May 2007 — News

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Review: Google Mini 2.2

by Dave Nagel


One note about the Google Mini's hardware during operation: This machine is extraordinarily loud. So very, very loud. So you might want to requisition an office a little farther away from the server room before you deploy it.

Upgrading from 2.0
For those of you who are already running a Google Mini 2.0 and want to upgrade to take advantage of the new features, here's a quick runthrough of how it works. (I went through this process myself, having started out with the Google Mini 2.0.)

The Google Mini runs a special version of Red Hat Linux. This OS needs to be updated prior to updating the Google software itself.

So, in order to do this, you need to download two binaries: the OS update and the software update.

The simplest method is simply to download these binaries to your local drive. You can then install them on the Mini through the browser-based Admin Console.

The entire process is explained in detail on the Google Mini Updates support page, located here. (You will need a Google support password to access the file and the OS and software downloads, which are linked from that page.) Note: That is the update page for the current version (4.6.4 G66) as of March 16, 2007.

But, essentially, once you have the files on your local machine, you access the appliance through port 9941. From there, you select the update to be installed, locate it on your hard drive, and upload it. The console will show you progress reports and let you know when everything's ready to go.

In the meantime, the Mini will continue serving based on the previous version of the software. You can create a new index when you have the software loaded up, then switch over once the indexing is complete (or near complete) to minimize downtime during the upgrade.

Again, all of this information is on the support page. But it's worth noting that it's just a three-step upgrade process: download, install, and switch over to the new software once your new index is ready.

Recommendation

The Google Mini 2.2 has a lot going for it in the plus column. It's about as simple as a network appliance can be to deploy and maintain; it's powerful, with new security, analytics, and search capabilities; and it's about the right price in each of its four configurations.

So are there any negatives to report? Not many, and nothing terribly major, at least not that we discovered during this evaluation period. There are some postings on the Internet about potential security flaws. Most are more than a bit alarmist and seem to involve scenarios in which a hacker breaks into your server room and physically disassembled the Mini. Other than those potential flaws, there's nothing seriously wrong with the Mini. One ironic point worth mentioning is that the Google Mini Help Center served up by the appliance is not itself searchable. Ironic, but not a deal breaker.