What is Pizza Box Computer? Definition, History and Features
What is Pizza Box Computer? – Definition, History, Features and More
Pizza Box Computer – Pizza Box denotes a housing design for desktop computers. The housing shape is reminiscent of this, which is in the English pizza box.
In computer science, a pizza box is a type of box for computers or network switches.
It tends to be very thin, usually one or two rack units (1U or 2U) in height, which makes it full and flat, being very similar to the boxes in which they distribute the pizzas.
The cases are extensive so that a monitor can be placed on top, for example, standing on a desk. Housing is one to two height units (1 HE = 1¾ ” = 44.45 mm ) high.
What is history of Pizza box Computer?
The first computer in this style were desktop workstations from Sun.
- Other common examples were the NeXTstation from NeXT Computer and the Macintosh LC from Apple.
- Over the years, the pizza box design replaces by the tower design (with the computer cases placed upright under the desk).
- In the server area, the term uses colloquially for housing forms in 19-inch technology and a height unit for installation in racks.
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What are the Features of Pizza box Computer?
The first computers whose box is usually called pizza box were high – end computers. Such as workstations from Sun Microsystems sold in the 1980s, particularly SPARCstation 1 and SPARCstation 5.
- Other famous cases are the SGI Indy, the NeXTstation, the Macintosh LC, and the Commodore Amiga 1000: all considered among the highest performing teams of their generations.
- The original design of the SPARCstation 1 includes the SBus expansion technology, specially designed for this form factor;
- The expansion cards are small, especially compared to other expansion cards in use at the moment. Such as VMEbus, and are mounted horizontally rather than vertically.
- Computers IBM compatible PC used with this type of box cards for PCI bus limited to one or two horizontally mounted via a riser card or by low – profile cards.
- The calculation power density and stacking possibility of pizza box systems also make them attractive for use in data processing centers.
- Equipment initially designs for desktop use placed on the racks of the racks, sometimes requiring to cut part of the box so that it can fit — servers with that form factor now design for rack mounting.
Similarly, many companies began to develop high-end Ethernet switches in this form factor for mounting on top of the racks.
What are its uses?
The use of pizza boxes has mainly decreased due to the increase in desktop computers of ventilation and expansion.
Which brought the establishment of the towers and monitors as a de facto standard.
It continues to occupy a niche market in business-oriented branded computers (Dell or Hewlett Packard equipment ).
It is still the most used format on servers and switches and routers for rack mounting.
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What is a pizza box server? – TechTarget Definition
The term “pizza box server” refers to the shape of a computer server enclosed in a rectangular and horizontally arranged chassis and often installed in a rack with similar servers. A pizza box is roughly the same size as one of these servers, hence the name.
A pizza box server is designed to be small and compact. It is so named because it is rectangular in shape and enclosed in a 1 rack unit (1U) pizza box-style case. The server’s case closely resembles the thin size (approx. 1.5 inches) and shape of a pizza box; its height is roughly equivalent to a U which is 1.75 inches. Compared to 2U to 4U servers, a pizza box server occupies less space and is easier to move around. It also uses less power than larger form server alternatives.
Pizza box servers are often used in data centers because they offer high computing power and are stackable within a single rack. Approximately 30 to 40 pizza-box size servers can be stacked per rack if the data center has enough power and network switch ports.
Evolution of pizza box servers
In 1991, Data General’s Aviion Unix server was the first to be advertised as a pizza box server. The form factor became popular for use in data centers due to its computing power and stackability. Pizza boxes also became a common form factor for industrial applications where space, rack room and density were limited.
Over the years, tower and minitower server designs have also become very popular. But pizza box servers are still in use in data centers because they provide a low-cost option compared to traditional rack-mounted servers.
What are advantages of pizza box servers?
Due to their compact size, pizza box servers are ideal for space-constrained data centers. They are also cheaper than traditional rack-mounted servers and consume less power than normal 2U to 4U servers, which can also reduce a large data center’s running costs.
Another advantage of pizza box servers is that they are easier to maintain and handle, even with a smaller IT staff. They also generate less heat and might be able to function properly without elaborate cooling systems. Finally, they are generally quieter than larger servers, as long as too many are not stacked together in a single cabinet.
All in all, pizza box servers are not as powerful or scalable as traditional servers; however, they offer a low-cost, low-power alternative for many applications and a variety of environments.
What are disadvantages of pizza box servers?
Pizza box servers may have certain disadvantages compared to full-size 2U to 4U rack-mounted servers. One shortcoming is that they have fewer CPU sockets and memory slots, which makes them less powerful and expandable than larger, rack-mounted servers. They also have fewer disk drive and adapter card slots, so they might be more difficult to upgrade than traditional servers. Some pizza box servers don’t support component hot-swapping — a feature that traditional servers usually offer and that might be required by some organizations’ procurement standards.
Another drawback is that pizza box servers are not suitable for all virtualization environments, especially where hypervisors are extensively used. In these cases, organizations often choose larger standard servers and blades, which provide the ability to pack multiple virtual machines (VMs) onto physical hosts. Also, blades provide higher VM density, and larger 2U to 4U servers offer higher capacities for memory and greater CPU power compared to smaller, less dense pizza box servers.
Where can pizza box servers be used?
Pizza box servers are suitable for use in small businesses, home offices and large enterprise data centers. Since the late 1990s, these servers have become key components for data centers and enterprise applications where rack space and density are important factors.
They are also used in private cloud environments because they are easy to replace when a server fails. Databases and bare-metal setups can also use pizza box servers.
What are alternatives to pizza box servers?
While pizza boxes support a wide range of applications and use cases, they are not suited for all applications so alternatives should be considered.
One alternative is a full-size rack-mounted server, which is more powerful than a pizza box server. The drawback is that it is more expensive and takes up more space in a data center. Blade servers are another alternative. These servers are similar to rack-mounted servers, albeit smaller and often more expensive.
Tower servers are more powerful than pizza box servers. As the name suggests, the tower form factor means they are not stackable. In addition, they are larger and more expensive. On the other hand, mini servers are smaller than pizza box servers, although they offer similar features and computing power.
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