Mobile server
A mobile server is a computer system (computer hardware and operating system) that responds to requests across a computer network to provide, or help to provide, a network service, while being easily portable in a laptop form factor.[1]
In contrast to large data centers or rack servers, the mobile server is designed for on-the-road development and ad hoc deployment. It allows for quick deployment and can be easily transported (hand carried) into emergency, disaster or temporary environments where traditional servers are not feasible due to their power requirements, size, etc.[2] The main beneficiaries of so-called "server on the go" technology include network managers, software or database developers, training centers, military personnel, law enforcement, forensics, emergency relief and service organizations.[3]
To facilitate portability, features such as the keyboard, display, battery (uninterruptible power supply, to provide power redundancy in case of failure), and mouse are all integrated into the chassis.
Deployments
A mobile server is not meant to replace conventional server systems. In environments where there are no space, weight, mobility or energy constraints, rackmount and tower servers remain the most cost effective and high density solutions. A mobile server addresses emerging needs and opens up new opportunities for users who require server-grade hardware in a mobile form factor.
A mobile server is really for traveling engineering IT professionals, software developers, training instructors, military personnel, emergency relief personnel, service organization field staff, and so on.[3]
A mobile server is powerful enough so that a user can rush to a client's site, their field office, or to some site where they have to run a technical training class and deploy it as short-term LAN-based solution. It is about having engineering-class workstation and engineering-class IT server power ready to solve the next mission-critical assignment.[3]
There are several ways of supplementing a laptop for engineers who travel, but need more horsepower for their work. It involves not only engineering laptops as client workstations, but "thin clients", which are computers that depend heavily on other computers, and their server, to fulfill their computational roles. To bring this hardware together, engineers are utilizing a full-fledged computer network and at least one server with enough scalability, capacity and performance to take on many different types of design requirements and projects, including analysis and simulation. The idea is to take your entire computing environment, including servers, workstations, thin clients and network infrastructure.[4]