[SGVLUG] Idea for New PC

[Charles Wyble]

Emerson, Tom (*IC) wrote:
> Heh heh heh -- I somewhat expected a knee-jerk reaction in response to
> posting a WORD attachment to a Linux list [and the HTML version won't be
> far behind, especially considering it only added marginal "niceness" to
> the formatting of the content] but that aside, let's see what we're
> talking about:
>   

Well.... some of us have moved beyond that Tom. :)
>
> -----Original Message----- Of Arthur Baldwin
>
> [...] pasted version: 
>
>
> JCBrick
>  
> *        Core 2 Duo Processor with at least 800 MHz FSB (Ultra low power
> laptop type CPU soldered on board with fan-less heatsink)
>  
> *        Must have 2 or more Gigabyte LAN ports
>  
> *        Must have optional power supply designs for either car
> operation or home operation.
>  
> *        All chips must be reliably soldered onto motherboard - no
> sockets.
>
> [TE] OK so far -- you're obviously conserned about vibration -- you
> might want to do searches on "industrial" computers, i.e., computers
> used on machine-shop floors and the like (where vibration from heavy
> machinery will exist...)
>   

Yep. You would be surprised at how much off the shelf hardware with 
solid state drives can
survive. For example see Microsoft and Intel experiments of late.
>  
> *        Must have two high speed solid state "disk drives" using "thumb
> drive chips" (one 16 GB and one 8 GB minimum) soldered onto motherboard
> with no USB conversion stages to slow down data transfer.  (drive
> letters C and D).
>
> [TE] why "two drives"?  Again, from a Linux/Unix perspective, all disk
> space is a single "drive" (from the "root" on downwards...) 

There is more in the world then Linux. :) Perhaps he posted to numerous 
lists/groups of different skill sets / backgrounds? :)
>  At the
> physical layer, partitioning and multiple spindles (physical drives) may
> exist, but often they are conglomerated using RAID and LVM (volume
> management) so they appear to the rest of the system/OS as a single
> "device"
>   

This is possible on Windows as well.  Windows/Linux also support 
software raid which is probably what one wants in the
device being described here. A hardware raid controller adds needless 
complexity.
> [TE] Also, I don't think you'll be able to get away from the USB
> conversion -- the "thumb drive 'chips'" are already designed with a USB
> interface as the control circuit
>   

Well the word is Solid State Storage. It comes in many form factors not 
just usb key chain. So it's easy to not need conversion.
> [TE] finally, specifically referencing them as "C and D" implies use of
> Windows -- that won't get far on a Linux oriented list...
>   

*rolls eyes*
>  
>  
> *        Must NOT have any Keyboard, Mouse, standard serial, parallel,
> FDD, SATA, or IDE interfaces
>
> [TE] Again, why not?  Sure, all of these can be found in USB versions,
> but declaring them as "forbidden" might eliminate an otherwise
> satisfactory off-the-shelf design...
>   

I agree with this as well.
>  
> *        Must have built in IR transceiver device that is exposed on
> front panel
>
> [TE] have you considered bluetooth?  I would imagine a standard "remote
> control" could be adapted to BT technology fairly easily, and by going
> wireless you eliminate the need for "line of sight", so you could put
> this BEHIND the home stereo or in the trunk and still be able to control
> it from a handheld device.  You could even use a bluetooth "mouse" [or a
> combo unit, such as the wiimote]
>   

Increased power consumption and price make bluetooth unattractive  in 
many applications. This may be one of them.

<snip>


-- 
Charles Wyble (818) 280 - 7059
http://charlesnw.blogspot.com
CTO Known Element Enterprises / SoCal WiFI project