CubieBoard2 based mini server. Aesthetic, cheap and practical
In continuation of the article “Dancing with tambourines on New Year's Eve or second life of old cars”, I would like to share my opinions and plans about the home server project with an aesthetic appearance and low maintenance costs: electricity, administration, noise, working space.
And the reason for the article was the story of creating your home mini-server. I am the happy owner of this miracle. Just over a month ago, it was successfully launched. He has modest characteristics. The processor is an Intel Pentium IV 3.06 GHz, a system bus of 533 Hz, 1.5 GB of RAM, and so on ... Modest performance. But I have enough. I will not mention the advantages of a dedicated server, everyone understands this well. Here is his photo for fans to see ...
')
But I had to face a number of problems. This is a home computer. Where to place it, so that no one bothers? Those who left the computer on for the night will understand me. No matter how quietly he worked, he was still clearly audible and it began to annoy. Plus, the air in such a room becomes stale and of little use to any person.
With this somehow cope. Placed it on his loggia. It's not cold there yet. Heating this unit is another story altogether. He did not occupy a place there either. Electricity is the most annoying thing. It works without peripheral equipment, but it is clear to any person that it still eats a lot. After all, it works 24 hours a day. And so, 7 days a week and 12 months a year.
All these thoughts and problems, comments on the article on New Year's dances prompted us to turn our attention to mini-computers. I mean here a very specific category of products. In particular, it is a descendant of the famous raspberry pi - CubieBoard2. There is a third version of this computer. She came out just recently. At the end of 2013. But I fixed my gaze on the second. Attractive option. Capacity can be easily scaled in the future. Already there are cluster solutions based on it.
What is this baby like? The issue is relevant and burning. I would like not to waste money. So look under the hood. Rather, just look at it. After all, in fact it is a printed circuit board, the case can be purchased, made.
As already seen in the photo, the basis of the power of this mini-computer is the ARM cortex A7 dual-core processor. Clock frequency - 1.2 - 1.6 GHz. It has a floating point module (FPU). There is a graphics processor (GPU) - Mali 400 on board. But this parameter worries me least of all. The main goal is to use as a server. RAM on board 1GB DDR3 480 MHz. Present controller Ethernet, USB, HDMI, SATA controller, analog inputs and so on. For those who want to learn more detailed specifications, refer to the official site of the project.
In general, everyone understands that this is a very compact device. Does not require active cooling, consumes a minimum of electricity, does not create noise and occupies a minimum of living space. It is the perfect, one might say, solution for the home and for the family budget. Speaking of costs. For one such fee, you will need to pay $ 59 (excluding the case and the cost of delivery). Soothe those who are worried about installing software for this miracle. Currently, most popular GNU / Linux, Android OS distributions are supported: Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Archlinux, SUSE, Gentoo Linux, and others. And here is a photo of the Cubieboard HADOOP cluster based on cubieboard2.
It is much easier to implement at home is such an option. Who was in a large server, he will understand. This is a separate topic. This is about amateur hardware and other tasks, less modest. There are many video reviews of people who have already been fortunate enough to buy this computer. Here is one of them . You can open Youtube and search by yourself. The only thing that is annoying in all of this is the delivery from China. The device is in fact produced there. But, judging by the enthusiastic reviews, this is not a problem.
It remains only to order and personally touch this device. I hope that I will be able to replace my bulky and noisy server with this miniature Chinese engineering know-how. Be sure then I will write a detailed review of how I set it up and what it cost me. Thank you for your attention, leave your valuable comments.
PS:
What is this post for? I wrote it specially in order to hear an opinion from the side regarding the expediency of such a solution. Plans for using a server based on Cubiboard2 - Web-server + FTP. Further targets will be determined as you test this computer. Do not judge strictly. On Habré, I'm new and do not know the preferences of the local public. But I wanted to do a little analysis based on the feedback of experienced people, and not just malicious comments and minuses. Thank. Soon I will write the implementation of this idea in practice with a “live” device.
And the reason for the article was the story of creating your home mini-server. I am the happy owner of this miracle. Just over a month ago, it was successfully launched. He has modest characteristics. The processor is an Intel Pentium IV 3.06 GHz, a system bus of 533 Hz, 1.5 GB of RAM, and so on ... Modest performance. But I have enough. I will not mention the advantages of a dedicated server, everyone understands this well. Here is his photo for fans to see ...
')
But I had to face a number of problems. This is a home computer. Where to place it, so that no one bothers? Those who left the computer on for the night will understand me. No matter how quietly he worked, he was still clearly audible and it began to annoy. Plus, the air in such a room becomes stale and of little use to any person.
With this somehow cope. Placed it on his loggia. It's not cold there yet. Heating this unit is another story altogether. He did not occupy a place there either. Electricity is the most annoying thing. It works without peripheral equipment, but it is clear to any person that it still eats a lot. After all, it works 24 hours a day. And so, 7 days a week and 12 months a year.
All these thoughts and problems, comments on the article on New Year's dances prompted us to turn our attention to mini-computers. I mean here a very specific category of products. In particular, it is a descendant of the famous raspberry pi - CubieBoard2. There is a third version of this computer. She came out just recently. At the end of 2013. But I fixed my gaze on the second. Attractive option. Capacity can be easily scaled in the future. Already there are cluster solutions based on it.
What is this baby like? The issue is relevant and burning. I would like not to waste money. So look under the hood. Rather, just look at it. After all, in fact it is a printed circuit board, the case can be purchased, made.
As already seen in the photo, the basis of the power of this mini-computer is the ARM cortex A7 dual-core processor. Clock frequency - 1.2 - 1.6 GHz. It has a floating point module (FPU). There is a graphics processor (GPU) - Mali 400 on board. But this parameter worries me least of all. The main goal is to use as a server. RAM on board 1GB DDR3 480 MHz. Present controller Ethernet, USB, HDMI, SATA controller, analog inputs and so on. For those who want to learn more detailed specifications, refer to the official site of the project.
In general, everyone understands that this is a very compact device. Does not require active cooling, consumes a minimum of electricity, does not create noise and occupies a minimum of living space. It is the perfect, one might say, solution for the home and for the family budget. Speaking of costs. For one such fee, you will need to pay $ 59 (excluding the case and the cost of delivery). Soothe those who are worried about installing software for this miracle. Currently, most popular GNU / Linux, Android OS distributions are supported: Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Archlinux, SUSE, Gentoo Linux, and others. And here is a photo of the Cubieboard HADOOP cluster based on cubieboard2.
It is much easier to implement at home is such an option. Who was in a large server, he will understand. This is a separate topic. This is about amateur hardware and other tasks, less modest. There are many video reviews of people who have already been fortunate enough to buy this computer. Here is one of them . You can open Youtube and search by yourself. The only thing that is annoying in all of this is the delivery from China. The device is in fact produced there. But, judging by the enthusiastic reviews, this is not a problem.
It remains only to order and personally touch this device. I hope that I will be able to replace my bulky and noisy server with this miniature Chinese engineering know-how. Be sure then I will write a detailed review of how I set it up and what it cost me. Thank you for your attention, leave your valuable comments.
PS:
What is this post for? I wrote it specially in order to hear an opinion from the side regarding the expediency of such a solution. Plans for using a server based on Cubiboard2 - Web-server + FTP. Further targets will be determined as you test this computer. Do not judge strictly. On Habré, I'm new and do not know the preferences of the local public. But I wanted to do a little analysis based on the feedback of experienced people, and not just malicious comments and minuses. Thank. Soon I will write the implementation of this idea in practice with a “live” device.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/208270/
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