Plat'Home LIVE

Plat'Home MicroServer in O'Reilly hardware hacks book

2008-10-29T01:48:00.000-07:00

The Plat'Home OpenBlockS is featured prominently in the O'Reilly book "Small Form Factor PCs" by Matthew Weaver and Duane Wessels (of squid proxy fame).

The book's chapter 7 describes in detail how to configure the OpenBlockS as a small, carry-everywhere firewall to hook between a PC and the Internet. A handy example they mention is when installing new Windows machines: Between the first connection to the Internet and the time all patches are installed, the machine is vulnerable to attacks. A handy tool for everyone in onsite first-level support.

The explanations are detailed and hands-on. Even though it's filled to the brim with shell commands and console output the text is informative and easy to read. There is even a guide how to solder a cable to power the unit from a USB port (no, this is not covered by our warranty).

As the guide was written in 2006, it mentiones that all documentation is only available in Japanese. Even though the author claims it was fun to figure it all out, we want to make your life a little easier.
You don't have to worry about Japanese anymore, everything you need is available in English now: firmware, manuals, FAQ and support.

We're glad that the authors discovered our MicroServer and we wholeheartedly recommend this book. If you have a hacking streak and need a small firewall box to carry everywhere, this is for you!

Get your own OpenBlockS at the SysKey Web Shop, and the book at O'Reilly: "Small Form Factor PCs"

I'd like to thank Matt Sarrel for pointing the book out to me.

Final Results: Chicken Sitter

2008-10-21T15:16:00.000-07:00

Gordon Smith of Lakewood, CO, talks about protecting his chickens from raccoons:

The Story

As a practitioner of the software arts, my lack of electronics knowledge has always bothered me. I've browsed a few books and tinkered a bit, but aside from that could I find a useful project to bring on some learning fun?

I pondered that question one night while gazing at the moon. It was bright enough to see raccoons high in a tree next door, which sent me briefly into a panic trying to remember if I had shut the door on the chicken coop. Four small spring chickens have little to protect them at night - aside from someone or something remembering to close the coop door. Perhaps something could remember better than someone to close the door? Would a silicon "Chicken Sitter" be a feasible project?

Feasible or not, a chicken sitter would need a brain. At least enough of one to observe and count the chickens as they come into the coop in the evening, and then close the door.

The Brain

While cruising the intertubes in search of a small computer to use in the project, the Plat'Home OpenMicroServer made an appearance. In a tidy little box, it had USB and serial ports, and a few digital I/O (DIO) ports. More importantly, there was no fan or disk drive to get choked up with dust. And to top it all off, the Plat'Home "Will Linux Work?" contest was looking to give one away to a lucky contestant with the most appealing idea of how to test the server's mettle in a mildly abusive but productive situation.

Luckily for the Chicken Sitter project, Plat'Home generously provided a server to four different projects and the Chicken Sitter was just popular enough to win the fourth server.

As seen above, the server is little larger than two CD cases. It is a MIPS based unit that comes preinstalled with a specialized Linux distribution (SSD/Linux) that is a breeze to configure and update. SSD/Linux is also easily installed on a separate i386 machine to provide a cross compilation environment.

The Plan

The plan is to use an inexpensive webcam with IR capability to see in the dark, along with a computer vision library to count the chickens. To determine when dusk occurs, the server will run SNTP (simple network time protocol) and query another server to determine when sundown occurs each day. A document scanner has been sacrificed to provide a stepper motor controller and power supply to open and close the coop door.

The software required includes the Linux drivers for the webcam and the network adapter, the SNTP client, the OpenCV computer vision library and an application to tie everything together.

Current Progress

The webcam with IR has been installed and used successfully on a centOS Linux system.

A colleague is "assisting with" (i.e. doing) the stepper motor electronics. The motor has been manually run using a quadrature encoding circuit. The OMS can interface to the quadrature circuit to drive the motor or produce the quadrature encoding itself to drive the motor controller directly.

The drivers and software await a working cross compile environment. Issues are being worked, so far due primarily to operator error. There is a decent amount of documentation on SSD/Linux on the Plat'Home web site to help with this.

Conclusion Before the Fact

The Plat'Home OpenMicroServer is an ideal fit to accomplish the Chicken Sitter task. It fits unobtrusively and quietly in a corner of the chicken coop and has the hardware and software capability to accomplish the required tasks. The chickens will be very fortunate to have such a capable attendant.

Final Results: Home Utility Support System

2008-10-21T14:07:00.000-07:00

Martin Ewing of Branford, CT, gives seriously awesome detail on building his Home Utility Support System:

Scope of Project
Prototype development of a system to monitor and control home heating and hot water systems with the objective of providing engineering and economic analysis to allow the homeowner to minimize costs and increase the effectiveness of the home's utility systems. The system is to be based on the Linux-based Plat'Home Open Micro Server to be supported by additional open-source software solutions.

Hardware System

OMS 400 server, 128 MB RAM
Compact Flash Card, 2 GB (SanDisk Versa II)
DLP Design DLP-IO8-G USB-Based 8-channel data acquisition module
Maxim DS18B20+ temperature sensors (2) for ambient and hot water monitors
Encore ENRXWI-G Wireless LAN Extender
Custom built interfaces for oil furnace, heating zone and domestic hot water circulators

Software Tools

Plat'Home SSD/Linux, version 0.4-20080727/2.6.16.
SSD packages for Apache (web server), Python 2.4, ssh, vim
Graphics support via gnuplot
All code developed in Python

Discussion
In its current stage, the application monitors the outdoor temperature and the temperature of the outlet pipe of our hot water heat exchanger. (Our domestic hot water is generated by flowing hot water from the furnace “boiler” through a heat exchanger by means of a circulator pump. Temperature at the outlet port depends on current hot water demand, as well as the water thermostat set point.) We also sample the state (on/off) of the furnace oil burner, the hot water circulator, and the three house heating “zones”. The operating cost of our system is proportional to the “on” time of the burner. Our objective, after analysis, is to minimize that cost, subject to weather conditions, etc.

