Cobalt RaQ

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Cobalt RaQ 550

The Cobalt RaQ is a 1U rackmount server product line developed by Cobalt Networks, Inc. which was later purchased by Sun Microsystems featuring a modified Red Hat Linux operating system with a proprietary GUI for server management. Original RaQ systems were equipped with MIPS CPUs but later models used AMD K6-2 chips and then eventually Intel Pentium III CPUs for the final models.

The Cobalt RaQ was actually the second product type made by Cobalt Networks. The first one would be the Qube 2700. Interestingly enough, this is where the name Cobalt came from. Mark Orr, one of the Cobalt Networks CEO's, came with the cool cobalt color. The green color of LED in the front was Bill Scott's idea. The 2700 (or 27 to be precise) number, the first Qube released, is not a development version number, but comes from the atomic number of cobalt. The next product was called Qube 2800 before being sold, but it was eventually called Qube2, Leaving the number 2800 to designate the type number of the system. Below is a list of Cobalt RaQ types, and their specs.

[edit] Server specifications

Model	CPU type	Speed
Cobalt RaQ 1	MIPS RM5230	150 MHz
Cobalt RaQ 2	MIPS RM5231	250 MHz
Cobalt RaQ 3	AMD K6 3D	300 MHz
Cobalt RaQ 4	AMD K6-2	450 MHz
Cobalt RaQ XTR	Intel Pentium III	733 MHz or 933 MHz (original release) 850 MHz or 1 GHz (re-release)
Cobalt RaQ 550	Intel Pentium III	1 GHz or 1.26 GHz

There were variants of the RaQ 3 and RaQ 4 models known as the RaQ 3i or RaQ 4i (SCSI support, two ethernet connectors, PCI connector), and the RaQ 4r (SCSI support, two ethernet connectors, and RAID). RAID on these models was accomplished in software using a second IDE channel on the motherboard for the second hard drive. There was also a "bare bones" RaQ 4 model that had a single Ethernet adapter, no external SCSI, and a single hard drive.

The RaQ 3 shipped with Chili!soft ASP support. Cobalt acquired Chili!soft a few months prior to being acquired by Sun.

The RaQ 4 added PHP support to the RaQ 3 payload.

The RaQ XTR was the first 1U server to have four removable hard drives. Unfortunately, the first release was plagued with hardware problems and was recalled. This happened during the Cobalt acquisition, and it took over 6 months to get the XTR re-released. It was never a big seller. The XTR UI was also a "hybrid" between the newer PHP-based Sausalito system and the older Perl-based "special sauce" that powered the RaQ 1 - RaQ 4.

The RaQ 550 was the final appliance from the Cobalt division. It added Java support to the RaQ 4 payload, and was the first RaQ to use only the Sausalito UI originated in the Qube 3.

Not long after the Cobalt acquisition, Sun terminated the Cobalt product, announcing the Cobalt range End of Life (EOL). Sun also announced it will discontinue all support and upgrades on the RAQ1-RAQ4 and XTR, and will stop offering these services for the RAQ550 and Qube3 in 2007.

On the 23rd of December 2003, Sun released the RAQ550/Sausalito Source code under the BSD license. Ever since developers have tried to keep the Cobalt project alive. Examples are BlueQuartz, maintained by a group of Japanese fans, and RackStar, an initiative of RAQTweak (Cobalt RAQ consultants) and several ex-Sun/Cobalt engineers such as Tim Hockin and Patrick Baltz.