Need suggestions - Looking to deploy system on "small" server

[epicwinter]

I am in the midst of deploying a software system that has a lightweight
server component. In a lot of the facilities we are deploying it are
not local and we are restricted from outside network access to the
server and thus can not perform remote support or updates very easily.


The solution we are leaning towards is to have the customer fedex the
server to us for major updates or system failures. So I am researching
a small and lightweight box that can serve as this server to reduce
cost and hassles of mailing it.

I will be running linux on this system and require networking, a usb
port and some decent power/memory capability/

I have seen:
http://www.smallpc.com/

But am looking for alternatives....Any suggestions?
-thanks

 

[kony]

I am in the midst of deploying a software system that has a lightweight
server component.

What does "server component" mean?
An entire small server or something that plugs into an
existing server or ???

In a lot of the facilities we are deploying it are
not local and we are restricted from outside network access to the
server and thus can not perform remote support or updates very easily.

This is what manuals and a good user-interface are for. It
should be designed so THEY can support it with the
information you provide, and update it too.

The solution we are leaning towards is to have the customer fedex the
server to us for major updates or system failures.

Do they really need your software or server at all then?
Doesn't seem very necessary if they can just do without it
while it's being FedExed back and forth.

So I am researching
a small and lightweight box that can serve as this server to reduce
cost and hassles of mailing it.

Do you really anticipate that many hardware problems?
Since you don't seem to have the hardware picked out yet I'd
suggest chosing something that _won't_ be subject to
significant enough hardware problems that this would be
necessary.

Provide a means to update firmware, and/or whole OS if
necessary. At worst, put a CF slot on it so the firmware or
OS pops out and they're just mailing a CF card back to you.

I will be running linux on this system and require networking, a usb
port and some decent power/memory capability/

"Decent" doesn't tell us a whole lot. What are the minimum
true requirements? Too many people would simply suggest a
Pentium 4 3GHz type setup when it's possible a Celeron 600
plus 128MB of memory would be overkill. Very small and
light boxes inherantly have lesser heatsinks, fans,
(usually) power too, so optimizing for actual needs could be
pretty important IF you really want an entire system that's
small and lightweight to ship.j What about Via Epia and
it's ilk?

 

[epicwinter]

Thanks but no thanks for the design lecture.

I am looking at options like the mac mini or the shuttle. Something
that I can throw linux on. Most of these fanless options don't have
quite enough power for what i need it for.

Any suggestions of alternatives to the shuttle that are linux friendly?

 

[Bennett Price]

Is a laptop out of the question?

 

[epicwinter]

not completely but i would worry it would overheat in an extended use
situation as such.