Well Day 1 of Interop is over. Internet access at the show has been difficult. Gone are all the email stations of years past. Wireless access is available, but I have been unable to maintain a stable connection. I have been told that there are too many access points on at the show.
Anyway enough for the personal problems. Here is the fun stuff. One of the first booths we stopped at has the web site of http://tapesucks.com The company is called High-Rely for Highly Reliable Systems. They make a hot pluggable hard drive backup solution. Systems range from a desktop 1 bay to a 7 bay rack-mount solution. Although it is probably cheaper to purchase USB2.0 or Firewire external drives this solution offers a more rugged case and eliminates the wear and tear on the computers USB or Firewire connectors. StarTech.com offers a 'Server Remote Control' $799 provides a box that will sit in front of a KVM switch that will allow remote via VNC or Java app to control all servers connected to the KVM switch. The big difference with this instead of Timbuktu is that with the server remote control box you can watch a server boot or get in to server bios before the Operating system even loads. Also with access via IP you would be able to check the status or control any of your servers outside the district. The appliance has built in encryption and firewall functions to prevent unauthorized use. More info can be found at http://startech.com Another StarTech offering is a 1U Keyboard/display. The unit has a full size keypad with number pad as well. Mouse control is handled by a large trackpad. The unit is built sturdy, looks like it should last a while. They have both a 15" and 17" display model. More info at the above web site. The product that excited me the most I believe can answer the question of how to address a laptop for every student. Realm, a company in the startup village has a USB device a little larger than the USB hard drive. The device itself has an on-board processor and storage memory. Each student could be given one of these 'SOBA' devices that they can plug into any USB system (Windows, Mac, Linux) and access their applications, and desktop. This will mean that students can take there work home and have the same applications and desktop they have at school. The unit is far more rugged that a laptop and probably could survive the laundry. After talking with the CEO of the company it looks like I may be able to get in on a pilot to try 50 of the systems. The SOBA USB systems can be as cheap as $30 apiece. More info can be found at the website http://www.realmsys.com Well we are ready for day 2 of the show. I will try to send an update on what we find today. _____________________________________________________________________ Scott Fosseen - Systems Engineer -Prairie Lakes AEA http://fosseen.us/scott _____________________________________________________________________ "I have not failed.I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work" - Thomas Edison (1847 - 1931) _____________________________________________________________________ --- [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus on the server aea8.k12.ia.us] --------------------------------------------------------- Archived messages from this list can be found at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ---------------------------------------------------------
