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The network becomes ordinary
Cobalt Qube
A compact server appliance with an integrated network interface.
MakerCobalt Networks
Era1990s
TypeServer appliance
About this object
The Qube packaged file, mail, and web services in a compact enclosure. Its small blue case made a network server something that could sit on a desk, with administration handled through a browser.
Inspect the original photograph
From the collection
The machine, photographed here
Photographs of the Qube as it is held in the collection.
Technical record
Cobalt Qube
| Introduced | 1998; Qube 2 in 1999 |
|---|---|
| Processor | MIPS RM5230 or RM5231 at 150–250 MHz |
| Memory | 16 MB to 256 MB |
| Storage | IDE |
| Management | Browser-based, plus a front-panel LCD |
| Operating system | Cobalt Linux |
Architecture
An appliance rather than a computer, and deliberately so. It arrived configured as a file, mail and web server, was administered entirely through a browser, and exposed no general-purpose desktop at all. That idea, a sealed single-purpose box on the network, is now how most infrastructure is sold. Sun bought Cobalt in 2000.
Record & provenance
The Qube packaged file, mail, and web services in a compact enclosure. Its small blue case made a network server something that could sit on a desk, with administration handled through a browser.
Reference: ATX-OBJ-021-IMG-6182
Source: collection inventory, photographs, and notes accompanying Serious Machines (Amir Husain, 2024).