chevrolet.com", demonstrating that's it not just corporate trade marks that can cause confusion, but any term that resembles another.
Re: (Score:2)
It's just brain pattern matching, it's not 'in grained' do to some corporate plan.
And yes, I thought the exact same thing.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Rather than thinking it as WalMart market dominance that forces us to read "Wall Wart" as "Wall Mart"... I prefer to consider myself and all the others who mis-read the headline as being "up-down dyslexic".
Seriously thought... 2 thoughts...
a) a "fax" receiver. although last I checked I didn't think there was a phone line port for this. I do know that I really like my older generation Mac running OSX sitting on my phoneline getting all my faxes. Would love to have a smaller machine for this.
b) the question i
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Same here. I was already thinking that a computer the size of a Wallmart might be a bit too large for my house...
One application I would go for (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Or asterisk (www.asterisk.org) for a full PBX at home
Re: (Score:2)
My Asterisk system is SIP-only.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Ideal for Asterisk PBX. No question I'll test drive my ARM port of Asterisk on this thing.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
They got a slightly larger version, not plug form unfortunately, that brings out both GigE ports, an Esata connector, and 7 USB ports(although it looks like you could only use all of them with extension cables).
200 bucks, though. Kinda pushes it.
http://globalscaletechnologies.com/p-21-openrd-client.aspx [globalscal...logies.com]
First Easy-to-Use Dev Kit (Score:5, Insightful)
It's more than that (Score:3, Insightful)
It's slightly more significant than that. It's a 1GHz ARM board with 512Mb of RAM for $100. That's maybe a 5th what you'd find in a SBC format.
Now, if only it had enough of the right kind of i/o ports to make hobbiest projects more appealing. 2x Ethernet and/or wifi would have been a good start.
Wireless Version (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Wireless Version (Score:5, Informative)
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.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
It could easily kill you if you start chaining power strips together trying to set up a beowolf cluster of these. Chained power strips is a fire hazard.
Re: (Score:2)
Assuming reasonable power strips, why is it a fire hazard? It's all hook to the same breaker, so you can't pull more then 15Amps.
Re: (Score:2)
I worked with a woman who had daisy chained 6 power strips together to make an "extension cord" to her desk (A network administrator at that) and one day we heard a really loud pop in her office. The next to the last strip in the chain went BOOM! Never daisy chain power strips.
Sensors & Home Automation (Score:5, Interesting)
More RAM (Score:4, Insightful)
If it had more RAM it'd make a great web-development server. With only 512MB Ram, I think some SQL databases might be a bit much.
I'm thinking throw a USB external HDD, or maybe just a 8GB Flash-drive on it, and "let'er-Rip"
maybe also add a second USB port, so you can add a USB WIFI adaptor, though the GigaBit ethernet sounds nice.
I can also see using one as a low-end monitoring server (Nagios), or network print server.
Re: (Score:2)
Nowadays, I suppose you'd want a SAN and a beefy server to put your DB on, then you can add an 8-way powerstrip of these things as nicely load-balanced web frontends, all connected over iSCSI to the SAN too!
That's if you need the kind of power that a 512Mb device can't handle for you - remember that a lot of web servers fitted with 512MB were considered midrange not that long ago (and it is considerably more than most people get with their VPSs)
Re: (Score:2)
8-way powerstrip of these things as nicely load-balanced web frontends
That is a very interesting idea indeed...a grand total of $830 ($30 for the powerstrip). However, other than the novelty and space savings, how would the efficiency of these things compare to a pair of "tranditional" low powered/cheap web servers ($400 each) in terms of both $/throughput and $/watt?
It would allow for easy/cheap capacity planning. $100 for an extra node in your webserver cluster...guess this would be a poor mans implementation of blade servers.
Looks like pogoplug... (Score:4, Funny)
These things are largely useless (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:These things are largely useless (Score:4, Insightful)
Sorry, you can get a router with half a gig of internal storage, half a gig of RAM, a 1.2GHz chip and a USB port for less than 99 bucks?
I call bullshit.
Combine with other technology and enjoy (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Torrentflux-b4rt (with transmission underneath) runs adequately on an NSLU2. On the Sheevaplug it runs very nicely indeed, with plenty of resources left over for mediatomb and a whole load of other stuff. And all for a few watts.
Could this save power? (Score:5, Interesting)
Our current home network setup has my wife and I primarily using laptops. Our printer, however, is shared out by a desktop computer upstairs. The desktop computer also acts as a file server. (For example, keeping years' worth of photos that we wouldn't keep on the individual laptops.) While the monitor is shut off unless the desktop computer is actively being used (rarely), we would definitely save power by turning the desktop computer off. This would mean, however, that we would need to go upstairs and turn it on whenever we wanted to print or retrieve a file.
