little boxes [was: DECtop]

[Ansar Mohammed]

I was looking for some small boxen recently.

I used netier terminals retro-fitted with laptop ide disks..

They work great, are small and has even a PCI slot :)


On 6/25/07, Dave Cramer <davec-zxk95TxsVYDyHADnj0MGvQC/G2K4zDHf at public.gmane.org> wrote:
>
>
> On 25-Jun-07, at 2:18 PM, John Van Ostrand wrote:
> On Mon, 2007-06-25 at 13:31 -0400, D. Hugh Redelmeier wrote:
> I'm a sucker for little boxes.
> Me too. I have some business cases where I can use appliance like devices.
> Things like firewalls, Asterisk systems, network monitoring appliances, etc.
>
> I would love to hear what people are using for devices like that.
>
>
> have a look at www.embeddedarm.com  I use these quite a bit, very reliable,
> runs linux albeit 2.4.x kernel currently
>
> What is missing that I'd like:

- serial port (usb + dongle would do, except
> for "serial console")

- more ethernet

- HD expansion?
>
> My main issue would be more Ethernet, nix the video, go with serial console
> and add external flash slot. Minimum Ethernet is 2 with options for 4. USB
> Ethernet would be tough since USB doesn't have good retention and I'd hate
> to see it fall out when brushed. Flash makes a great place to store
> configuration so replacing a dead unit is easy. A single PCI slot would also
> be good. PoE would be great with an optional power brick when needed.
>
> I'd really like to see three case options: 19" rack mount, wall mount and
> desk-top boxes. The PICs look great for a desk-top box. I'd want the 19"
> rack to have all the ports on front and look like a switch or router. The
> wall mount would essentially be the same as the rackmount.
>
> They probably take more power than non-x86 little boxes.
>
> Low enough for PoE would be great, less than a standard PC would be fully
> expected.
>
> In theory wireless routers are great cheap hackable boxes. Some even
come
> with USB2.0.
>
> But they can't be branded and many look too "consumer".
>
> Here's *my* dilemma: I want to see this in the sub $300 range, case
> included.
>
> The EPIA mini ITX are almost there, we just need a cost effective case.
>
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