Forty-seven South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Trade Show attendees took The Planet Server Challenge, but only one could walk away with the ASUS Eee PC netbook and the title of “The Fastest Hands at SXSW.” When we designed the competition, we had three goals in mind:

1. Give participants a the chance to show off their technical expertise
2. Appeal to as broad an audience as possible
3. Take less than two minutes to complete

We anticipated strong performances, and we were as surprised as everyone else to see Tagged Director of Engineering Mark Jen masterfully rebuild the server in a blistering 30.7 seconds. His first attempt was slowed by a stray cable, yet it was still fast enough to take the lead from Idea’s Quang Tran. We flicked on our camera to document Mark’s second attempt in hopes we’d catch a faster time on film. Thankfully, he did not disappoint:

If you made it by our booth to try your hand in the competition, we thank you. Whether your time was thirty seconds or two minutes and thirty seconds, we enjoyed meeting you and sharing a little of what we do. To the team of folks that put together the Iron Geek Triathlon, thanks for inviting us to be a part of the fun!

To Mark: Keep those fingers nimble … now the Internet is going to see your tricks of the trade, and next time, it might not be as easy to walk away victorious.

-Kevin

P.S. For more Server Challenge goodness, check out the coverage on Data Center Knowledge and Keith Shaw’s hands-on test at Network World.