[clug] Arguments on list + Linux H/W Question

Bob Edwards Robert.Edwards at anu.edu.au
Tue Apr 7 17:36:04 MDT 2015


On 07/04/15 21:01, Neil Pickford wrote:
...
> Having added some Noise now for some Signal - Now for the Linux Hardware
> bit.
>
> I am looking for a low cost, low power, low voltage (12V) processor
> board with:
> a text based console - X11 not required
> two independent real Ethernet ports 100baseT,
> at least two real serial ports up to 115 kbaud (not usb)
> 512M RAM + some flash memory for storage (4-5G) that I could run
> Slackware on.
>
> Been looking around for a while but haven't been able to find anything
> suitable.
> I am trying to replace 2 Linux PCs currently running 24x7 providing:
> NAT Firewall with Masquerading,
> Caching DNS
> NNTPD,
> SMTP
> HTTP Web services,
> Mail list services,
> postgresql,
> python,
> perl,
> OWFS &
> RRDtools.
>
> Currently the 2 PC's are consuming around 150W to do this stuff and I'd
> rather it be done at less than 20W.
> This is quite possible aka Rasberry Pi but the Pi does not have enough
> real ports.
> I have found $1k level machines aimed at process control or POS but I am
> really looking for something a lot cheaper.
>
> Any ideas gratefully received?
>
> NeilP

My idea: seriously consider buying a ~$300 notebook and use a USB NIC
for the 2nd port and USB serial convertors (I know you stated "not usb",
but you gave no reason for that - the advantages of using a notebook
may, or may not, out-weigh whatever reasons you have for the serial
ports not being USB).

Advantages: cheap, has built-in console, has built-in UPS, low-power
(relatively), easy to replace if/when needed, ample storage/RAM etc.

cheers,

Bob Edwards.



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