The initial phase of the project was completed in about 3 weeks' elapsed time, demonstrating the rapid prototyping capabilities of the OMS device supporting the powerful Linux environment combined with the Python system. Several days of data acquisition have been run. A sample data display generated by gnuplot is shown in Figure 3. Plots like this will be available on demand via the OMS Apache web server, along with statistical summaries of collected data. Full analysis will required extended operation over the heating season.

It will be possible to operate the application, once fully debugged, though remote web access, thus being available to any authorized computer on the Internet, for example, to the homeowner who is traveling.

Comments on the Plat'Home OpenMicroServer

Hardware

The OMS-AL400/128 is a powerful and well-packaged system based on a 400 MHz RMI Alchemy au1550 (MIPS architecture). The data logging (in production mode) requires well under 1% of CPU capacity. The great benefit of the system is in the development environment (a full version of Linux) that supports advanced networking and language tools, such as the powerful rapid development language Python. Having substantial CPU and RAM availability permits intensive analysis and display options that are being put to use in CGI-driven web displays, supported by the powerful Apache web server.

SSD/Linux, provided by Plat'Home, has an advanced USB capability that auto-recognizes our DLP data acquisition module, saving a lot of development effort. It was only a matter of minutes to connect our Python application to real-world analog input, digital in/out, and temperature readings.

The physical package is suitable for installation in moderately unfriendly environments such as a typical home basement. Its small size, low power, and wide operating temperature range are also well suited to our environment.

Plat'Home's documentation discusses the issues involved in using Compact Flash memory as a solid state disk. In some applications, lifetime (maximum number of write operations) can be a problem. Our application is not particularly strenuous in this regard. Using an inexpensive CF card as a disk substitute is a big plus in our semi-industrial environment. Nearly unlimited RAM and/or hard drive capacity may be attached through the USB or Ethernet ports, thanks to the versatile networking support.

If the current application were to be produced commercially, it could be made to fit entirely in the 128 MB RAM without CF support. There is little need to do so at this point, since we make good use of the development tools, and CF is not particularly expensive. Nonvolatile storage, like CF, is desirable to protect logs against power outages.

Software

The OMS 400 is supported by the Plat'Home SSD/Linux distribution, which offers a selection of the most widely used Linux tools. Plat'Home provides a file repository for downloading software packages as required. There is also an option to install the Debian Linux distribution, which offers an even wider spectrum of tools and applications, along with frequent software updates.

We have taken advantage of many common Linux-based tools for this project, including gcc, Python, vim, gnuplot, ssh, and Apache. A live Internet connection (via Ethernet and a WiFi bridge) also permits real time clock synchronization via ntp, along with web and ssh access.

Software developed for this project will be made available as Open Source, under terms of the GPL v 3.0.

Areas for Improvement in the OMS 400 product

While the OMS device has been great to work with overall, there are naturally some problems that arose in the course of our work. This is a list of some of these:

The Alchemy au1550 processor works very well, and potentially can be supported by cross-compilation on an x86 Linux platform. However, an x86-compatible chip would be somewhat more convenient for development, other things being equal.
For an application like ours, it would be handy to have more DIO, A/D, and D/A capability on board, comparable to the DLP device we are using. Or, perhaps, a empty space where a customer supplied interface could be installed. However, external USB connected devices are not a great problem.
The limitations on CF write cycles are still a bit mysterious. It would be helpful if there were a monitor that could tell us the actual number of physical writes that an application creates over time. (Perhaps this exists in Linux already.)
It appears that the Python 2.4 package is not supported, even though provided in the SSD repository. It does not install for us. (The documentation warns that not all packages are guaranteed to work. This is disappointing!) We had to compile from source. The good news is that the OMS platform does have the ability to compile large software packages. The bad news is that Python did not correctly compile, although the result was usable.
We have also had unresolved difficulties in getting sendmail (or postfix) to operate. Sending results by email would benefit this application. In general, we would expect a standard Linux distribution like Debian would provide easier access to Python and sendmail.
Some physical details:

The OMS box does not have mounting tabs that would make it easy to install against a vertical wall, as required in our case.
The case is not sealed against a dusty or dirty environment. It may be acceptable in our environment, but more positive seals would increase operating confidence.
When installing in an environment with electrical equipment interfaces, it is desirable to have a definite case ground connection. The cable clamp screw can be used, but it is not ideal for this purpose. A separate grounding post would be useful.

Conclusion

The OMS 400 server has provided an ideal tool for implementing the Home Utility Support System. While this project could have been implemented with a standard PC, the operating environment is marginal for normal PC hardware. The OMS 400's combination of compact, robust packaging and nonvolatile flash disk, along with the power of its Linux operating environment, were ideal for this application.

We are grateful for generous support from Plat'Home Co., Ltd. that made this work possible.

Final Results: Irrigation Monitoring System

2008-10-21T12:29:00.000-07:00

Play-by-play from Colin Duplantis, Rough and Ready, CA, as he sets up his irrigation monitoring system with the OpenMicroServer:

9/16/08 8:13 AM PDT
I unwrapped the Plat'Home OpenMicroServer. It's about the size of a VHS tape, maybe a little longer. I connected the server to my network via it's eth0 RJ45 jack and plugged it in. Lights 1,2 and 4 lit up in sequence in cycles. I searched briefly for light 3, but no luck.

