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There must be a way to use this little guy

Summary: The little guy to whom I'm referring is the Marvell Plug Computer. At $100 and the size of a wall wart AC adapter, the cheapskate in me starts pondering just how I might use this bad boy in a school.

Christopher Dawson

By for ZDNet Education |

The little guy to whom I'm referring is the Marvell Plug Computer. At $100 and the size of a wall wart AC adapter, the cheapskate in me starts pondering just how I might use this bad boy in a school.

It's specs are pretty minimal (half a gig of flash storage, half a gig of RAM and only a 1.2GHz processor), but it has gigabit ethernet and USB 2.0 built in. It can run any flavor of Linux (obviously, the leaner the better), so I'm envisioning test servers in computer labs for posting web sites.

Want to create a small firewall for testing in a lab? How about handling DHCP or DNS? How about a portable server that could move between schools for troubleshooting or serving up multimedia (think 8GB USB stick attached or a small USB hard drive)? Want students to experiment with clustering and load balancing? At $100 a piece, this suddenly becomes something that you can do in a classroom setting.

I don't think this is just the gadget geek in me, either. This seems like an incredibly cheap way to give students the ability to play with their own server (or at least a small group of students), giving them an easy sandbox for setting up all sorts of Internet and networking applications.

What else can you think of to do with a $100 mini server in the classroom? Talk back below and brainstorm.

Topics: Networking, Hardware, Servers

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12 comments
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  • Cloud in a classroom

    You could create your own cloud for the classroom. You could simulate failures and see how the computers react. Teaching system administration skills would be great - since no one does it now . . .
    Roger Ramjet
    Reply Vote

  • For some of the things you mention, you would need two ethernet ports.

    I suppose you could add a USB Internet port. If you could add a USB monitor, keyboard, mouse, and speakers, you could make a simple computer out of it. The prices for wireless chips and GPS are falling so fast, sooner or later these device will have those features. If you forgot where you plugged it in, you could ask it where it was (assuming it was connected to the Internet, and you knew the IP.
    DonnieBoy
    Reply Vote

    • Ever hear of a "one-armed router"?

      Simple thing to do: use two (or more) virtual ports on the single ethernet interface. You could use multiple IP interfaces (eth0, eth0.0, eth0.1, etc) or for a bit more route security, use separate VLANs.

      Remember, this thing has a gigabit ethernet port! The CPU and RAM access speeds will choke before the ethernet port does.
      NetArch.
      Reply Vote

      • Sure, but to do it right, you really need two network interfaces. That is

        why almost all routers have two interfaces. It is a matter of security, not speed.
        DonnieBoy
        Reply Vote

  • Missing key item: WiFi

    If they sold it in a wireless variant, I would see a number of uses. With it and an external USB-powered 250GB 2.5" drive, you could have a sweet wireless NAS device.
    terry flores
    Reply Vote

    • Probably has many extra routers.

      I have two extra, T-Mobile insisted on their WiFi router for my HotSpot@Home (free after rebate). I got another one after a friend signed up to T-Mobile too. Plug 4 of these servers into a WiFi router, you have schoolwide access to a server farm. Heck, toss in a network storage disk, lock the whole thing up in a closet and let the students go to town. :D

      TripleII
      TripleII-21189418044173169409978279405827
      Reply Vote

    • You could add a USB-Wireless adaptor, but, of course that adds to the cost.

      It would be dirt cheap to incorporate.
      DonnieBoy
      Reply Vote

  • Your biggest concern will be...

    ...how to keep them from getting stolen. ;)
    no_zd_user_name
    Reply Vote

  • RE: There must be a way to use this little guy

    Would it work for magicJack?
    kirk.yates@...
    Reply Vote

  • Expand the USB with an external hub

    Telemetry server (weather station)

    Bridge to a wifi network (implemented with a USB wifi dongle).

    A webcam server with a USB webcam.

    Extra storage with a USB memory stick

    Print server to a USB printer

    pzsimpson
    Reply Vote

  • Oh, for the want . . .

    . . . of an SD slot.
    Rambo Tribble
    Reply Vote

  • RE: There must be a way to use this little guy

    I would have appreciated more information on the device. How do you program it, etc.

    Please don't just cater to developers. Regular folks may have lots of ideas (even though we can't implement them).

    Thanx!
    No More Microsoft Software Ever!
    Reply Vote
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