The driver for the VIA Chrome 9 graphics chipset which makes up part of the VIA VX800 combined NorthBridge, SouthBridge and Graphics Adaptor is the Linux Kernel driver CONFIG_FB_VIA
The driver for the VIA VT6115 ethernet controller chip is via-rhine.
Showing posts with label Linux. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Linux. Show all posts
Sunday, 17 February 2013
Sunday, 10 February 2013
Setting up a home microserver - choosing a device
There are two main options:
1) Raspberry Pi Model B
Uncased (but cases are now available and there are active threads on making your own case)
Power consumption : 2W
Power cost per annum: approx. £2.50 (assuming always on, and £0.125p per KWhr)
Clock speed : 700MHz, user can set up to 1GHz .
RAM : 512MB, (including onboard video ?)
Storage: SDHC Flash card (up to ... ?)
Ethernet: 10/100Mbps wired
USB ports : 2
Other ports:
HDMI out
Micro USB power in
Linux support: getting better by the fortnight.
Price not including case or power supply
2) Re-purposing a thin client device as a Linux server.
There are lots of thin clients available second-hand on eBay:
e.g.Sun Sunray (aka Sunray 1) : very cheap - but no-one has ever re-purposed one.
Igel 1/2 (aka Igel 2110) : currently £20 (inc. delivery) on eBay, with 256MB RAM.
After a lot of research, and reading almost every word written at "Repurposing Thin Clients" (parkytowers.me.uk/thin/), I went with one of the machines they *didn't* mention : - the Fujitsu Futro S100
Fujitsu Futro S100
Cased
Power consumption : 11W
Power cost per annum: approx. £13.75 (assuming always on, and £0.125p per KWhr)
Clock speed : 500MHz?
Chipset: VIA Eden processor,
VX800 (combined North & Southbridge),
VIA VT6115 (Rhine III ethernet controller)
RAM: up to 1GB, (including onboard video)
Storage: internal Compact Flash socket (up to 2GB?)
Ethernet: 10/100Mbps wired
USB ports : 4 (2 at the front, 2 at the back)
Other ports:
PS/2 Mouse, PS/2 Keyboard
Audio out
Mic in
VGA out
9-pin Serial I/O
Kensington lock socket
12V power in
I got mine from the good people at scrumpymacs, for £30 + £5 p&p, with 1GB of CF ROM and 1GB or RAM, Unlike the Pi, it comes with case and power supply. And an audio-out cable (3.5mm stereo jackplug at both ends). Their customer service is excellent, with the device arriving very quickly.
Linux support: should be good, though I'm a little nervous in case it's not!
Ultimately, my plan is to attempt to get the power bill down by using Wake On LAN to ensure it's only powered up on demand
The chipset is the VIA Eden CPU (low-power x86 compatible) at a 500MHz clock speed.
At time of writing, for Linux it's apparently important not to use the Nehelim versions of Eden.
Here is the chart of which Edens have which core
It also uses the VX800 combined North and South Bridge, and the VT6115 wired 10/100Mbps ethernet controller chip.
----------------
Once it's running, the plan is to run:
nginx, Seaside, the fencing competition app, and PaFF and FiF domains, plus give friends access to my photo library on the microserver.
1) Raspberry Pi Model B
Uncased (but cases are now available and there are active threads on making your own case)
Power consumption : 2W
Power cost per annum: approx. £2.50 (assuming always on, and £0.125p per KWhr)
Clock speed : 700MHz, user can set up to 1GHz .
RAM : 512MB, (including onboard video ?)
Storage: SDHC Flash card (up to ... ?)
Ethernet: 10/100Mbps wired
USB ports : 2
Other ports:
HDMI out
Micro USB power in
Linux support: getting better by the fortnight.
Price not including case or power supply
2) Re-purposing a thin client device as a Linux server.
There are lots of thin clients available second-hand on eBay:
e.g.
Igel 1/2 (aka Igel 2110) : currently £20 (inc. delivery) on eBay, with 256MB RAM.
After a lot of research, and reading almost every word written at "Repurposing Thin Clients" (parkytowers.me.uk/thin/), I went with one of the machines they *didn't* mention : - the Fujitsu Futro S100
Fujitsu Futro S100
 |
| Fujitsu Futro S100 with flash drive in a front USB port, beside a Compact Flash card |
Power consumption : 11W
Power cost per annum: approx. £13.75 (assuming always on, and £0.125p per KWhr)
Clock speed : 500MHz?
Chipset: VIA Eden processor,
VX800 (combined North & Southbridge),
VIA VT6115 (Rhine III ethernet controller)
RAM: up to 1GB, (including onboard video)
Storage: internal Compact Flash socket (up to 2GB?)
Ethernet: 10/100Mbps wired
USB ports : 4 (2 at the front, 2 at the back)
Other ports:
 |
| Fujitsu Futro S100, rear view showing ports and connectors |
Audio out
Mic in
VGA out
9-pin Serial I/O
Kensington lock socket
12V power in
I got mine from the good people at scrumpymacs, for £30 + £5 p&p, with 1GB of CF ROM and 1GB or RAM, Unlike the Pi, it comes with case and power supply. And an audio-out cable (3.5mm stereo jackplug at both ends). Their customer service is excellent, with the device arriving very quickly.
Linux support: should be good, though I'm a little nervous in case it's not!
Ultimately, my plan is to attempt to get the power bill down by using Wake On LAN to ensure it's only powered up on demand
The chipset is the VIA Eden CPU (low-power x86 compatible) at a 500MHz clock speed.
At time of writing, for Linux it's apparently important not to use the Nehelim versions of Eden.
Here is the chart of which Edens have which core
It also uses the VX800 combined North and South Bridge, and the VT6115 wired 10/100Mbps ethernet controller chip.
----------------
Once it's running, the plan is to run:
nginx, Seaside, the fencing competition app, and PaFF and FiF domains, plus give friends access to my photo library on the microserver.
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