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It's not just a low-priced small-office server appliance anymore. With its latest Qube 3 server, Cobalt Networks Inc. has done the seemingly impossible: turned an appliance into a complete and viable platform. We won't say that it's the equal of NetWare, Unix or Windows platforms, but the Linux-based Qube 3 is turning into an attractive powerhouse of its own.
Outwardly, the Qube 3 appears similar to its predecessors: It's just a chunky plastic box with a hard disk, processor board, network interface and hard drive. What sets the Qube 3 apart from other server appliances are the tools and programs for creating additional apps, not just the rich array of built-in applications. What sets it apart from other Linux-based boxes is the operating system is completely hidden; all the users and administrators need to know is that the applications run on a Qube 3.
Small Blue Box
Physically, the Qube 3 is an 8-inch cube with a power switch, LCD status display, serial port, two 10/100 Ethernet ports, USB connector and Ultra-Wide SCSI connector. There are three versions of the Qube 3: a standard edition with a 300MHz processor, 32-MB RAM and a 10-GB hard disk for $999; and a business edition with 64-MB RAM and a 20- GB hard disk for $1,499. We reviewed the top-end professional Qube 3, that had a 450MHz x86 processor, 128-MB RAM (expandable to 512-MB) and two 20-GB hard drives configured for software-based RAID 1 (mirroring) for $1,999. The Qube 3 also has a single half-size PCI slot. We understand that Cobalt is trying to keep the prices down, but those drives are strangely small-we would like to see 40-GB drives in the base model, and 60-MB or 80-MB drives in the business and professional models.
Even with RAID 1, it would be a mistake to call the Qube 3 "high- availability" hardware; there's no redundant hardware and only a single power supply. Because the AC power supply is external, however, it would be easy enough to replace it; we would recommend that Qube 3 administrators keep a spare on hand. We would also like to see a Qube 3 designed for the business environment-a 1U or 2U- high rack-mountable unit, perhaps with dual power supplies and hot-...