I gave it time to boot up and checked my router DHCP lease table assuming that the unit defaulted to DHCP, but there was no new entry for the server. I then resorted to reading the startup guide and found very clearly in the instructions the default IP addresses for each interface on the server. Very helpful. Armed with this new information, I connected to the server's webserver via eth0. I logged in, set the hostname and domain name. Now, since I'm following instructions for a change, I executed save-and-reboot. After the server booted up again, I set the NTP server to “pool.ntp.org”. Whoops, I can't do that, the webserver won't accept a non-IP address. Undaunted, I looked it up: 72.167.54.201. I needed to save and reboot again, I guess I should have done it all at once. I waited a bit before rebooting so I make all the changes at once. I next added a new user “rainbird”, and removed the default existing user, “user1”. I moved on to the networking tab. I changed the default gateway to “192.168.1.1” and changed eth0 to the fixed IP 192.168.1.93. I set eth1 and eth2 to DHCP just in case I want to use them later. I added 192.168.1.1 as the DNS resolver. Again, I needed to reboot for this. I rebooted at that time because if the changes were correct, I should then have been able to contact the box on my network in general instead of via a cable connected from my laptop. Yay, it came up correctly. The time was now accurate (it uses UTC as it's TZ, which is fine). OK, the box was set up and running as a happy citizen on my LAN. The time was 8:46 AM, so all this took about 30 minutes.

The next step was to figure out how to get my applications onto the box. There was no SSH, but telnet was there. As is frequently the case, login as root is forbidden, so I tried my new user, “rainbird”. I couldn't log in as rainbird either because when I created the user via the webserver, it didn't create a homedir. And I deleted “user1”, whoops. Luckily, I was able to ftp in as “rainbird” and saw that /home/user1 still existed. I recreated “user1” via the web interface (using the UID it had before, not the UID it offers me). I was then able to telnet in as user1 and su to root. As root, I created “/home/rainbird” and set ownership to “rainbird:users”.

To run my irrigation controller, I needed cron, perl, and java. I first executed “crontab -e” and added “* * * * * touch /tmp/file” and saved. I checked the crontab with “crontab -l” and got the results I expected. The file got created after a bit, so cron was installed and running. Very good. Now I need perl and java.

Neither perl nor Java was installed by default, so I needed to figure out what chip is in the OpenMicroServer. I determined that the chip was a MIPS chip, so it was off to Dr. Google to find what I need. I found that Kaffe alleges to offer a Linux/MIPS port (I later found this information on Plat'Home's website including links to the Kaffe page with the version they got working). The OpenMicroServer itself has no compiler so I needed to do some cross-compiling for perl and Kaffe. Hey, here's something interesting: reading the glossy literature that comes with the box told me that the chip is an RMI Alchemy MIPS chip which happens to be the same chip the Sun Ray from Sun Microsystems uses. I found out that Sun has a 1.4.2 MIPS SE JRE available. I would need to do a little back-porting of the irrigation control software to remove generics, but that's certainly possible. In order to test the Sun version, I just needed to determine the glibc version and the endianness of the chip. While I was searching, I also tried to figure out what Linux distribution was running on the OpenMicroServer. Ah, SSD/Linux, according to the Plat'Home webpage. I found three Sun JREs to try for big and little endian glibc 2.2.5/2.3.2. I'll see if any of them function properly. I took a break at 9:30am PDT.

9/17/08 08:03 AM PDT
I tried to ftp the JREs I found from Sun to the box and found out that the box had very little disk space built in. I would have to attach an external device. I read the documentation some more and found that the OpenMicroServer has an internal slot for a Compact Flash card that can be used for disk space.

9/23/08 08:02 AM PDT
I bought an 8GB CF card. I opened the OpenMicroServer by removing a few screws.

The card slot was easy to find and it went in with no problems.

I closed the box and rebooted. Upon reboot, I found that the rainbird homedir I added was gone. At the time, I wasn't sure what happened there, but I readded the user1 via the web interface, telneted in as user1, re-added the rainbird home dir as root, and all was well. I found instructions on the Plat'Home webpage for formatting the CF card and had no problems at all. While I was on the Plat'Home webpage, I found out why the user homedir went away when I rebooted: I needed to update the boot RAM: flashcfg -s /etc/flashcfg. I now had sufficient disk space and was ready to resume my experimentations with Java. Plat'Home recommends the Kaffe Java implementation. I also downloaded a Sun version of 1.4.2_16, but it was only a 90-day evaluation version. A little experimentation suggested that the MIPS chip is little-endian. I think I'll need to go with Kaffe after all.

9/25/08 03:37 PM PDT
I found on the Plat'Home website an SSD VMWare development instance. This was fantastic news as cross-compiling can be a bear to set up. I downloaded the SSD VMWare instance from Plat'Home and found it nicely equipped with a MIPS cross-compiler. I compiled up a Hello, World C program and ran it on the OpenMicroServer and had success the first time out. Next, I'll try to compile up Kaffe using the cross-compiler and see if it works.

9/26/08 11:52 AM PDT
After a fair bit of fussing, I was able to built Kaffe version 1.1.7 on the VM for mipsel-linux. I transferred it to the server and installed it. Preliminary tests were successful.

10/01/08 08:28 AM PDT
Alas, I spoke too soon. It turns out that the Kaffe JVM is pretty unstable. I can either try an earlier version or port my software to C++ which can run natively. I think I will pursue the latter.

10/05/08 07:53 AM PDT
I ported a simplified version of my irrigation control software to C++ for a trial run. I installed in on the OpenMicroServer and connected it to my irrigation controller via its RS232 interface.

Let there be water!

Final Results: GPS Monitoring System

2008-10-21T12:18:00.000-07:00

Feedback from Steve Castellotti of El Cerrito, CA:

I received my OpenMicroServer a short time ago but have already began making progress on my project.

Connecting to the Web Settings Tool proved no problem and I was soon up and running on my home network.

The first step I took was to install a 4 GB Compact Flash Microdrive, in order to act as a local storage extension to the built in Flash ROM.