I wonder how much energy these wall wart servers draw. If it's less than a standard desktop PC (which I build back in 2002), then it might be worth it to buy one, hook up a large USB HDD and the printer and share those out. Anyone know if this is possible (laptop & desktop computers currently run Windows XP)? If it is possible, any ideas how much power (if any) I would save?
Re:Could this save power? (Score:5, Informative)
Take a look at this page. [cyrius.com]
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: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Unless you focused on buying power saving components or a particularly efficient power supply, it wouldn't be totally unreasonable to assume about 100W for a desktop PC at idle. This wall wart computer probably pulls down about 5W when idle. The specifications page for the product lists 19W as the capacity of the power supply and I'm sure it's rated for more than it will ever need. An external USB drive with a script that powers it down after it isn't used for a period of time probably isn't going to add
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Does your wife know about these "years' worth of photos that we wouldn't keep on the individual laptops"?
Re: (Score:2)
Our current home network setup has my wife and I primarily using laptops. Our printer, however, is shared out by a desktop computer upstairs. The desktop computer also acts as a file server. (For example, keeping years' worth of photos that we wouldn't keep on the individual laptops.) While the monitor is shut off unless the desktop computer is actively being used (rarely), we would definitely save power by turning the desktop computer off. This would mean, however, that we would need to go upstairs and turn it on whenever we wanted to print or retrieve a file.
I wonder how much energy these wall wart servers draw. If it's less than a standard desktop PC (which I build back in 2002), then it might be worth it to buy one, hook up a large USB HDD and the printer and share those out. Anyone know if this is possible (laptop & desktop computers currently run Windows XP)? If it is possible, any ideas how much power (if any) I would save?
In the New England region of the US, one desktop computer, left on 24 hours per day but idle most of the time, costs about $20 per month, in very rough figures. This is with the monitor powered down.
I have no doubt that this varies by region, and it certainly varies with the class of hardware. If you're concerned about running costs, I would think seriously about undervolting / underclocking your server, ensuring that all disks spin down, and that it has a high-efficiency power supply. And, generally, mo
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
URL to purchase the wall wart (Score:5, Informative)
I wonder if USB monitors work with it (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Is the video done over USB or just the touch capability?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
free food (Score:5, Funny)
I've been trying to come up with a way to install a webcam somewhere in the department lounge so I can be the first to know when free food shows up...
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
There are a slew of little device servers that tend to be rather pricey that this device could replace. I think I paid $100 for a wireless printserver that only supports a single printer. I could run all 3 of mine off this gadget. And I could run my all in one off it, it wasn't supported by the printserver.
Scanner server (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm planning to try making one of these into a scanner server. It could potentially turn any plain old USB scanner into a network-attached scanner, using the vast array of SANE [sane-project.org] drivers available.
Initially it should be very easy just to run an instance of saned, which lets SANE frontends talk to the backend over a TCP socket. A more ambitious project would be to combine the SheevaPlug with a web-based SANE frontend... the only one I could find was phpSANE but it seems to be a dead project...
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
That would be great. The cost on double sided, "output to pdf" scanners is comming down and I'd love to not have a "fat" computer attached to one just so I can scan my mail. Scanner + wall wart server on the entryway table, with a trash can right below it. Scan and trash. W00t.
Logitech Duet (Score:5, Interesting)
So, the idea is... (Score:2)
"We want this device to be in your TV, your stereo system, your DVD player.'"
Kinda like this [sigmadesigns.com]?
It's not necessarily bad to be second. First-place sometimes gets the arrow in the chest. And you duck the incoming. But media server? In my DVD player? Well, maybe right after you make a remote that works, and we find a way past the CableCard fiasco. Until then, I welcome our alien Hulu-spewing overlords. That has promise.
ps - Sorry for the PDF. I'm feeling retro this weekend.
New? (Score:2)
im in ur stereo, sharing ur tun3z!
Seriously, what's the novelty here? This sort of thing [wikipedia.org] has been available for a long time. Maybe not pre-packaged into a wall plug, but certainly small enough that they could have been. Is it just that this one is pre-made and relatively cheap?
Re: (Score:2)
Single board computers and small embedded boards generally, tend either to be very expensive for their spec(in the case of dev units and relatively low volume industrial hardened stuff, like most PC104 boards) or super cheap; but rather hostile to would-be modders(in the case of mass market consumer stuff, like most consoles and cell phones).
