Earlier this month I posted a photo of a WHS build by Shad, one of my readers. It was one of the $400 KPC Home Servers with was cleverly disguised as a toaster with a MyKover image.
Not to be outdone, Edgar Voorbraak sent me the following picture of a WHS that he build:
He claimed that it was a low powered Windows Home Server built from an old toaster! At first I found it hard to believe, so I asked for more pics. No offense to Edgar, but you can see how I might be a little skeptical and was afraid that I was being punked!
A few days later I received more pics. Sure enough, this thing is for real. I guess he built this about 6 months ago.
Here are the specs that Edgar sent along:
- VIA C7@ 1.5Ghz, 1GB RAM
- I managed to cram in 4 HDD’s, suspended in shock absorbers, totaling 2 TB
- 12cm fan which glows red at the top
- Toast time knob controls the fan speed
- Power light is the HDD LED
- I also managed to cram in the 150W ATX power supply.
- Emergency stop button is used as power button
Not only is this thing green (Edgar says that it draws a meager 55W at full load), but it makes use of a toaster that would have likely found a home in some landfill.
Way to go Edgar! I'll be adding your creation to the DIY Gallery.
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16 comments:
am sorry but that's a ghetto rig I am not feeling it. Instead I sincerely hope that the Windows Home Server platform continues to gain consumer acceptance and I feel that things like that just cheapen it and sends the wrong message.
@ Vicken
I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you there. Certainly I too hope that WHS continues to gain consumer acceptance but I believe that has more to do with Microsoft fixing its problems and less to do with tweaking like this.
I personally believe projects like this are clever and really showcase the devoted fanbase our beloved WHS platform enjoys.
I completely agree with Dusty. Anyone can go online with their daddy's credit card and order a $200 Antec Silver mirror-finished stainless steel case. What Edgar did was clever, whimsical and shows the dedication of a real WHS fan.
Privately, some at Microsoft will acknowledges that the data corruption bug has come close to actually sinking WHS. It's a BIG deal. Microsoft has put marketing for WHS "on hold" until the bug is fixed. I suspect that this will change later in the year. Stay tuned.
This toaster/server may not be your cup of tea, but to call it "ghetto" is unfair.
OK maybe ghetto was a little harsh.
I think what is clever are articles on how to add ram/cpu to the HP MediaSmart Server etc.
So what you are saying is that I can be clever too if were to gut my Porsche and use the parts inside a Toyota (no offence here) but i am a devoted fan and i would like to help the Porsche brand.
@Vicken:
Your analogy with Porche would mean that there also would not be any development of third-party / user plugins for WHS and that would be a shame.
If everybody had the money, not everybody would be driving Porches. A lot of people like to customise PC's (or cars..) to stand out from the mass.
This is where WHS shines; being able to use old hardware to make a home server or use hardware that you like better (than the meager mediasmart).
The reason why i made this WHS rig was purely practical; I had a bunch of HDD's lying around, together with a Mini-ITX board. I wanted a WHS but I did not have a computercase at that moment. Most people would go out and buy a small case and shove the server in their meter cupboard.
I just happened to have this toaster and wanted to display my server...
Edgar, I love your WHS toaster. It's a classy looking machine and must have been lots of fun to build. Computing is all too often filled with stuffy ideas and soggy thinking. I prefer to have fun and enjoy the lighter side as you have demonstrated here.
All that being said, it still brings a question to my mind... Can it make toast?
Well... Putting some bread in at the top will shred it to crumbs. But I bet the crumbs that come out at the bottom will be nice and toasty :) But the same will probably go for your toaster as well:)
Touche! :) Come to think of it there is a super-slim cdrom slot hidden behind the MyKover panel. It's position is directly over the hot hard drives. I wonder if some thin-sliced bread might... nah, on second thought, I'll just make a trip to the kitchen.
I only wish i had more space in the toaster.. I also have a slimline slot-in cd drive lying around. It would be nice to have a freshly toasted cd pop out from the top... :)
I anticipate a new roomier toaster in your future, Edgar.
Please, please, please!! create a decal to make your cd-rom tray look like a piece of toast! -grin-
@Vicken
I don't know about your whole Porsche /Toyota analogy - but I'd be up for seeing you installing a WHS box in your Porsche. Touch-panel interface on the dash FTW!
Hey Edgar. Your toaster is getting famous. It's on Microsoft's Windows Home Server website.
Edgar, your toaster is catching on fire:
http://www.on10.net/Default.aspx
Yeah, I saw it :)
They made a mistake though; i have 2Tb storage. I am open to donations to make it 4Tb heheheh.
Too bad I only have 2 SATA connections and 2 IDE, so I won't hit 4Tb anytime soon, since I haven't seen 1TB IDE disks yet...
Also I don't think those nice WD Greenpower HDD's will be available in IDE.
@Edgar - I was also asked about your toaster on the Home Server Show Podcast.
Nice podcast Donovon :) It is nice to see my little toaster got so much attention.
Funny that a lot of people are so sceptical about if this thing is real, but if they need proof I can always make some more pictures.
I don't want to take it apart again however; you can understand that it is not very easy to do. but I can make a picture of the inside as viewed from the top. You can see the harddrives and the powersupply from there.
That is the coolest thing since sliced bread.
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