The next step was to connect to Plat'Home's software package repository and begin downloading a few essential components, including OpenVPN to connect to my private network, Apache for serving up custom software and content on my LAN, PostgreSQL for storing the data I would soon be collecting via RS232 from my Trimaran's engine and solar panel arrange, and Icecast for streaming mp3 via HTTP.

I had no problem connecting both my 1 TB external hard drive and iPod as additional USB Storage devices.

Most of my existing software is written in Python, so I am now in the process of stepping through cross-compilation for the 400 Mhz MIPS-based AMD Alchemy CPU. This will allow all of my data collection and storage to run unmodified on this system. I am also working on cross-compiling Samba for network file sharing and libgpod to access the mp3 music files stored on the iPod for direct streaming via Icecast.

Finally I am strongly considering shifting to a Debian based installation (running off the Compact Flash drive) in order to access an even wider community and variety of pre-packaged software. A nice feature is that I can switch between my existing operating and trying a completely new software distribution simply by swapping out Compact Flash cards.

One of the benefits I've already seen with regards the OpenMicroServer compared to similar embedded devices is the level of processing power and onboard 128 MB of RAM memory. With some systems offering as little as 8 MB of memory it is nearly impossible to compile additional software packages, let alone run them with any reasonable expectation of performance.

OpenMicroServer has not let me down.

Plat'Home Unveils Final Results of 'Will Linux Work?' Contest

2008-10-21T11:49:00.000-07:00

Today we reveled the final results of our four 'Will Linux Work?' contest winner's Linux experiments. For the past month our winners have been hard at work testing out their various environments - from the Chicken Sitter to the irrigation control device! We were floored by the type of American ingenuity that came through!

Just to recap, these were the four winning ideas and their results:

1. Steve Castellotti wanted a brain for his boat, but he was not ready for such a high IQ. He connected to Plat'Home's software package repository to download essential components, and he also connected both a 1 TB external hard drive and an iPod as additional USB Storage devices. Now monitoring and tracking on the high seas and in port are easier than ever.

2. Martin Ewing wanted to build a Home Utility Support System, and stick it in his basement in an environment somewhat questionable for a normal PC server. Software utilized during the project included gcc, Python, vim, gnuplot, ssh, and Apache. Ewing says that software developed for the project will be made under the GPLv3. The OMS's combination of compact, robust packaging and nonvolatile flash disk, along with the power of its Linux operating environment, passed the test with flying colors.

3. Colin Duplantis is building a system to control his farm's irrigation system, covering five acres, for watering lawns, providing drinking water for horses and other animals, and keeping a pond full. He had written his own version of irrigation control software. To fully test it will require running it through four seasons, so it is still "in testing," but popping open the hood, installing an 8GB CF card, and reading the manuals was enough to get his system up and running. Being willing to port his homemade irrigation control software to C++ allows him to run everything on the OMS, and interfacing with the irrigation controller via its RS232 interface has allowed him control where, when and how much water flows.

4. Gordon Smith needed someone to guard his chickens, someone reliable enough to stay up all night, someone smart enough to tell the difference between a chicken and a raccoon, and someone to close the door at the right time. His system utilizes an inexpensive webcam with IR capability to see in the dark, along with a computer vision library to count the chickens. To determine when dusk occurs, the server will run simple network time protocol (SNTP) and query another server to determine when sundown occurs each day. A stepper motor controller and power supply from a document scanner are used to open and close the coop door. Welcome home chickens!

For all details on the official results, please visit our website.

Word from the High Seas!

2008-09-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

Plat'Home recently heard from Steve Castellotti. Steve was instantly one of our favorite ideas - we were initially a little worried about the effects of salt water on the servers, but thought we would give it a go. Steve has received the OpenMicroServer and sent over some more detail on how he will be testing it out.

For the past two years I have been living aboard a trimaran in New Zealand. Like many computer professionals always working with bits and bytes can make technical accomplishments feel diminished because they are so intangible. This experience has helped provide a direct and physical hobby to enjoy and explore, working not only with one's hands but producing something that can be seen, touched, and shared. However, along with that environment comes special challenges, needs, and considerations for technology which include power consumption, physical space, reliability, and flexibility. Enter the OpenMicroServer.

My project will focus on integrating the OpenMicroServer into the existing hardware on board, and leverage the facilities of the Linux operating system to replace as many of those larger systems as possible. To begin, when at port I need a single, centralized server on the network to connect online via mobile data and act as a gateway to the internet. I also require a single repository for all of my data for work, as well as backup for my day-to-day laptop. The OpenMicroServer with a mobile connection and external hard drive attached to its USB ports will eliminate an oversized, overpowered machine that takes up far more valuable space immediately.

Next, while underway I need to be able to monitor the GPS positioning, performance data from the engine, and most importantly battery charge and discharge states from the bank. Considering the OpenMicroServer is already wired for 12 volt input and uses a maximum 3 amps of power, those savings are a huge benefit over a generic computer or even most laptops.

Finally, I am looking forward to simply experimenting with the device and coming up with new ideas as its capabilities unfold.

We are excited to hear back from Steve and be updated on the process! Stay tuned, we should have more feedback from our winners in the next couple weeks.

Thoughts from the Winners

2008-09-26T09:58:00.000-07:00

We recently heard from all the winners that they have successfully received the servers and are hard at work getting their tests set up and ready to run. At Plat'Home, we hope to receive updates soon! In the meantime, we asked a couple of our winners how they felt about winning the OpenMicroServer and to describe their idea in a bit more detail.

We thought we would share some of the interesting initial thoughts straight from the minds of the winners:

Martin Ewing:

"I have an affinity for Open Software Systems, and I was tickled to have the chance to apply this device to some real-world problems. Because of the increasing cost of home heating and cooling systems, there is an urgent need for intelligent monitoring, control, and analysis tools allowing homeowners to know how well their system is working, so they can improve efficiency and reduce costs. The OpenMicroServer (OMS) may be the right combination of robust packaging, communications, processing, and flexible I/O for such an application. My initial objective is to connect the device to monitor operation of a "hydronic" heating and domestic hot water system. The OMS can collect data autonomously for web display and download to a local PC or through an Internet connection. High-level programming tools (hopefully, Python) should allow tailoring the system for specific installations with minimal programming skills. Longer term, the system can be enhanced to support intelligent control strategies for utility systems, including electric power usage."

