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Re: Power Architecture Community newsletter(Score: 2)
by bbrv on Aug 20, 2004 - 14:28 | Thanks for the coverage Pegasos.org. The PUGS are a great group! :-) We thought we would say a few words about Avalanche here...
The "Avalanche" server can be established any where. We think the connectivity provided from a low cost complete solution could be very interesting when teamed with the complete open source IT infrastructure. What we would like to do is figure out a way for an organization in each country to mirror the Avalanche Pilot in their country and in their language. There are complete open source solutions to manage the localization in Debian and Gentoo (or something very different and very special with MorphOS). The idea is to sell the Pegasos like a cell phone and manage the service of maintaining the machine which generates monthly revenue. That is was the DRMP is all about. The results are selling and will sell the platform. The Pilot is about proving what is possible. With the validation given by Avalanche, which is in itself a consortium of "big" companies, other "big" companies will feel better about trying and migrating to a complete new system solution. The UserLinux article/effort mentioned before still needs a bit more focus for big companies, BUT it is very much in the right direction.
The objective is to validate a complete OSS stack from OS to plug-in and the efficiency of PowerPC in ONE effort. Less power, less heat, greater reliability is more than just PowerPC marketing. The PegasosPPC *sold in this way* has NO moving parts, does not need a fan and in a thin client configuration fits in a shoe box that can be bolted under a desk.
Look at this picture closely:
http://www.pegasosppc.com/image.php?id=1170
The Pegasos doesn't need that 500w power supply either. That is a Pegasos thin client running for an internet cafe and done intentionally to show how little space it takes in a standard case. In the meanwhile, we are selling the ODW as described. You can buy one on the site. The price will can down significantly when we have everything in place.
http://www.pegasosppc.com/odw.php
This comes with not only the tool and development features, but we have already updated to the 2.6.8 kernel that was just released this past Saturday evening, so it stays CURRENT. We do this as described in the IBM article.
Once we perfect this we will sell the package of the system and the service on an annual basis which includes hardware upgrades (remember we can swap CPU cards from the motherboard).
We could also sell the ODW with a Zend package, a MySQL package, etc. We will have many things go on sale on the Freescale site hopefully before the end of this month if everything stays on track.
Please look at this slide:
http://www.genesi.lu/olp.php?slide=8
The Pegasos as it is today is shown in the upper left. IT IS A PROOF OF CONCEPT AND A DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM. This allows software development to occur and the system can be deployed *as it is* in the next slide:
http://www.genesi.lu/olp.php?slide=9
What is said on the next slide is exactly what we intended to explain.
http://www.genesi.lu/olp.php?slide=10
We never said anything about a Pegasos PDA (eclipsis) for example with the form factor of today's board, *BUT* P2P video/voice streaming developed on a Pegasos today can be of *great* benefit to a new smaller handheld design with new CPU features that could include the northbridge and/or PCIXpress tomorrow (meaning IN THE FUTURE :-) ). Another example: while the Pegasos is not in a blade form factor YET a cluster of Pegasos machines can be built together and it can function as such NOW. The primary means of node to node communications in the market today work with 1:1 extensibility. This is being done now and we hope to be making an installation as part of the Avalanche effort that WILL demonstrate this. We are a systems integrator and being positioned in this way lends itself to these kind of possibilities -- especially if we have everything ready and waiting when the new handheld, cluster or whatever first boots.
This is what has to be kept in mind:
http://www.genesi.lu/olp.php?slide=11
We have access and control to every element in the technology offering. As an example, SIM and smart cards are common tools used to facilitate payment or security. If taken metaphorically as threads of different colors/consistencies they can be woven into a fabric that is more durable than a thread itself. There is no one item that provides the solution, but rather a number of items that can be combined together in a unique manner and herein we can find a solution. The opportunity we have is not bound by just a smart card or SIM, we can integrate single items such as smart cards with other technology we can control to create something unique and a total package. For example, a particular SIM can be linked into the firmware or even linked to the hardware, CPU or OS distribution itself. The ability to manage all these pieces makes the opportunity more compelling for the situations we discussed.
The is a larger discussion looming. This is related to the security vs. privacy discussion that we have had before. We see security as a technical standard and privacy as a matter of personal choice. In the same way that you provide information about yourself to enter into a mobile telephone contract you would do so here under this scenario. You exchange financial accountability for the convenience of calling from nearly wherever you want and a free phone. That is the trade-off and that is the point -- the user made the decision to do it. This does not happen in the same way when you buy a computer, as there is no billing accountability and no direct tie into the connectivity which provides the link to the Internet. It has been proven and will be difficult in a post-Napster world to change anything. There is and will be ID theft, fraudulent credit card transactions and issues of piracy of intellectual property that threaten the very foundation of the internet itself. This will not change until there is an alternative that does what people want it to do, better, more conveniently and....legally. We predict that this cannot happen until technology itself becomes focused on providing a better experience rather than trying to prevent one.
The Avalanche project itself provides the framework for more than the management of the Desktop. It is in fact the same system required for the distribution of digital data. Each Avalanche member is being upgraded when they boot the machine and this is what IS attractive. Someone IS managing the updates, the latest and greatest so to speak. The hardware for Avalanche is standardized on the Pegasos. This solves another problem of a multitude of various hardware configurations and distributions of Linux that all need their own tweaks to work in the same way as another. The means to make the offering would be the same for a project of much greater breath and depth. We must walk before we run, but we are in the right direction. We can do everything we suggested now.
You will understand how we could also support a large scale deployment as required in the same way - Avalanche is for a Desktop reference effort, but in fact it is a digital distribution system. The same configuration could be used to support online a complete enterprise Linux solution based on one OS, etc. (it could also be a television/video game distribution system using MorphOS). Think about this: to get a fax you had to have one. If you have something to offer that is valuable and make things work better people will buy it.
Hope to hear from any of you who want to respond! :-D
Sincerely,
Raquel and Bill |
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