little boxes [was: DECtop]

[Tyler Aviss]

I've had good luck with VIA mini-ITX boards/CPU's. At current I have a
web-server running on an 800Mhz Ezra, and a 1Ghz Via C3 on an Epia M-II.
Nowadays those series have decent driver support for most hardware and even
graphics acceleration (DRI works with 3d,  not the greatest as it's a Via
Unichrome chipset, but not terrible either).
If you shopped around you can find an M-II+RAM+Case for under $300, but
hard-disks are still a bit extra. Just watch out for the Epia-M's, there was
a period there where they tended to have bad caps (as demonstrated by my
other VIA machine that went poof).

I like the VIA's as servers since mine are non-profit and thus I don't
really care to run up my power bill. You can also go fanless with some of
them if you step down the power.

Recently, I just got a JetWay machine board with an integrated Via C7 and
dual 1GB NIC's. Unfortunately it behaved rather flaky with both RAM and
board. After running for awhile, the RAM would start showing up as only
256MB (rather than 1GB), and with different RAM there were various lockup
issues as well as NIC issues (the NIC link would sometimes go up and down,
even after power-off until the machine was physically disconnected). It
could be I just had bad luck though, so I'll have to see what happens with
the new unit which is currently in the mail...

Regards,


Tyler Aviss

p.s. What do you consider cost-effective for cases?



On 6/27/07, Ansar Mohammed <ansarm-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org> wrote:
>
> I was looking for some small boxen recently.
>
> I used netier terminals retro-fitted with laptop ide disks..
>
> They work great, are small and has even a PCI slot :)
>
>
> On 6/25/07, Dave Cramer <davec-zxk95TxsVYDyHADnj0MGvQC/G2K4zDHf at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> >
> >
> > On 25-Jun-07, at 2:18 PM, John Van Ostrand wrote:
> > On Mon, 2007-06-25 at 13:31 -0400, D. Hugh Redelmeier wrote:
> > I'm a sucker for little boxes.
> > Me too. I have some business cases where I can use appliance like
> devices.
> > Things like firewalls, Asterisk systems, network monitoring appliances,
> etc.
> >
> > I would love to hear what people are using for devices like that.
> >
> >
> > have a look at www.embeddedarm.com  I use these quite a bit, very
> reliable,
> > runs linux albeit 2.4.x kernel currently
> >
> > What is missing that I'd like:
>
> - serial port (usb + dongle would do, except
> > for "serial console")
>
> - more ethernet
>
> - HD expansion?
> >
> > My main issue would be more Ethernet, nix the video, go with serial
> console
> > and add external flash slot. Minimum Ethernet is 2 with options for 4.
> USB
> > Ethernet would be tough since USB doesn't have good retention and I'd
> hate
> > to see it fall out when brushed. Flash makes a great place to store
> > configuration so replacing a dead unit is easy. A single PCI slot would
> also
> > be good. PoE would be great with an optional power brick when needed.
> >
> > I'd really like to see three case options: 19" rack mount, wall mount
> and
> > desk-top boxes. The PICs look great for a desk-top box. I'd want the 19"
> > rack to have all the ports on front and look like a switch or router.
> The
> > wall mount would essentially be the same as the rackmount.
> >
> > They probably take more power than non-x86 little boxes.
> >
> > Low enough for PoE would be great, less than a standard PC would be
> fully
> > expected.
> >
> > In theory wireless routers are great cheap hackable boxes. Some even
> come
> > with USB2.0.
> >
> > But they can't be branded and many look too "consumer".
> >
> > Here's *my* dilemma: I want to see this in the sub $300 range, case
> > included.
> >
> > The EPIA mini ITX are almost there, we just need a cost effective case.
> >
> --
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