Colin Duplantis:

"I intend to use the OpenMicro Server as an irrigation controller. Paired with the Rainbird Rain8Net controlled by the server's built-in RS232 interface and my purpose-built software, the controller will manage the irrigation needs of my 5-acre mini-ranch. The server controls activating the irrigation pump as well as up to 16 valves simultaneously. Currently, the software works on a set schedule, but, with the addition of inputs like a rain sensor, a wind sensor, and ground conductivity moisture sensors, the software can actually decide what needs water and when the appropriate time is to water. Additionally, the server calculates the most efficient combination of valves to turn on at once to match the performance curve of the irrigation pump. This prevents pump cycling, which uses excess electricity and increases wear and tear on the equipment. I was really excited to have a piece of hardware designed specifically for my environment. I think that the Plat'Home's small size and power requirements along with its resistance to heat and dust make it the ideal solution for my problem."

The Return of Chicken Sitter!!

2008-09-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

Everyone here at Plat'Home was a big fan of the "Chicken Sitter" submission by Gordon. If you recall, Gordon has 4 hens that need a babysitter:

The hens naturally enter the coop in the evening and I close the door to keep out a wide array of predators. Since I may want to take a vacation or spend an evening on the town someday, this seems like a good job to automate. The server would view camera footage inside the coop and determine, as close to nightfall as possible, that all the hens are inside and close the door. The server could also handle daily feeding and watering duties.

Gordon was a close runner up to winner #4 in our initial selections. We have good news though! Due to lack of contact details from winner #4, we have chosen to award Gordon an OpenMicroServer to test out his chicken sitter idea!

We will be watching closely to make sure all those chicken's are taken care of!

Steady as she goes...

2008-09-22T15:00:00.000-07:00

As you all knew, we were planning to choose the 5th contest winner at Interop NY 2008. We'd like to thank everyone who took the time to participate in the closing round of the Will Linux Work contest, but we regret that there was no real feasible winner idea and therefore we are going to move forward with our four original winners:

• Winner #1 lives aboard a trimaran in New Zealand and needs a small, low power device to record positional data and monitor the engine, fuel reserves and rate of consumption. The OpenMicroServer will be put to the test against constant motion, vibrations, a sweeping variety of temperature conditions and the risk of electrolysis from lack of proper grounding and presence of salt water.

• Winner #2 will use the OpenMicroServer as a controller for amateur radio repeaters in an unheated container on a 4200’ hilltop. He will also use Asterisk (open source VOIP solution) and modified USB audio dongles to interface with the radio.

• Winner #3 will use the OpenMicroServer as a home utility automation device to be more efficient with energy usage. The system will monitor heating zones, hot water and air conditioning system cycle times to allow extracting daily information and plan strategies for fuel and cost savings. Advanced versions of the system will allow for time-of-day scheduling to take advantage of variable utility rates.

• Winner #4 will use the OpenMicroServer as an irrigation control system. He has developed software to control his 5-acre pasture and orchard ranch’s irrigation system, but needs a server that can deal with the hot California summer heat (104°F and more) and ubiquitous dust.

And the Winners Are......

2008-09-16T09:06:00.000-07:00

Drum roll please!

Today Plat’Home unveiled the four winners of the “Will Linux Work?” contest. As you all know, Plat’Home has been scouring the blogosphere and twittersphere on the hunt for the wackiest and most interesting ideas to test out their OpenMicroServer and see if Linux can really work in any environment.

Today we announce the winners :

• Winner #1 lives aboard a trimaran in New Zealand and needs a small, low power device to record positional data and monitor the engine, fuel reserves and rate of consumption. The OpenMicroServer will be put to the test against constant motion, vibrations, a sweeping variety of temperature conditions and the risk of electrolysis from lack of proper grounding and presence of salt water.

• Winner #2 will use the OpenMicroServer as a controller for amateur radio repeaters in an unheated container on a 4200’ hilltop. He will also use Asterisk (open source VOIP solution) and modified USB audio dongles to interface with the radio.

• Winner #3 will use the OpenMicroServer as a home utility automation device to be more efficient with energy usage. The system will monitor heating zones, hot water and air conditioning system cycle times to allow extracting daily information and plan strategies for fuel and cost savings. Advanced versions of the system will allow for time-of-day scheduling to take advantage of variable utility rates.

• Winner #4 will use the OpenMicroServer as an irrigation control system. He has developed software to control his 5-acre pasture and orchard ranch’s irrigation system, but needs a server that can deal with the hot California summer heat (104°F and more) and ubiquitous dust.

Why are there only four winners you ask? When there are clearly five OpenMicroServers to be awarded?! Plat’Home will award the fifth server to the Interop NY conference attendee with the best idea. This week Plat’Home will be attending the conference and will be asking attendees to submit potential scenarios onsite at their booth No. 1137. The fifth winner will be chosen at the end of the conference.

Our first four brave little servers have begun their voyage across the world to their new destinations though and are getting ready to be pushed to the limits! Please stay tuned to see how they fair! We will be reporting updates from the winners on the blog and Twitter feed and will cover the results of the experiments after October 7th.

The Will Linux Work? Contest is Now Closed!

2008-09-05T15:48:00.000-07:00

Today is the final day of the Will Linux Work? Contest. Thank you to everyone who has participated and for giving us such great ideas! (Ok, if you send in a great idea by midnight tonight, pacific time, we'll still take it.)

