Small Linux Box Buying Guide?

Hi,

I would like to do some network experimenting and maybe even run a small experimental web server. For this I am trying to find a small box capable of running Linux or BSD, ideally without harddisk and low power consumption (think of a device much like the DSL router you probably have at home). First question: is this realistic?

Second part: I searched the web and did indeed find some sites (see below) but still have the feeling that I am not looking for the right terms or in the right locations. I still could not get to a site that has a shopping guide or at least sells products from multiple vendors so I can compare features and prices. Here's what I found so far

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Systems presented there still seem larger and more power consuming than what I have in mind.

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They also have some product infos but this does not really seem to be the major focus of the site and hence it feels a bit unordered.

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Both look promising, but these are just singular devices.

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EPC-200 looks a bit like what I am looking for but again this is just one vendor.

So, do you have some pointers or at least terms I should be looking for? I tried phrases like "embedded PC", "embedded system", "embedded Linux", "fanless pc" so far - should I rather be looking for particular processor names or board sizes

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mentions "PC/104")?

Thanks for any hints!

robert

Reply to
Robert Klemme
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Have you considered the Atmel NGW100 ?

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Cheers, Rob Sciuk

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Reply to
spam

Consider this product perhaps: - it's on the tiny end of Linux devices but could run a BSD port. $69.00 and includes Ethernet as well as various other features.

Reply to
larwe

Try gumstix, e.g. the world's smallest flying web-server:

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Ciao,

Peter K.

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Reply to
Peter K.

You could do worse than get a Linksys WRT54GL, which is a wireless router based on Linux, and customise the Linux software from . Folk have even hacked MMC interface on to them to use as a flashdrive.

Clifford Heath.

Reply to
Clifford Heath

The Linksys WRT54GL is a Linux box that happens to be a wireless router, or maybe a wireless router that happens to be open source.

At any rate, you can get one and the source, too.

WRT54G models earlier than version 4 are also Linux boxes -- for v5 they stripped down the hardware and changed OS's.

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Tim Wescott
Control systems and communications consulting
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Reply to
Tim Wescott

Tim & Clifford, thanks for that info! This looks exactly what I was looking for. The hardware list at

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also gives a good overview over devices.

Kind regards

robert

Reply to
Robert Klemme

Thanks but I'd rather have a preassembled device and as far as I can see this is just the board plus software.

Kind regards

robert

Reply to
Robert Klemme

It appears to be a fully assembled and tested board, with a display, interface, OS etc. I am amazed at what people consider to be 'parts' these days.

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 Chuck F (cbfalconer at maineline dot net)
   
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Reply to
CBFalconer

Our current favourite in this area is the Ebox 2300, which can be bought from many sources. 1 off prices start from around $120, but expect to pay more if you want serial ports. We use a version of Puppy Linux on them, which uses less than 100Mb for a fairly full distribution with GUI. See

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Stephen

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Stephen Pelc, stephenXXX@mpeforth.com
MicroProcessor Engineering Ltd - More Real, Less Time
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Reply to
Stephen Pelc

What do you mean "preassembled" - you mean, in a housing and packaged as a commercial device? This is a development board. You could put it in a jiffy box if you wanted a housing.

Reply to
larwe

See also

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Warren Block * Rapid City, South Dakota * USA
Reply to
Warren Block

Well, partly I'm just pragmatic and want to save the effort (you could call that "lazy" I guess :-)) and partly trying to preserve warranty. If I have to assembly it, no sweat - if I can get it fully built even better.

Kind regards

robert

Reply to
Robert Klemme

What effort? AFAICT from the web site, it's ready to go. You will have to plug in the network cable and a power cable, but I don't see how you're going to be able to avoid that.

What assembly are you talking about?

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Reply to
Grant Edwards

i was considering buying one of those from bvm-store but had a few questions about running linux on it so called their tech support department.

the guy i spoke to i think was a micro$oft stoodge! he was most dismissive of running linux on the box instead calling it a "toy" operating system and said that he could offer little by way of support. he later let slip that he knew little about linux!

the only way it appears i could get (hardware only) support would be by buying a copy of windows to go with it!

he did, however, reveal an interesting tidbit of information. the boxes are made by a company called dm&p in taiwan and is a rebadged ebox.

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sadly, i won't be using bvm due to their lack of knowlege/support of linux. as dm&p have other distributors that arent dismissive of linux i am going to shop there instead.

ziggy

Reply to
kingster

If you mean the EPC-300, it's an Ebox2300SX. We sell them

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You can get Xlinux direct from DMP, and we and others have used Puppy on it. The Xlinux driver sources are not public AFAIR, but Xlinux is faster and boots better than Puppy. Puppy needs a patch file which no longer works!

Stephen

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Stephen Pelc, stephenXXX@mpeforth.com
MicroProcessor Engineering Ltd - More Real, Less Time
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Reply to
Stephen Pelc

... snip ...

A wise decision. If more people did so we would have better systems.

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CBFalconer

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