I Like 'em Thin

Just placed the orders for my new thin client setup. Here's the "skinny," as it were:

• VIA EPIA-M10000

  • 1GHz C3 Processor
  • Mini-ITX form factor
  • RCA/S-Video Out
  • USB 2.0
  • Firewire
  • Better pictures

• Casetronic 2699R

  • Approx. 12" x 11" x 2.5"
  • Front USB/Firewire/Audio
  • External power supply (fanless chassis)

• Kingston 256MB PC2100 RAM

  • Note to self: next time, buy the PC2700 for \$3 more

• Linksys 10/100 Ethernet Card

• LNE100TX Boot ROM

  • Allows for diskless booting over Ethernet

• Happy Hacking Keyboard

  • 60 key layout
  • Approx. 12" x 4"

Notice that there's no mention of an optical or hard drive. I'm going to attempt a netboot setup, which would give me a super-small, super-quiet diskless workstation. One can only hope

I decided go the route of a boot ROM behind a dual-NIC machine. I mulled over a flash disk module, but I'm more likely to encounter boot ROMs in the future, so I thought it best to try one now. (Though I think in practice they're pretty much the same. I may use one later to regain the single PCI slot.)

I'll probably blog any interesting updates, as well as revising my Linux Netboot project page.