We had people suggest home automation systems, chicken coop protectors, motorcycle internet automation, sailboat GPS systems, solar panel trip recorders...the list goes on and on! Really impressive all the interesting ideas out there.

Plat'Home is now in the process of reviewing all the submissions and we will notify the winners... shortly. Please remember to submit your email addresses to plathome [at] pageonepr [dot] com if you haven't already!

Thank you very much to every who submitted, and best of luck!

IDEA: Chicken Sitter

2008-09-05T15:47:00.000-07:00

Gordon said...

I don't have a thermal chamber to test your devices, but I do have 4 hens that could use a babysitter. I propose, in order to give the CPU a workout, a chicken recognition program.

The hens naturally enter the coop in the evening and I close the door to keep out a wide array of predators. Since I may want to take a vacation or spend an evening on the town someday, this seems like a good job to automate. The server would view camera footage inside the coop and determine, as close to nightfall as possible, that all the hens are inside and close the door. The server could also handle daily feeding and watering duties. Email or twitter updates could also be provided.

This is a great idea! We love the thought of our servers watching over and protecting a coop of chickens!

IDEA: Relief From the Heat

2008-09-04T09:56:00.000-07:00

Colin said...

I would use the Plat'Home server as an irrigation controller. I have developed software to control my ranch's irrigation system (5 acres of irrigated pasture and orchard). The problem I have is the controller in the pump room is subject to California Foothills summer heat (40C and more) and, worse, ubiquitous dust. I have yet to find a server that can run reliably in this environment.

Ah yes, the Californian summer is a challenge for hardware! We haven't had much of a summer over here in Tokyo yet, but I've heard this year has been pretty hot in the States. Our OpenMicroServer is already controlling things like a conveyor belt for sushi, so why not a water pump for a ranch in California?

IDEA: A Super Server to Run All Servers

2008-09-04T09:53:00.000-07:00

Mark said...

Alongside my Bulletin Board System, media server, and Apache, I would love the opportunity to see if the Microserver could stand up to the test of running all of these servers in addition to an ArcIMS viewer.

That's an interesting page you have running, and the OpenMicroServer would sure be a power-saving alternative to host it. The question remains what threatening environment you offer that demands roughed-up server hardware? It doesn't have to be a hurricane. Or a bunch of school kids. Maybe you have a nasty house cat?

IDEA: Unleash a Fury of Kids!

2008-09-04T09:34:00.000-07:00

einfeldt said...

Throw a server or two at us and let us have our middle school students bang on it for a while for video editing, photo editing, music editing, and (gasp) Internet browsing! Have you ever seen a roomful of 12 year-olds stress testing an Internet connection? It's not pretty.

Oh, we have seen what school kids can do to hardware! And yes, it's not pretty! Luckily, the OpenMicroServer is made in Japan and built with a sturdy aluminum case which can take on the odd drop or juice spill.

Hello My Name Is....

2008-09-02T09:18:00.000-07:00

We are now entering the last week of the "Will Linux Work?" contest. We have received countless great ideas and will be choosing our winners by the end of the week.

Yes, you heard right...winners, in the plural sense! We have received so many great ideas and since we have 5 OpenMicroServers to give out, instead of giving them all to one person we have decided it would be much more interesting if we picked 5 different winners. This way we can really put the little servers to the test and try out the 5 best ideas.

We need your contact details though! If you have submitted an idea on this blog or on our Twitter account please email your name, email address and shipping address to plathome @ pageonepr . com We will be in contact with our winners by the end of the week, so hurry and get those contact details in!

Just to refresh your memories – if you are chosen as a winner, we will ship you a free OpenMicroServer and then you will have one month to test out your idea and report your results back to us by October 5th, 2008.

Hurry and send in your contact details!!

Two weeks to go!

2008-08-25T15:26:00.000-07:00

Pretty interesting! We're gotten quite a few different ideas, stretching what we had in mind people wanted to use Linux for. Home automation, solar power infrastructure, on-board ship monitoring and control, even gaming... and lots more.

Two more weeks left! Please don't be shy. Remember, it doesn't need to be extreme. Our Linux servers are tough, but they're mostly used in homes and offices. Tough is good for normal use, too!

Send in your ideas, and may the best proposal win!

IEDA: Like a Phoenix Rising from the Ashes

2008-08-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

Steve said...

Place the server on a recently re-tarred roof in Phoenix using its Wireless Access Point function. Think the heat would kill it?

Well... a hot tar roof in Phoenix probably would grill it, if not kill it.
But then, it's a tough job and one machine has to do it... we'd probably have to negotiate for some sun cover. Or white paint.

IDEA: The Attack of the Attic, Part II

2008-08-12T16:40:00.000-07:00

jperlow said...

I would do Ultracold/Ultrahot testing doing the following

1a) South Carolina or New Orleans attic during the summer. humid
and hot. Attach wireless bridge and run open router software, run
Rsync to run "time machine" backups of critical data on home PCs.

1b) Do the same with a house in northern canada as close to the
arctic circle

2) Power the unit using solar panels with lithium ion backup
storage, to see if the unit can run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
completely off the grid.

3) Put on roof of a truck that does the ice road trucking route,
powered by a combination of 12v power inverter and solar panel with
lithium-ion backup batteries.
Connnect to GPS tracking unit and satellite uplink with integrated
real time monitoring / telemetry.

These sound like serious test environments.

Jason just did a general review of our OpenBlockS server, so maybe he got interested in doing more extensive testing. Really kind of curious about #2, running it 100% off the grid, and #3 as a tracking unit for an ice road trucking route. Isn't there a show about racing ice trucks on the Discovery Channel?

The ice route idea is really something to be hooked on. We've had some researchers take our OpenMicrServer to the skies with airships, and this adds another level of challenge. Plus it's possible to create a nice Google Maps app for "Where in the world is our MicroServer?"

IDEA: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof... or Under It, Anyway

2008-08-12T02:29:00.000-07:00

Tom said...

