TRS-80

Kudos to @tkaiser for providing so much quality info here.

XU4 and HC1 are fully software compatible (check the readme) and heat dissipation on HC1 is WAY BETTER than with XU4. But you're limited to 2.5" disks here and should keep in mind that Hardkernel already announced a HC2 without that much details (so maybe using the same JMS561 as on Cloudshell 2 minus the interconnection problems -- better ask in their forum).
 
Wrt new boards being interesting for NAS use cases:
Pine folks want to provide something called 'Cloudmedia Transformer' (same idea as XU4 vs. HC1, the Transformer is a 100% software compatible ROCK64 + JMS578 on the PCB in an heat emitting metal enclosure that fits a 2.5" HDD, they also thought about a 3.5" variant) Similar to 'Le Potato' a so called 'Le Fly' also with RK3328 might appear (the bottom one here) A bunch of RK3399 devices will be available (all with PCIe 2.x x4 and USB3), I expect software support next year on par with RK3328 EspressoBin might have stable software support next year (you can use the native SATA port there and add mPCIe SATA cards with 2 or even 4 additional real SATA ports) Allwinner H6 boards with both PCIe (single lane, PCIe 2.x) and USB3 will appear (see here and keep in mind that Banana Pi people also have an H6 board in the works) Banana Pi R2 might be ready next year (MTK software support looks promising so maybe next year when mainline kernel support matured we'll support the board) The GnuBees are not listed by intention.
 
 

Thanks for the input, but proprietary software is a non-starter for me. So much so in fact, that I purchase hardware nowadays based on how free/open the driver support (and company/community around it in general) are. In fact, I never even considered purchasing any IP cameras until I came across those ones with the Dafang hacks.
 
I did hear the Zoneminder guy on some Linux podcast a few months back, and it sounded like some more development has been going on of late. Well, I certainly hope, anyway. I have yet to touch it, but I will be knee deep in it here soon enough! :D
 
So, I've got (2x) the fixed (Xiaofang) ones and (1x) PTZ (Dafang) on the way from AliExpress as we speak. The former were only lke $20 something each, and the latter ~$30(!). I can remember what seems like only a few short years ago PTZ cameras being like $500!
 
Anyway, back to topic, I came across this post which nicely summarizes sort of where we are today with regard to SBCs and particularly how open they are which leads directly to how well they are supported by community / Linux which means a good, long term, and stable experience for end users.
 
For now I am going to pull trigger on (1-2) ODROID-XU4, one for dedicated ZoneMinder instance, and the other one for a spare / development / testing platform. I've also ordered a 16 port (8 PoE) gigabit switch, 1000' box of Cat5e (only $38 shipped on eBay, surprisingly!) and some ends, crimping tool, etc... so yeah we will see how it goes!

Well, in Emacs we would call it killing and yanking, but, yeah. :)

A brief internet search revealed that Invision board software is supposed to accept bbcode. I wish there was a way to preview this, but it does not appear to be so. Since I prefer to edit my post in Emacs using bbcode mode before posting (I just lost a big post I was working on due to an errant keypress) I hope that it is alright I am testing this functionality. Feel free to delete this once it has been posted... unless somehow you feel it is useful?
 
Well, here goes...
 
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Greetings everyone,
 
A couple years ago, I did my research and followed the recommendation here and on linux-sunxi to purchase a Cubietruck and have had excellent results.
 
I use my small low power GNU/Linux sever for all manner of things including self hosted "cloud" (contact, calendar, file synchronization), XMPP messaging server, media server, etc...  It has been such a success in fact that we are putting more and more of our valuable personal files on there like pictures, etc. and that has me thinking more and more about reliability, backup, etc...
 
I became very interested in ZFS but my understanding is that it requires 64-bit, but the state of 64-bit ARM devices seems... well, not quite ready for prime time just yet?
 
I have spoken to some friends and family about my self-hosted solution, and a few of them are interested now in doing something similar. So now I am thinking along the lines of purchasing a second (and/or third...) Cubietruck and putting together a sort of distributed cluster of little servers at different locations where we each back up one another's data.
 
So I guess my question is, should I pull the trigger now and purchase additional Cubietruck(s), or just sit tight and wait a little longer until 64-bit ARM matures? Or perhaps there is some other option I am not aware of (hardware recommendation)?
 
My primary concerns are privacy, including keeping my own data on devices I physically control or have access to. Also the whole state of affairs with blob bootloaders is very troubling to me, but it has been difficult for me to find specific info on this, at least with regard to specific ARM based hardware. Maybe I am not looking in the right place(s)? Any pointers about where to find such information would also be greatly appreciated.
 
To give you an idea of where I am coming from, I spent years and hundreds of dollars acquiring a number of KGPE-D16 motherboards and related hardware (ECC RAM, etc.) to run Libreboot and ZFS, only to measure the power consumption and realize that at hundreds of watts it was totally unfit for the purpose of a 24/7/365 server. I just don't want to make any more really bad mistakes like that. I know there are some very knowledgeable people here, and I am hoping some of you can contribute to a discussion that would get me (and others who think similarly) looking in the right direction.
 
TRS-80
 
P.S. - I just want to thank everyone here who is doing such a fine job. The developers as well as those who help in answering questions in the forums, etc. I am very short on time these days and cannot help out in that way myself currently, however I did make a small monthly financial commitment in the form of a membership. It is not a lot but is the least I can do. I feel that those of you who spend your valuable time on development, support, etc. should not have to come out of pocket for server costs and other small expenditures. I know that I personally greatly appreciate your work, I'm sure others do as well, even if they don't say so as often as they should. Cheers!

How is blocking tivoization a bad thing? I've built commercial products on the OrangePi PC, the relevant project is on github with a nice little bash script to install & configure it all, but the thing is, if you design your business model well, having tivoized hardware is not useful or beneficial.
 
Red Hat and other giants have gotten this far without Tivoizing their offerings, and the only businesses intent on doing so are either doing it to protect a weak business model, or arcane reasons that generally do not make sense and will not generate extra revenue.