Cobalt Qube

Qube 3 front

The Cobalt Qube was a computer server appliance product line developed by Cobalt Networks, Inc. (later purchased by Sun Microsystems) featuring a modified Red Hat Linux operating system and a proprietary GUI for server management. The original Qube systems were equipped with RM5230 or RM5231 microprocessors but later models used AMD K6-2 chips. NetBSD operating system has been ported to both, the Cobalt Qube and RaQ (see External links).

Models

Qube 3 back; this model lacks an external SCSI port.

The Qube 2700 was the first product released by Cobalt Networks. Mark Orr, one of the Cobalt Networks' CEOs, came up with the cobalt color. The green LED in the front was Bill Scott's idea. The 2700 was not a development version number but came from the atomic number of cobalt, 27. The next product was called the Qube 2800 before being sold, but was eventually called the Qube 2, leaving the 2800 to designate the system type. The Qube 2700 used the RM5230 microprocessor, whereas the Qube 2 used the RM5231.

Under an OEM arrangement, the Qube 2 units were also produced by Gateway in the form of the Gateway Micro Server. The casing featured on these units was black instead of cobalt blue.

The Qube 3 used a AMD K6-2 CPU at either 300 MHz or 450 MHz and was the last product in the Qube line.

A fourth Qube model was in development but was never released.^[1] However, several models were released in the data center-friendly Cobalt RaQ product line after the Cobalt Qube was discontinued.

See also

• BlueQuartz
• Cobalt Networks
• Cobalt RaQ
• Cobalt RaQ2
• Cobalt RaQ4
• Linux
• Red Hat
• Red Hat Linux
• Strongbolt
• Sun Microsystems

References

1. ^ Qube 4 - CobaltFAQs

External links

• Sun Microsystems Server Appliances: End of Life Products at the Wayback Machine (archived June 11, 2008)
• CobaltFAQs wiki
• NetBSD/cobalt port