Put the server in the attic of a North Carolina house during the summer.

It seems like there are some very hot attics in the South.

It would be interesting to hear what the server's job will be in the attic. Even if the saying goes "what happens in the attic stays in the attic."

IDEA: As a Home Automation Server, Controlling and Monitoring A Complex Solar Array

2008-08-11T07:30:00.000-07:00

Scott said...

My house as an unconditioned mechanical closet with 170 deg. F. boiler and two 3KW solar inverters -- it gets HOT in the summer! I would use your devices as a home automation server, monitoring the inverters, boiler, heating zones, etc.

This would be a neat challenge. It sounds like the heat is pretty intense and sustained. But using Linux to monitor a home automation system is a great idea. And having a server that itself was judicial in electricity usage would make sense. There's no way to lower the temperature in the mechanical closet or just have the sensors report across a network to the main server?

IDEA: Born To Be Wild

2008-08-10T17:01:00.000-07:00

tz said...

I have a motorcycle that I've been running various things to link to the internet (Nokia N810 + Cradlepoint PHS + gps and obd) and log data from the engine and GPS. Vibration, thermal shock, humidity...

Sounds like a really interesting setup. We have friends who keep a close log of miles, mileage, gas prices, oil changes. What's the motivation for monitoring your motorcycle so closely? Just curious.

Actually, this conjures the mental image of a certain Eighties TV crime fighter with a teched up Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. (humming title melody)

IDEA: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

2008-08-09T19:17:00.000-07:00

the professional amateur (New Zealand) said...

Two words: Salt Water.

I live aboard a trimaran in New Zealand. I need a small, low power
device which can record positional data from GPS and various
electronic components including control of solar panels and battery
charge states, wind instruments, windvane, monitor the engine, fuel
reserves and rate of consumption. The device must be able to process
all of this input data as well as control outputs like the autohelm,
autotrimmer, and rate of battery discharge. Of course don't forget it
needs to act as a file server for media and documents when in port!
Most importantly, it needs to do this in one of the most corrosive
environments on Earth: the ocean. Besides facing constant motion and
vibration as well as sweeping variety of temperature conditions (from
a running engine room running on hot summery days to winter sailing by
night), there runs risk of electrolysis from lack of proper grounding
and despite no direct exposure to salt water itself, it is inevitably
present in the air. I know that Linux "Will Work" but the question is
will the OpenMicroServer?

Two words: Oh, no! To be honest, this sounds probably too tough. The electrolysis problem sounds bad. Our OpenServers do not have any special waterproofing for power, so this is probably one fatal weak point. Direct exposure to salt water is bad, too. How wet would the server itself get? What do you use currently?

2 IDEAS: As a Hub for Wireless NAS, and as a Web Server for the Black Sea-located Companies 1A SCS and Murfatlar Winery

2008-08-08T10:07:00.000-07:00

aygun said...

What about an wireless router with hard drive ? The hard drive from your server must be an SSD and you can link to the NAS via wireless link and put the files there. Something like an regular linux distribution but with /home directory on the wireless NAS.In this way you're server can be at 200 meters from the storage point.

Also you can make an alternate storage for your server, Flash Pen based, using an usb hub and link all the usb Flash Pen's via LVM. But the only limitation is the read / write cycles. So to limit these knd of problems you should make an symlink to an external storage device (like I said - an wireless NAS) and define in it the / home folders and some folders from /var

AND...

aygunabibula said...

What abou in some tough condition on the way of Black Sea? Salt, dust, rain, heat, fog all in one at the seashore of Black Sea.

In the summer the temperature can reach at 60 degrees on the sun. In the winter -14 or -20 degrees and cold wind, snow and something like it. I can test it for you in this conditions on the network of my company 1A SCS. The website is http://www.1a.ro/

Also I can test it on some other hard condition on the dust, sun, rain ,snow , winter wind, snow, snow storm, sun or what you want on the Murfatlar Winery. We have there an wireless network with some windows servers and I want too change them. Also on the winery we have a lot of grapevines and 20 farms with grapes / grapevines. The website of the winery is http://www.murfatlar.com/

This brings up fond memories of a past vacation at the Black Sea...

I don't remember the weather to be worse than what our units suffer here in Tokyo (hot and humid), but I didn't go in the winter, and we definitely don't have snowstorms here.

Let me check whether our contest rules prohibit us from taking a few bottles of wine... (For pure assessment purposes and without any influence on the result of this contest. Of course.)

IDEA: Amateur Radio Repeater, Running Asterisk, Unheated Container at 4200 ft

2008-08-06T12:19:00.000-07:00

Ken Koster (n7ipb) from Mount Vernon, WA, said...

How about as a controller for Amateur radio repeaters in an unheated container on a 4200' hilltop. Using Asterisk and modified usb audio dongles to interface to the radios. In January 2008 the site looked like this: http://kg7hq.wetnet.net/images/stories/lyman_hill_damage/cimg1738.jpg During the summer: http://wetnet.net/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=23

This one combines some really interesting ideas. Amateur radio is a fascinating hobby that's been around longer than the internet. We actually already have a How-To Guide on using Asterisk with our MicroServers. http://www.plathome.com/products/microserver/use/voip.html It might also be great in combination with some of the solar power supply ideas of some of the other ideas...

IDEA: As a PS3 Swap Box

2008-08-05T13:42:00.000-07:00

Eddie said...

I would love to try experimenting with making one (or more) of these things a "swap box" for a PS3 running linux. One of the main problems with the PS3 is that it only has 256 MB of RAM.

Hard drives takes on the order of a 10ms to seek. However pinging something on an ethernet network takes 1ms or less.

Therefore there is a possibility of getting a significant performance improvement with applications with large data sets.

Unfortunately since anything that touches the hardware has to go through the PS3 Hypervisor, there is a good chance that the overhead will make the whole effort moot.

