(resending for the 3rd time to the list, for some reason my emails only appear on the list only if I sign them) On Wed, 13 Nov 2013 22:21:00 +0000 peter green <plugwash@p10link.net> wrote: > Konstantinos Margaritis wrote: > > So, my counter-proposal to that is that we get instead some cheap > > easy to replace boards like the Arndale [4] or the Odroid-XU [5]. > > The main concern I would have is that these boards are "unproven". > Personally I'd want to see a new board successfully building packages > with a tolerable ammount (ideally zero) of crashes for at least a > month or so before comitting to build out an entire cluster of them. That's true, but judging by the Odroid-X which I already have and has been rock solid in compiling since day 1 (over USB for that matter), I'd bet in favour of the odroid-XU as well. But yes, I wouldn't object against testing first of course. My biggest concern is in actually making a choice, and going with that, rather than insisting on a particular solution. > It's always a compromise, do you go with a platform that is a bit > slower but has been beaten on for a while (e.g. the imx6 based > wandboard quad) or do you go for the latest and greatest (e.g. the > exynos 5 octa based odroid XU) which promise more performance but > with all the headaches a new platform brings? I'd personally go for the XU, but that's my personal opinion, unless the platform is proven really unstable and totally unworkeable. So far, the reports I've seen have been on the positive side. > For serial it depends on the board. For the odriod XU the serial > console is 1.8V so to connect it to a standard serial console server > would require level shifters. I'm not sure how easy 1.8V to RS232 > level shifters are to get or how easy the weird connector hardkernel > use is to find/fit. The only serial option the odriod guys offer is a > USB one which is fine for development but far from ideal for a server > admin setup (mostly because if you plug several of them into one > machine you are likely to have difficulty working out which is > which). The wandboard quad on the other hand has RS232 level shifters > onboard and a DTE wired 9 way D connector so it just plugs straight > in to standard serial console infrastructure. Yes that is a valid point. I guess this might be one of the blocker issues, which I didn't think about. I also forgot to mention the wandboard as an alternative, which has the same SoC as the Utilite, but I think the Utilite wins as it already has an SSD, dual gigabit and a case, making it more manageable, IMHO. But the wandboard would be my next choice. Still, I'd like to eliminate the big.LITTLE options first. > I don't know if this price list was supposed to be ex VAT or inc VAT > but be aware that you will almost certainly be charged VAT at import. > You may or may not also be charged import duty depending on the value > and what customs code the supplier decides to use. ex-VAT for the odroid-XU ones. inc-VAT for the amazon prices. You're right the total price would increase a bit, but it would still be manageable. Regards Konstantinos
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