This one has the convenience of mass mark
downloads + vpn (Score:2, Interesting)
I've wanted an ultra-low power solution for these two reasons (but mostly the first):
1. Overnight downloads ( usually bittorrent ). There's no reason to leave my entire PC turned on, when all I really need is an internet connection and storage. Combine this with a high capacity SD card and power savings should be huge.
2. VPN / remote desktop. While at work, I often find it useful to connect to my home machine for various reasons. It could be for a secure IM connection, or it could be just to have acce
P2P (Score:2)
Re:P2P (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm doing just that with a Buffalo Linkstation Live. It's sold as a network drive, but it is a complete ARM server running Linux, at least after you install a proper distro. At 400 MHz and 128 MB, it's not as powerful as this wall wart, but on the other hand it has a proper SATA drive.
http://www.nas-central.org/index.php/Main_Page [nas-central.org]
Obligatory (Score:2)
I can't wait till someone installs Linux on it, and creats a beowulf cluster!
A secure personal network (Score:5, Interesting)
VPN'd to all your friends and family.
Cruciall feature being trivial vpn config support.
Memcache (Score:2)
This could be a space- and capital-efficient way to have many memcache servers. That was my first thought when I saw this.
X-10 gone wild (Score:5, Interesting)
Problem is that most of these functions would be happy without their own local CPU, but if the CPUs do drop below the $50 price point, it could be feasible to just have local CPUs anyway for data integrity, local signal processing, autonomous operation in the event of network failure, etc.
Did it strike anyone else as lame that the MIT dude said he'd have it run a spam filter?
Re: (Score:2)
Why would a spam filter be lame? It's quite elegant compared to the canonical "old P3 in the closet" that people use.
Europe (Score:3)
When will these devices become available in Europe?
So far, i've only seen units designed for use in the US, which means they have a physically incompatible plug (and thus require a bulky adapter) and require 110V whereas european sockets provide 240V...
Re: (Score:2)
So far, i've only seen units designed for use in the US, which means they have a physically incompatible plug (and thus require a bulky adapter) and require 110V whereas european sockets provide 240V...
According to the feature list [globalscal...logies.com], it handles 100-240VAC/50-60Hz. So you may need a plug adapter, but the voltage isn't an issue.
well that's a simple answer (Score:2)
buy 9 more and cluster them. Then you can rent out processing time on your cluster.
Re: (Score:2)
That would be almost as fast as my Pentium 4 was!
compute farm (Score:2)
Sorry if this was mentioned in the article...
It would be nifty to get a bunch and hook them up as cheap compute farm.
PogoPlug+Wifi+Webcam+LockerRoom (Score:3, Insightful)
=profit!!
they do make USB Hubs (Score:2, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, but at that point you're starting to break out of the form factor.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
quite likely for either Marvell or third parties to build slightly more expensive and substantially more functional versions of the device.
Bingo. This product is simply their entry into the market. It IS quite likely that it will eventually be $40, but there will still be a $99 ******Plug, uncoincidentally containing a couple of the upgraded features dev's will want to utilize.
Re: (Score:2)
As mentioned further up http://www.globalscaletechnologies.com/p-22-sheevaplug-dev-kit.aspx [globalscal...logies.com]
I got mine from them, I'm in the UK.
Though that's the original SheevaPlug dev kit, not the PogoPlug that TFA talks about. Same hardware, different software.
Re: (Score:2)
...and even then it seems to get confused.
It doesn't seem to know how to ship to my rather mundane suburban (US) address.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Do you want to hack my TV, my stereo system and my DVD player?
You're close. "They" want to preinstall spyware and otherwise bend the product to their own purposes.
The smarter these devices get, the easier they can be used to subvert the interests of the consumer. And for some reason, we usually put up with it...
The makers of such time bombs should bear the full responsibility of intrusions through vulnerabilities found in their products.
They are counting on that. They know you'll just buy another one when your TV mysteriously slows down. You did with your computer, and those companies made a KILLING off of you. Why not the TV companies, too?
Re: (Score:2, Troll)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
then people would race for "Second post"
Re:Automatic FRIST POST generator? (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe they could completely miss the point, and add power over ethernet!
Re: (Score:2)
Clustering is, except in wildly unusual cases, something you do out of necessity, because your problem is too large to run on a single computer and you don't have enough money for one of the Real Serious Supercomputers. Looking at some benchmarks [cowlark.com] suggests that, for integer operations, this thing comes in about as fast as a 1GHz Athlon(it has no FPU, so don't even bother with floats). That is not at all bad for 5-10 watts; but it isn't even close to "fast" by the standards of