Monitor your data center with a coffee mug-sized server

The cup that phones home

By Ashlee Vance in Mountain View • Get more from this author

Posted in Servers, 9th July 2008 18:17 GMT

Plat'Home is a curious Japanese company that seems intent on cracking the US market with its weird brand of tiny Linux servers. This week, it has offered the land of the free and the home of the brave the KANSHI Blocks Pro 6.0.1 device, which is a coffee mug-sized monitoring server.

Coffee Mug Server

You're meant to use this pint-sized product to keep track of up to 255 servers, checking that they're alive and kicking. Thanks to a pair of Ethernet connections, you can monitor two networks at the same time. The KANSHI BlockS unit allows for remote monitoring and will also send out e-mail alerts and the like to administrators when it senses a problem.

We're sure you will all appreciate this complex flowchart detailing the benefits of a monitoring server.

El Reg first featured Plat'Home's gear a couple of months ago in a story about building small data centers. The company makes a range of servers that run on low-power chips. This lets Plat'Home craft small servers which can run without fans, while still withstanding up to 104°F of heat.

Our previous story heaped a lot of attention and scorn on the server maker, as many of you complained that Plat'Home made it near impossible to actually buy the systems. Well, it's now added a "Buy Now" button where you can get the gear, including the KANSHI BlockS Pro unit, starting at $1,399. ®

Free report. "Comparing Data Center Batteries, Flywheels, and Ultracapacitors: What is the best energy storage for you?"