[Soekris] Any suggestion for alternative?

[Chris Babcock]

Tuc at T-B-O-H.NET wrote:
> 	I'm just trying to see if there are viable 
> alternatives that are in the Soekris class. There are solutions
> like :
> 
> http://www.plees.f2s.com/ec/mini-svr/mini-svr.htm
> 
> 	but I can't see it being cost effective/supported/etc.
> 
> 	I came to the list mostly looking for people who worked
> with SBC's that had, unfortunately, to run Winderz.
> 
The _ONLY_ current production Windows OS that is capable of running 
properly in a headless configuration is Windows Server 2003.

All previous versions had a hard-coded dependency on the video 
controller that would have to be satisfied with either a real video card 
_or_ some type of video emulation system beneath windows.

All current Soekris boxes are unsuitable for running any version of 
windows because they lack full video support.

There are other companies that make what they try to pawn off as a SBC 
that can run windows but usually they are built and supported as a 
platform for other companies to do volume sales of appliances.

For the kind of application you are suggesting, you are almost certainly 
better off buying something like a cheap dell server with mirrored 
disks.  Currently you can get a very low end server for about $800 or 
so, with full vendor support for the hardware.  HOWEVER, if you are 
intent on running Windows 98, you are probably out of luck for 
software/driver support, since even MS refuses to support that OS 
anymore.  In fact, you may be very challenged to find _ANY_ current 
hardware that will run Win98 properly.  You may be forced to run an 
emulation environment if you are committed to Win98, simply because you 
may not be able to find hardware that works with Win98 anymore.