SheevaPlug eSATA Plug Computer review
With ARM processors growing in popularity in the server market, now is a great time to start thinking about brushing up your development skills on the architecture…
This article is due to appear in issue 94 of Linux User & Developer magazine.
Subscribe and save more than 30% and receive our exclusive money back guarantee – click here to find out more.
Specs:
OS tested Ubuntu 9.04.1 ARMEL
Processor Feroceon 88FR131 1.2GHz
Memory 512MB DDR2
Storage 512MB NAND Flash
Expansion SDHC-compatible SD card slot
Network Gigabit Ethernet
Additional ports USB 2.0, eSATA
Debugging Serial console, JTAG over mini-USB
Actual size 110 x 69.5 x 48.5mm
Weight 200g (excluding cables)
Price: £97 / approx $129
Where to buy:
Pros: The tiny form factor and completely solid-state nature of the device combine with an incredibly low power draw to make a tempting home server
Cons: The 1.2GHz ARM chip struggles with intensive processing tasks, while the single Ethernet port prevents its use as a gateway or firewall
There’s no denying that ARM chips have proven unbelievably successful in the embedded and mobile markets, but there is growing interest in the low-power chips from server manufacturers as well. The SheevaPlug, developed as an open source development platform by ARM licensee Marvell, is designed to be a cheap and easy route into ARM development.
The first thing that strikes you about the SheevaPlug is its size. Designed around a model known as the ‘plug computer,’ it looks more like the power adaptor for a device than an entire server. Picking it up, it’s plain to see that much of the size of the device is actually taken up with the ports on the sides, and that the body of the SheevaPlug is largely hollow.
Firing the SheevaPlug up, which is a simple case of plugging an Ethernet cable into the Gigabit-class port on the base and sticking the mains cable in, it quickly becomes clear that it’s something a bit special. Shipping with Ubuntu 9.04 compiled for the ARMEL architecture, the SheevaPlug is a genuine server-class device in the tiniest packaging.
As the SheevaPlug is designed to be a headless server, there aren’t any video output ports to be seen. Instead, the pre-installed operating system is configured to snag an IP address from DHCP and give you SSH access into the root account. It looks like a Seinfeld fan has been at the configuration too, with a default root password of ‘nosoup4u.’
While booting is a little slow, taking around two minutes, the system feels pretty snappy in use. The 1.2GHz ARM-based processor and 512MB of RAM keep things zipping along in general use, while the eSATA port provides a 3Gbps connection to an external hard drive to keep the Gigabit Ethernet port supplied with data.
During testing, the SheevaPlug proved perfectly adequate as a low-power server, streaming audio and video to a remote device using the DLNA-compatible uShare package without a single hitch or stutter from both eSATA and USB 2.0 connected drives. A quick installation of the lighttpd web server showed that the device has no trouble running multiple services either.
Page 2 – Verdict
Find more Linux User reviews
Return to the homepage
to find out about all the latest Linux news, reviews, previews, interviews, features and a whole more.
The only choices I see for those of us in North America are sheeva plug (no esata), or, guru plug. And from what I’ve read guru plug has instability problems due to extreme heat. Now it apparently ships with a very noisy fan, which is a deal breaker for me.
This sucks. Having esata would make a huge difference since I would have liked to use this as a file server.
Unfortunately GlobalScale also has a bad reputation for taking your money but not delivering for months. And not responding to email queries about your order.
The Tonido plug is another option – readily available. I have two, one of which has been running for almost a year now – rock steady and easily runs Apache/Mysql plus Rsync and Postfix. Also, as I live in Australia, it has been subject to extreme heat with no problems at all. It provided Tonido software is also handy for file sharing and a variety of other tasks. Support via email has been excellent.
Somewhat larger, still low power, but will provide the features that jackd is requesting, e-SATA with little heat and stability, is the openrd client.
http://www.globalscaletechnologies.com/t-openrdcdetails.aspx
I blog often and I genuinely thank you for your
information. This great article has really peaked my interest.
I’m going to bookmark your site and keep checking for new information about once per week. I subscribed to your RSS feed as well.
Have you ever considered publishing an e-book or guest authoring on other
sites? I have a blog centered on the same ideas you discuss and would really like to have you share some stories/information.
I know my audience would appreciate your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel free to shoot me an e-mail.
Howdy very nice website!! Man .. Excellent .. Wonderful .
. I’ll bookmark your site and take the feeds also? I’m glad to seek out a lot of helpful information right here within the submit,
we need work out extra strategies on this regard, thanks for sharing.
. . . . .
Howdy, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one and
i was just wondering if you get a lot of spam comments?
If so how do you stop it, any plugin or anything you can recommend?
I get so much lately it’s driving me insane so any assistance is very much appreciated.
If some one wishes expert view on the topic of blogging and site-building after that i suggest him/her to pay a
quick visit this web site, Keep up the fastidious work.