[ale] Plug computers?

[Byron Jeff]

On Wed, Dec 05, 2012 at 08:37:50PM -0500, Scott Plante wrote:
> 
>    These are the plug computers I was thinking about.
>    [1]http://www.globalscaletechnologies.com/t-products.aspx
>    I've been thinking of getting one of the 2 NIC (maybe + wifi) models as a
>    home firewall and maybe Asterisk server.
>    I helped someone setup a Buffalo TeraStation NAS which includes the PogoPlug
>    "cloud" storage feature, but he didn't want to activate that part of it. I
>    didn't try hacking it--has anyone rooted the $40 PogoPlug? That might be
>    cool--does anyone know what the internal specs of it are, like memory, flash
>    storage, processor?

I think it's about time that I jump in.  I have a couple of Dockstars. All
of them are ARM processors in the 1.2-1.5Ghz range with moderate amounts
(512K-4G) of RAM and flash.

In my investigations, I have found that there are two crucial elements that
makes deployment challenging: bootability and display mechanisms. The vast
majority of plug computers take some effort to get a usable bootloader and
have extremely limited ways (serial, ethernet) to get a peek at what's
going on inside.

RPi's and others like the MK802:

http://www.amazon.com/MK802-Android-Google-Player-Allwinner/dp/B008BFXOZE

are far superior in this role because they are bootable out of the box via
their microSDHC card interfaces and have HDMI output. So with a cheap 4G
microSD and any HDMI TV, booting Linux (as opposed to the native Android
4.0 on the MK802) is a trivial exercise. The sample $38 price comes with a
power supply, USB adapter (for one of the two USB interfaces), and a
miniHDMI to HDMI cable. And it's wireless to boot.

I've bought 3 of them, put Lubuntu from www.miniand.com on them, and never
looked back.

BAJ

>    Scott
>      _________________________________________________________________
> 
>    From: "Scott Plante" <splante at insightsys.com>
>    To: "Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts" <ale at ale.org>
>    Sent: Wednesday, December 5, 2012 3:09:33 PM
>    Subject: Re: [ale] Plug computers?
>    You have 3 RPis? Or Plugs?
>    The plug computers are a bit expensive relative to the Pi, but remember
>    you're getting a case, power supply, flash memory, and a proper (non-USB)
>    gigabit Ethernet port, and on some of them, 2 ports. By the time you buy all
>    the stuff to go with the Pi, if you need it, you're starting to get back
>    into the price range of the plugs, are you not?
>    How do you find the reliability of the USB ethernet ports? Some forums claim
>    they're not very stable. I've had limited exposure, but I haven't noticed
>    that much trouble myself.
>    Scott
>      _________________________________________________________________
> 
>    From: "Richard Bronosky" <richard at bronosky.com>
>    To: "Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts - Yes! We run Linux!" <ale at ale.org>
>    Sent: Wednesday, December 5, 2012 2:23:07 PM
>    Subject: Re: [ale] Plug computers?
> 
>    Now that the Raspberry Pi exists, I can't imagine paying the price of a plug
>    computer. I have 3 of them now.
>    On Dec 5, 2012 12:51 AM, "Alex Carver" <[2]agcarver+ale at acarver.net> wrote:
> 
>      Anyone using one of the various plug computers that could share their
>      experience?
>      I'm thinking ahead to moving my mail and syslog server to something like a
>      plug computer with an external hard drive attached.  The server is very
>      low volume and minimal load (exim/dovecot/syslogng with some monitoring
>      using mrtg).
>      I may also use it as an endpoint for SSH tunnels though I may also use
>      something like an Rpi for that (currently using a meraki with the wireless
>      interface turned off) and possibly as the master controller for apcupsd.
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> References
> 
>    1. http://www.globalscaletechnologies.com/t-products.aspx
>    2. mailto:agcarver%2Bale at acarver.net
>    3. mailto:Ale at ale.org
>    4. http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>    5. http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo

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-- 
Byron A. Jeff
Chair: Department of Computer Science and Information Technology
College of Information and Mathematical Sciences
Clayton State University
http://faculty.clayton.edu/bjeff