A plug computer is an external device, often configured for use in the home or office as a compact computer. The name is derived from the small configuration of such devices; they are often enclosed in an AC power plug or AC adapter.
A plug computer is an external device, often configured for use in the home or office as a compact computer. The name is derived from the small configuration of such devices; they are often enclosed in an AC power plug or AC adapter.
Plug computers consist of a high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip processor, with several I/O hardware ports (USB ports, Ethernet connectors, etc.). Most versions do not have provisions for connecting a display and are best suited as running media servers, back-up services, or file sharing and remote access functions; thus acting as a bridge between in-home protocols (such as Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) and Server Message Block (SMB)) and cloud-based services. There are, however, plug computer offerings that have analog VGA monitor and/or HDMI connectors, which, along with multiple USB ports, permit the use of a display, keyboard, and mouse, thus making them full-fledged, low-power alternatives to desktop and laptop computers. They typically run any of a number of Linux distributions.
Plug computers typically consume little power and are inexpensive.
A number of other devices of this type began to appear at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show.
In computer networking, a thin client is a simple (low-performance) computer that has been optimized for establishing a remote connection with a server-based computing environment. They are sometimes known as network computers, or in their simplest form as zero clients. The server does most of the work, which can include launching software programs, performing calculations, and storing data. This contrasts with a rich client or a conventional personal computer; the former is also intended for working in a client–server model but has significant local processing power, while the latter aims to perform its function mostly locally.
Network-attached storage (NAS) is a file-level computer data storage server connected to a computer network providing data access to a heterogeneous group of clients. The term "NAS" can refer to both the technology and systems involved, or a specialized device built for such functionality.
Iomega was a company that produced external, portable, and networked data storage products. Established in the 1980s in Roy, Utah, United States, Iomega sold more than 410 million digital storage drives and disks, including the Zip drive floppy disk system. Formerly a public company, it was acquired by EMC Corporation in 2008, and then by Lenovo, which rebranded the product line as LenovoEMC, until discontinuation in 2018.
A disk enclosure is a specialized casing designed to hold and power hard disk drives or solid state drives while providing a mechanism to allow them to communicate to one or more separate computers.
The Freebox is an ADSL-VDSL-FTTH modem and a set-top box that the French Internet service provider named Free provides to its DSL-FTTH subscribers.
The Buffalo TeraStation network-attached storage series are network-attached storage devices.
The Linutop is a small, light, environmentally friendly Nettop computer containing a metal case and no moving parts, that runs the Linutop OS . Linutop Kiosk software and Linutop Tv server offer a full Digital signage solution. A variety of QT applications oriented towards secure web browsing and digital signage are available in the Operating system. Linutop is multimedia-capable and offers line-out/mic-in for sound. The device can be configured easily into a LTSP thin client. Linutop is suited for use in internet cafés, public libraries and schools.
A home server is a computing server located in a private computing residence providing services to other devices inside or outside the household through a home network or the Internet. Such services may include file and printer serving, media center serving, home automation control, web serving, web caching, file sharing and synchronization, video surveillance and digital video recorder, calendar and contact sharing and synchronization, account authentication, and backup services.
In computing, the term remote desktop refers to a software- or operating system feature that allows a personal computer's desktop environment to be run remotely from one system, while being displayed on a separate client device. Remote desktop applications have varying features. Some allow attaching to an existing user's session and "remote controlling", either displaying the remote control session or blanking the screen. Taking over a desktop remotely is a form of remote administration.
The SheevaPlug is a "plug computer" designed to allow standard computing features in as small a space as possible. It was a small embedded Linux ARM computer without a display which can be considered an early predecessor to the subsequent Raspberry Pi.
Active cables are copper cables used for data transmission that use an electronic circuit to boost the performance of the cable. Without an electronic circuit, a cable is considered a passive cable. Passive cables are prone to data degradation from channel impairments, including attenuation, crosstalk, and group velocity distortion. In active cables, a circuit using one or several integrated circuits is embedded in the cable to compensate for some or all of these impairments. This active boosting allows cables to be more compact, thinner, longer, and to transmit data faster than passive cables.
Tonido is remote access and home server software for network-attached storage. Once installed on a computer, Tonido software makes that computer's files available remotely via the internet through the web browser or through native mobile apps. This allows access to files stored on the computer, including music and videos, to any computing device connected to the Internet in possession of login credentials. Data is by default transmitted via Tonido's servers, with no port forwarding required, but can be transmitted without using Tonido's servers by setting up port forwarding. Data transfer speed cannot exceed that of the slowest link in the data path, including USB 2.0 for USB-connected storage.
This glossary of computer hardware terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts related to computer hardware, i.e. the physical and structural components of computers, architectural issues, and peripheral devices.
GuruPlug is a compact and low power plug computer running Linux. It is intended to be a device that could act as a web server, a print server or any other network service. It has local storage in NAND Flash, but also offers USB ports and a Serial ATA port to connect external hard disks.
A dongle is a small piece of computer hardware that connects to a port on another device to provide it with additional functionality, or enable a pass-through to such a device that adds functionality.
CTERA Networks is a privately held enterprise software company headquartered in New York and Israel. The company has regional offices in the UK, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, and Australia. As of 2021, the company is designated as the leading vendor in distributed cloud file storage by GigaOm.
DreamPlug is a compact and low power plug computer running Debian Linux, based on Marvell's Kirkwood 88F6281 ARM9E SoC. It is intended to be a device that could act as a web server, a printing server or any other network service. It uses micro-SD internal storage and an external Secure Digital slot, but also offers USB ports and a Serial ATA port to connect external disks.
USB-C, or USB Type-C, is a connector that supersedes previous USB connectors and can carry audio and/or video data, e.g. to drive multiple displays, or transfer data, e.g. to store a backup to an external drive, and providing/receiving power, such as to power a laptop or a mobile phone. It is applied not only by USB technology, but also by other protocols, including Thunderbolt, PCIe, HDMI, DisplayPort, and others. It is extensible to support future standards.
A personal cloud is a collection of digital content and services which are accessible from any device. The personal cloud is not a tangible entity. It is a place which gives users the ability to store, synchronize, stream and share content on a relative core, moving from one platform, screen and location to another. Created on connected services and applications, it reflects and sets consumers’ expectations for how next-generation computing services will work.
Pine Store Limited, known by its trade name Pine64, is a Hong Kong-based organization that designs, manufactures, and sells single-board computers, notebook computers, as well as smartwatch/smartphones. Its name was inspired by the mathematical constants pi and e with a reference to 64-bit computing power.
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