Posts tagged with “linux”
Putting a Fit-PC to Good Use.
In the earlier portion of this year, I bought a Fit-PC and did a little messing with it. It is pretty much your standard linux machine, except for the fact that it’s in this terribly small, low-power, package.
Originally I was trying to turn it into a backup appliance with one of those fancy web-interfaces that let you control pretty much everything - so that I could turn around and sell this little appliance. Eventually, a software only solution was found that would make it cheaper which would make it easier to sell a backup service to clients.
Since the software solution was found, the Fit-PC laid mostly dormant. Its initial use was no longer available and it would have to be repurposed. The idea of using it as a robot controller was tossed around, but without a robot to control - it still had no purpose. Then I started using it as a development server. I mean seriously, how awesome is it to always have a server available in your house that doesn’t create any significant heat or noise?
Even as a development server, I used it in a fairly light-weight capacity. It really was more of a testing server before final deployment. And since the projects that I’ve been needed to run through QA are nearing completion - even the task as a development server is slowly ending.
So end of the road right? Nothing really for this awesome machine to really do. Think again. I realized that between the various computers that I have, that there is easily a terabyte or so of disk space. I generally don’t keep those machines running since they create considerable heat and noise. So what I am doing now, is removing various drives, one by one, and putting them in USB enclosures. I already have Samba setup on the Fit-PC to share out /media (where USB drives get mounted), and since the system can handle USB drives suddenly becoming unavailable - I can just turn the drives off when I don’t need anything from them.
To make things even nicer, I have a network controlled power switch. I can connect from anywhere in the world, turn the drives on, download what I need from them via whatever means I want, and then turn them off again. This will prolong the life of these drives, since as we all know, the controllers in most USB drives are not smart enough to spin down the hard drive to prolong its life.
09:53 AM | Tags: projects, linux