If you happen to enjoy both home-computer networking and fine cigars, Donavon West has the perfect all-in-one solution: the Home Servidor.
The Baltimore-based independent software developer has designed what he calls the Home Servidor - a desktop humidor made of cedar that also doubles as a computer server for storing and sharing photos, videos and other files across your home computer network. The ideal customer, he thinks, will be people with home offices and small businesses who like a good cigar and are avid consumers and producers of digital media.
"They don't want an ugly computer sitting there on their desk," West said. "They like things that look nice. They might have a nice flat-screen monitor, a wireless keyboard, and the last thing you want is an ugly gray box."
Home media servers are becoming more popular, as consumers who own multiple computers strive to connect them and share large multimedia files across their home network. Companies like HP and Acer are targeting the consumer market with off-the-shelf servers that act as huge automatic back-up disk drives that can also network several computers, allowing people to view photos, videos and other digital content on any computer or television in their house.
Michael Greeson, founder of the Diffusion Group, a Dallas-based consumer technology research firm, said that turning computers into home servers has been common among tech-savvy enthusiasts for years, but it hasn't taken hold among mainstream consumers. That stands to change as technology has made household computing more complex. .
"It's taken consumers awhile to deploy home networks, but now they're sharing media between devices more than ever before," Greeson said.
But West's Home Servidor dresses up the workmanlike server so it no longer has to be hidden away in a closet or under a desk. Beneath the glass hinged door, more than a dozen cigars can be stored on a removable shelf. The shelf sits on an insulated lining, and its bottom has a glass panel, which prevents humidity and moisture from seeping into the electronic components in the compartment below the cigars, West said.
The server itself is a custom layout designed by West featuring off-the-shelf components, including a small Intel Atom 330 processor, which draws low energy, a 1 terabyte hard drive (or two, if you choose), and a fan that helps keep the whole set-up cool.
