Help me please to find the best successor of the cubieboard

[kudzu]

Hi,

my Cubieboard 1 was burned, so I'm looking for next board.

 

What I need:

- ownCloud (newer had yet);

- MPD;

- spdif;

- SATA (alternatively via USB?);

- maybe simple www server.

 

I don't need video , but I would like to connect some extra modules, like nRF24L01 radio via SPI or alphanumeric LCD via IIC etc.

 

 

Odroid C2 is powerful, but without SPI, SATA and audio outputs. So maybe C1+?

A20-OLinuXino-LIME2 is OK, but Allwinner again...

What else?

 

And the most important thing: Armbian:)

 

[tkaiser]

If SATA is a requirement, then choose between Solid-Run's Clearfog or any Allwinner A10/A20 board we support. I would choose one of the boards mentioned here that features also GBit Ethernet when it's about NAS use cases (please read also through what's important when choosing such a device. CPU horsepower it's not): http://linux-sunxi.org/Sunxi_devices_as_NAS

[kudzu]

It's comprehensive answer - thank you.

 

So I think that LIME2 will be best choice:

- very good hardware documentation;

- SATA support in CPU (not USB-SATA);

- SPI, IIC, s/pdif;

- LiPo supply - great!

 

I'm worried only about DRAM - 1 GB is enough?

[tkaiser]

Well, before using Lime2 you might want to read a bit through this thread: http://forum.armbian.com/index.php/topic/853-armbian-customization/?view=getlastpost

 

I personally use a Lime2 without problems now again but you should be warned that we had/have a couple of issues with it. If you want SATA + 2GB then the choice is easy since the CubieTruck is the only device supporting both. Apart from that: http://www.linuxatemyram.com

 

If you're adventurous then wait for the first R40 devices being ready (I still hope we see T3 on dev boards instead)

[kudzu]

R40 will be probably too expensive for me.

Cubietruck - for the time being I don't want any Cubie.

Lime2 is good, but I read about hanging... and now I am totally confused.

 

And that

 

 

Unfortunately, as I have mentioned before Lime2 is not of big interest for them so I am not sure if real collaboration is possible.

It means that good SW support of their Lime(2) boards from Armbian or any other community is not possible as well.

 

is very bothering (good adj? )

[arox]

2 GB RAM ? Are you sure you need that much for a server ? Do you need to provide service for thousand users or do you have a particularly hungry application ?

[kudzu]

2 GB RAM ? Are you sure you need that much for a server ? Do you need to provide service for thousand users or do you have a particularly hungry application ?

 

I'm sure I don't need. I had doubts only.

 

 

After reading that post I think I shouldn't worry about stability.

Edited August 19, 2016 by kudzu

[kudzu]

After reading that post I think I shouldn't worry about stability.

[arox]

Memory is mainly used by disk cache and object storage (especially in gui apps) ... and leakage in bad software. You should check if your system needs swap (with swapon -s for example). A database may need much RAM - especially when badly designed because it then needs full table scan. A java/servlet server needs RAM to keep users context. A gui or CAD program may create numerous instance and require much memory. Apart of that, for personal usage, high memory consumption is often due to bad software (with buggy chromium, I fear that you simply cannot get enough memory). A light DB or a lignt web server dont need that much memory - especially for serving static files.

 

So buy as much of RAM that you can, but dont choose the card for the RAM unless you really know you need it : you can also use 2 cheap cards with different hardware instead of an expansive one if you have specific needs.

[kudzu]

Thank you for comprehensive post.

 

I think, when I will need more than 1 GB RAM for server I turn to professional provider;)

 

 

Edit:

 

What about Banana Pi M1+? It is similar to Lime2 but without LiPo support.

 

Edit:

 

At home I've got only WLAN devices, except my PC. So I came up with idea to remove TP-Link router from my net and use Banana Pi M1+ as WIFI router. Could I do that?

Or maybe Lime2 + USB wifi?

Edited August 19, 2016 by kudzu

[kudzu]

Finally, after reading this, I decided to buy Orange Pi PC Plus.

[tkaiser]

What about Banana Pi M1+? It is similar to Lime2 but without LiPo support.

 

M1+ has LiPo support but a connected disk will not be powered from battery. And to be honest: the M1+ tried to be a Banana Pro clone but as usual the careless vendor messed a few things up. I would choose the Banana Pro if I would look for WiFi which is absolutely not the case. In my personal opinion we have exactly one board supported that makes up for a good AP: And that's Solid-Run's Clearfog Pro (and maybe sometimes in the future the Clearfog Base). IMO cheap WiFi on all the other SBCs is simply crap (only 2.4GHz band, low throughput/performance, with many implementations you have to struggle)

 

Finally, after reading this, I decided to buy Orange Pi PC Plus.

 

If you're fine with just Fast Ethernet this will be a good choice (some people also claim the WiFi there would be useable). In my eyes for NAS use cases the Plus 2E is an interesting alternative since Gigabit Ethernet might make the difference

[kudzu]

You wrote:

 

 

the performance bottleneck on all Fast Ethernet equipped devices will be network unless you add the $7.50 for an USB-Ethernet dongle (...) and all other Gbit Ethernet capable H3 devices are not priced competitive

 

I think I don't loose anything when take Orange Pi PC (34,2$) or PC Plus (37$) and USB3.0->GbE (18,5$) when needed.

Orange Pi Plus 2e I can get for 68$ so I could save from 13$ (with GbE) to 31$ (without GbE) the expense of 1 GB RAM and one USB extra. I'll thik about it.

[arox]

"I came up with idea to remove TP-Link router from my net and use Banana Pi M1+ as WIFI router. Could I do that?"

 

Dont expect to much of a linux based AP : wifi is a jungle, opensource software use to respect standard and legislation, which is not always the case of internet provider boxes in your vicinity. And the one who has the largest (antenna) generally wins.

[kudzu]

"I came up with idea to remove TP-Link router from my net and use Banana Pi M1+ as WIFI router. Could I do that?"

 

Dont expect to much of a linux based AP : wifi is a jungle, opensource software use to respect standard and legislation, which is not always the case of internet provider boxes in your vicinity. And the one who has the largest (antenna) generally wins.

 

I had been using Open-WRT and DD-WRT with that TL-WR740N. I can change the antenna to bigger one too if I'll choose board with WLAN;)

 

EDIT:

If Allwinner H3 has EMAC 10M/100M/1000M what is the different between Orange Pi Plus (GbE) and Orange Pi PC Plus (Fast  Ethernet)?

[kudzu]

If Allwinner H3 has EMAC 10M/100M/1000M what is the different between Orange Pi Plus (GbE) and Orange Pi PC Plus (Fast  Ethernet)?

 

Ok, probably I found answer - PHY decides. Stupid question:/