Cobalt Qube - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Cobalt Qube was a computer

Computer

A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...

server appliance

Server appliance

A server appliance is a computer appliance that works as a server. It is designed so that the end-user does not need to understand the details of the operating system or the commands associated with it. Server appliances have their hardware and software preconfigured by the manufacturer. The...

product line developed by Cobalt Networks

Cobalt Networks

Cobalt Networks was a maker of low-cost Linux-based servers. Founded in 1996 in Mountain View, California under the name Cobalt Microserver, the company pioneered easy-to-use server appliances featuring secure web user interfaces, designed for Internet service providers and small to medium sized...

, Inc. (later purchased by Sun Microsystems

Sun Microsystems

Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...

) featuring a modified Red Hat Linux

Red Hat Linux

Red Hat Linux, assembled by the company Red Hat, was a popular Linux based operating system until its discontinuation in 2004.Red Hat Linux 1.0 was released on November 3, 1994...

operating system and a proprietary GUI for server management. The original Qube systems were equipped with RM5230 or RM5231 microprocessors but later models used AMD K6-2

AMD K6-2

The K6-2 was an x86 microprocessor introduced by AMD on May 28, 1998, and available in speeds ranging from 266 to 550 MHz. An enhancement of the original K6, the K6-2 introduced AMD's 3D-Now! SIMD instruction set, featured a larger 64 KiB Level 1 cache , and an upgraded system-bus interface...

chips. NetBSD

NetBSD

NetBSD is a freely available open source version of the Berkeley Software Distribution Unix operating system. It was the second open source BSD descendant to be formally released, after 386BSD, and continues to be actively developed. The NetBSD project is primarily focused on high quality design,...

operating system has been ported to both, the Cobalt Qube and RaQ (see External links).

Models

The Qube 2700 was the first product released by Cobalt Networks. Mark Orr, one of the Cobalt Networks' CEOs, came up with the cobalt

Cobalt blue

Cobalt blue is a cool, slightly desaturated blue color, historically made using cobalt salts of alumina. It is used in certain ceramics and painting; the different cobalt pigment smalt, based on silica, is more often used directly in tinted transparent glasses...

color. The green LED in the front was Bill Scott's idea. The 2700 was not a development version number but came from the atomic number of cobalt

Cobalt

Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. It is found naturally only in chemically combined form. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal....

, 27. The next product was called the Qube 2800 before being sold, but was eventually called the Qube 2, leaving the 2800 to designate the system type. The Qube 2700 used the RM5230 microprocessor, whereas the Qube 2 used the RM5231.

Under an OEM

Original Equipment Manufacturer

An original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, manufactures products or components that are purchased by a company and retailed under that purchasing company's brand name. OEM refers to the company that originally manufactured the product. When referring to automotive parts, OEM designates a...

arrangement, the Qube 2 units were also produced by Gateway

Gateway, Inc.

Gateway Computer Corporation, is a computer hardware company headquartered in Irvine, California, USA which develops, manufactures, supports, and markets a wide range of personal computers, computer monitors, servers, and computer accessories...

in the form of the Gateway Micro Server. The casing featured on these units was black instead of cobalt blue.

The Qube 3 used a AMD K6-2

AMD K6-2

CPU at either 300 MHz or 450 MHz and was the last product in the Qube line.

A fourth Qube model was in development but was never released. However, several models were released in the data center

Data center

A data center is a facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems...

-friendly Cobalt RaQ

Cobalt RaQ

The Cobalt RaQ is a 1U rackmount server product line developed by Cobalt Networks, Inc. featuring a modified Red Hat Linux operating system and a proprietary GUI for server management...

product line after the Cobalt Qube was discontinued.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Models

See also

External links