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KuroBox, $149 Linux PC

The KuroBox is a small-footprint Linux-based embedded platform for a personal server.

The current incarnation of the KuroBox, the KuroBox/HG, sports a 266Mhz PowerPC processor, 128MB of RAM, 2 USB 2.0 Ports, and a 10/100/1000Mbit network interface.

The KuroBox comes without a hard drive, but can hold any standard IDE (parallel ATA, not SATA) 3.5" drive. The KuroBox runs on a Linux kernel, and has multiple options for actual distribution. Actually, any Linux distribution that supports PPC will work, but so far the community has ported over Gentoo, Debian, Fedora and Sylver's Distro (which is the current incarnation of the Kuro's original embedded distribution).

To give you a rough idea about the KuroBox/HG's power, it can transcode (decode and then re-encode to another bitrate) MP3's using LAME at about 25% faster than realtime. While not as fast as today's modern PC's, this is coming from a box that uses 17 Watts of juice. The tiny onboard fan (used to dissipate the hard drive's heat) is ultra-quiet at 22dB.

The KuroBox is not for the faint of heart -- there is no graphical installer, no "click here to launch your web server" button. However, if you know a little about Linux, or are willing to learn, the KuroBox is an excellent platform for a small space server.

More details on the current KuroBox can be found here (look for technical specs)

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