I think the real promise of combining single-board computers into a grid like this is the potential to provide utility computing starting at a low cost without

I think the real promise of combining single-board computers into a grid like this is the potential to provide utility computing starting at a low cost without the curse of underprovisioning (http://www.xaprb.com/blog/2010/06/01/under-provisioning-the-curse-of-the-cloud/ http://www.xaprb.com/blog/2010/06/01/under-provisioning-the-...). I envision a rack full of single-board computers with specifications such that a hosting provider can rent out whole computers with specs and prices similar to a 1 GB Linode. To achieve this goal, I think one would need a single-board computer with roughly these specs: a SoC that scores at least 1000 on Geekbench; at least 1 GB of RAM; at least 8 GB of flash storage competitive with SSDs from a few years ago; 100 Mbps Ethernet; sized such that a 2U enclosure can hold 32 of them plus an Ethernet switch; priced around $100. If any of my expectations are way off, in either direction, I'd be happy to be corrected.