I'd like to try out two things:

1) Have the MicroServer export a RAM disk as a NFS share
2) Export the Compact Flash drive as an NFS share, and try to modify the kernel so that it uses as much RAM as possible for a cache, only writing the least recently used data to the disk when it's out of RAM.

This is an interesting hacking project. Success depends on how much data you need to swap in and out. What I'm missing here is the actual hardware strain, as the OpenMicroServer has well shown that it can handle continuous RAM and CPU operation over hundreds of days. My only concern is rather the CF card write limit.

Now, if you would mount that PS3 into a helicopter or a Formula 1 car... ;-)

IDEA: Linux Down Below the Earth's Crust

2008-08-03T14:44:00.000-07:00

Takmadeus said...

Some time ago I had to do a health brigade in a far away town where they had several emerald mines, we got the chance to get to the deepest mine which lied 350 or more meters down below, and the temperature was like 55° celsius down there. Plus the humidity inside that mine shaft was so high it actually7 had a permanent storm produced by the humid air and several underground water sources several meters up from where we were. Not to mention that the soil in the mine was oleous and the earth had the properties of oily stuff, hard to get rid of, and tended to impregnate everything it touched. I remember we had to leave out cameras and cellphones in the surface given that they could be easily damaged in the mine.

If your servers can sustain 48 hours of continuous work (the normal work shift for the miners), then it can work anywhere anytime, I am sure of it.

My guess is that this is way outside of the spec and too tough on our servers. What do you use currently? Is there any kind of encasement possible?

Still curiosity gets the better of me. It would be interesting to see exactly how many hours the OMS can survive down there before turning into a smoking heap. This must be the hell that all small electronic devices fear.

The thing that I am most amazed about is that humans can survive down there, especially considering a 48 hours work shift. Most people wouldn't survive that in a cozy 22°C office cubicle.

IDEA: The Perfect Storm

2008-08-03T14:43:00.000-07:00

James said...

I need a server to work during a hurricane. I need it to produce very little heat and consume very little energy. It also needs to be water resistant. It must be able to run from generator power and provide weather and safety information to users over a wireless access point. Living in south Florida, we get hurricanes all the time. We also have a huge risk of flooding from those hurricanes. Being able to deploy quick and reliable servers is key to storm recovery.

How much direct water contact occurs?

It appears that we need to talk to our engineers about true waterproof casing for the unit. It can handle humidity quite fine, but not actual submersion in water.

This one definitely raises the bar pretty high. I'm just glad you didn't include surviving to be hurled up and blown away a few miles in your requirements...

Announcing the "Will Linux Work?" Contest

2008-07-29T14:11:00.004-07:00

Plat’Home’s OpenMicroServers are known for being tough. Their compact, fanless, diskless design combined with the stability of Linux creates a product that is great for companies to configure once and then stick in a corner for weeks and months or years even - without checking on the condition. This “benign neglect” is tough on normal servers, but not for Plat’Home’s OpenMicroServers.

We want to put our servers up to the test though. For five weeks - from August 1, 2008, through September 5, 2008 - Plat’home will conduct an online contest to solicit ideas for the most interesting and challenging conditions to successfully run Plat’Home’s OpenMicroServers.

Does your small business in Arizona have a server room with no air conditioning? Do you live in Alaska and need server(s) that might be subjected to cold conditions? Are you an archaeologist that needs a computer that can be taken on a dig with you and survive dust and bugs? Tell us about it! We want to know if Linux is the solution! “Will Linux Work?”

Participants are invited to submit ideas to our blog by posting a comment below or on any of the following blog posts. You can even direct message us your ideas on our Twitter account. We will discuss the most interesting submissions and ask for reader’s weigh-in on this blog and Twitter to help us choose the winner.

At the end of the five-week period, we will choose our winner to receive 5 free OpenMicroServers. You get to try your idea for real!

Upon acceptance, the winner will be asked to test the server in their suggested condition and report the results back to Plat’Home. We really want to know “Will Linux Work?” You receive the 5 servers, test your idea and then report back to us with a short description and some pictures. If it works like you wanted, you get to keep the OpenMicroServers.

Hope you are already thinking of some great ideas! To get started, simply just submit your idea(s) to this blog and/or the Twitter account.

The Plat’Home “Will Linux Work?’ Contest Rules

2008-07-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

Here are the rules for our "Will Linux Work?" contest. Please let us know if you have any questions though!

1. The “Will Linux Work?” contest is open to anyone besides employees of Plat’Home.

2. The prize (five Plat’Home OpenMicroServers) is not redeemable in cash and must be accepted as awarded.

3. The winner will be chosen by Plat’Home based on the most creative and plausible submission. The selection is completely subjective.

4. All decisions by the contest judges are final – no substitutions will be available.

5. Once chosen, the winner must test the Plat’Home OpenMicroServers in the submitted tough condition and report results to Plat’Home within one month (30 days).

6. By claiming the prize, the winner authorizes the use, without additional compensation or follow up, of his or her name and/or likeness and/or voice/photograph for promotion and/or public relation purposes in any manner and in any medium (including without limitation blogs, social networks, newspapers, print and online publications, radio, slides, videotapes, over the internet) which Plat’Home may deem appropriate.

7. In accepting the prize, the winner, and any participant, acknowledges that Plat'Home may not be held liable for any loss, damage or injury associated with accepting the Plat’Home OpenMicroServers and/or its testing.

8. This contest is subject to all United States federal, state, and municipal laws.

9. Plat’Home reserves the right to withdraw or terminate this contest at any time without prior notice.

10. Multiple entries per person are allowed.

11. According to the rules of this contest, the software and appliances from Plat’Home that are awarded to the winner cannot be used in violation of all applicable copyright laws. Further, copyrights belong to the copyright owner. In the case of any copyright violations, neither Plat’Home nor Page One PR shall be held accountable.