Re: choosing low-power/low-noise/free NAS servers to run Debian
On Tue, Apr 12, 2016 at 10:20 AM, Daniel Pocock <daniel@pocock.pro> wrote:
>
> There are a lot of ARM-based small NAS servers out there now.
>
> How many can be upgraded to Debian and operated with 100% free software,
> no binary firmware blobs at all? Is there any comparison table that is
> useful for people buying these things with the intention of running free
> software?
>
> For the average buyer, factors like low noise levels, less heat and low
> power consumption are likely to be more significant than the need to be
> 100% free. However, the fact these devices are theoretically more free
> than x86-based solutions may be a good reason to raise awareness of 2 or
> 3 of the better models that are known to run Debian.
>
> Has anybody done any comparison of the IO throughput in different
> non-x86 boxes, especially for use with SSDs?
>
> Are there any ARMv8 / 64-bit in this market yet?
>
> Maybe this is too much to expect in this price range, but has anybody
> seen one providing flash-backed write cache? This can make NFS faster
> when dealing with many small files such as Maildirs and large Git
> repositories.
>
> Are there any useful articles comparing the 32 bit entry level boxes,
> newer ARMv8 solutions and the x86 equivalents such as the HP
> Microserver[1], Lenovo TS140 and Qnap TS-451 and helping users decide
> which things run well enough on ARM and for which use cases is the x86
> solution really essential?
>
The list of armel systems supported out of the box by debian-installer
covers mostly Kirkwood based plug computers, Lacie and QNAP NASes [1].
You can find a comparison of QNAP systems (some no longer in
production) over at Martin Michlmayr's website [2].
Keep in mind that the Kirkwood platform is based on ARMv5 (ARM9E),
this is not exactly a modern design, so don't expect great
performance.
If you have serial access and don't mind setting up TFTP boot servers,
the armhf variant provides support for a few more devices [3].
Personally I think that ReadyNAS104 is an inexpensive and
well-supported option. Lenovo ix4-300d and Synology DS414 are also
interesting (and faster -- dual core Armada XP), but I haven't heard
first-hand reports here. Note that Synology has only 8MB of flash.
All Marvell Armada/Kirkwood SoCs feature a crypto engine (CESA,
supported by the marvell_cesa kernel driver).
Hope that helps,
Jan
1. https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/armel/ch02s01.html.en#armel-supported-platforms
2. https://www.cyrius.com/debian/kirkwood/qnap/
3. http://ftp.acc.umu.se/debian/dists/testing/main/installer-armhf/current/images/device-tree/
Reply to: