[Beowulf] Clusters and Distro Lifespans

[Andrew M.A. Cater]

Robert G. Brown wrote:
> On Fri, 21 Jul 2006, Jim Lux wrote:
>
>> That's sort of the model, though.. Except with the disk drive built 
>> in. There ARE small network attached storage devices available, 
>> intended for the home server market, but last time I looked (about a 
>> year ago), they all seemed to require loading a special application 
>> on your PC or MAC for access, probably so they could implement some 
>> sort of future Digital Rights Management.  The market is so 
>> competitive, I can't imagine that they'd make money with the hardware 
>> alone, so I assume their  idea would be to get decent penetration, 
>> and then sell the capability to, for instance, store (legally) 
>> downloaded music and/or video in connection with a third party 
>> content provider.  They all had quasi whizbang media player type 
>> software that ran in connection with their thing (store your MP3s on 
>> our server and play them on your PC!).
>
> Righty-ho, but if you get two little paperback USB drives and work for a
> minute or two with duct tape, you can accomplish "built in".  Or if you
> prefer you could put a swatch of velcro on the sides of the slug and
> bottom of the drive -- that would make it a bit simpler to remove them.
>
>   rgb
>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> -- 
>>> Gerald Davies
>>> ---------------------------------------------
>>> w: http://www.geralddavies.com
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf at beowulf.org
>>> To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit 
>>> http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf at beowulf.org
>> To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit 
>> http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf
>>
>
The NSLU2 approach really works: I've also seen a ?? Linksys / Netgear
?? home storage appliance - "toaster" - which basically has space for 2
x IDE drives, built in Ethernet and Wi-Fi. My assumption is that this,
too is running an embedded Linux under the hood. Might be OK for a cheap
all in one storage for say 600G for home. [Andy, busy building Linux
software RAIDs to get to a terabyte of cheap storage here]

A colleague at work has asked me whether an NSLU2 will support multiple
drives through a USB hub when reflashed. Can't see why not: you could
potentially get a 7 port hub, 7 x external cases and 7x drives. Cost 3W
of power for the NSLU and whatever it takes for the USB2 drives :)

I've got a spare "slug" here and one I've put Debian on :) Can expriment
if requested :)

[Sorry for any inadvertent mailer nonsense - using Thunderbird rather
than my usual command line :) ]
Andy