Now who says that people on this net are just too theoretical? The Chronicle of Higher Education From the issue dated February 26, 1999 Stanford Computer-Science Professor Creates a Pocket-Sized Web Server By KELLY McCOLLUM Watch where you step in the computer-science department at Stanford University. There may be a Web server hiding under that scrap of paper. Vaughan Pratt, a professor of computer science at Stanford, has created what he says is the world's smallest World-Wide Web server, a computer that is capable of sending images, sounds, or text to Web surfers around the world. But unlike most such computers, Mr. Pratt's Web server is not quite as tall and wide as a business card, and only a quarter of an inch thick. Mr. Pratt says he made the device "initially just for the impact." But, he says, the computer also makes a point about the shrinking size and cost -- and growing power -- of general-purpose computers like his Web server. "Fifty years ago, a computer with less computational power than a modern pocket calculator filled a whole room, and ran programs consisting of only a few hundred instructions," Mr. Pratt says on his Web site. "Today we can fit the extensive software needed to drive a World-Wide Web server into a computer the size of a box of matches." The Web server was partially an answer to the previous record holder, a tiny server designed by a software company in Cambridge, Mass. That earlier server was an "embedded system" -- a computer constructed to perform a specific task. Embedded systems are useful because they are inexpensive and run their programs reliably. General-purpose machines, like personal computers, have multiple uses, but are more complex and expensive. However, says Mr. Pratt, the general-purpose computers have dropped so far in price that they may be more economical than embedded systems in some cases. And in the case of a Web server, a general-purpose machine is desirable because its software can be easily replaced or upgraded. Mr. Pratt's server uses a 486 processor, like those found in older personal computers, and runs the Linux operating system. He adapted the Web server from a computer that costs about $400. The challenge was paring down the powerful Linux operating system to fit into the server's 16 megabytes of storage space and getting it to communicate with the Internet. The tiny computer's only job so far has been self-promotion: It serves up a Web pag with photographs of itself, information about its hardware, and detailed instructions for creating similar servers (http://wearables.stanford.edu/). According to Mr. Pratt, the server has sent out about 120,000 pages in the past month. He says it could handle a hit per second, although it hasn't been that busy yet. The hardware that makes the server possible is what is commonly called a "computer on a chip." Unlike most personal computers, which are built from many pieces of hardware -- a processor, memory chips, a hard drive, and so on -- the tiny server has all its components integrated on a single circuit board. That concept has been increasingly used in the personal-computer industry, which has begun integrating components like sound cards and modems as a way of cutting manufacturing costs. Mr. Pratt adds that wearable computers -- complete with eyeglass displays and wrist-mounted keyboards -- are prime uses of tiny computers like his Web server. Mr. Pratt says the tiny server would probably not work for a Web site with heavy traffic. But it could be useful where a server was needed only temporarily or where a mobile server was necessary -- perhaps for scientists hoping to serve up pages from remote places. _________________________________________________________________ http://chronicle.com Section: Information Technology Page: A25