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Ask HN: Finding a tiny Linux server

15 points by Yaa101 ↗ HN
Lately there are many projects, like the RaspberryPI, that enable people to deploy tiny servers. My question is, where can I find a tiny server that is able to run real Linux (not Android et al), a SSH server and eventually a webserver, things like ethernet and USB (for HDD) are essential. I do not need it to have all this superduper video output, so most of the projects don't suit me because of overkill, all I need is an ethernet/SSH console output for handling the device from my desktop computer.

Can anybody point me into the right direction?

31 comments

[ 4.8 ms ] story [ 63.5 ms ] thread
ChuckMcM
Well there are the gumstix line. http://www.gumstix.com/
Yaa101
Thanks for your recommendation, it looks good but 200 dollars for what I want to do with it (only run SSH and a webserver) is way overpriced.
ChuckMcM
Well for $10 or free you can pick up an old laptop but it won't be 'small.' Another alternative for you might be the Beaglebone at $89 its a Cortex-A8 system.
Yaa101
You are right, but it is not the 200 dollars in itself that is expensive, I just do not need that much functionality, so the ratio is a bit off.
dbuthay
what about a wifi router running tomatousb ? http://tomatousb.org/
Yaa101
This is a nice variant, although the factors that it runs only on obsolete hardware and that it is Linux 2.4, make me not use this.

Thank you for your time and recommendation.

dbuthay
it actually supports k2.6 since 2010. It runs on some of the newest Asus routers, so I wouldn't say those are obsolete.

Still, it is kind of a hack.

Yaa101
Thanks for notifying me of this, and in itself the idea of making room in a router to make some serving tech available is not such a bad idea.
dangrossman
I've got a TonidoPlug for this. It runs Ubuntu, a little web server, and a cron job for nightly backups from some real servers to external hard drives connected to it.

All in 5 watts of power.

http://www.tonidoplug.com/

Yaa101
This looks quite good, but I could not see if I am able to replace all software on that device, it speaks of several proprietary software items, so I am afraid I have to rely on them for my software.

I am too much software developer and too much GPL to accept not being able to replace all.

Thanks for the tip anyhow.

0x0
How about a Sheevaplug or something similar? Quite cheap, ARM, supports Debian, decent amount of RAM (512mb) and OK cpu performance (1+ ghz)
Yaa101
I think Sheevaplug is the closest thing that nears my wanted specs.

There are a few shortcomings like memory.

Thanks for the tip.

0x0
There are several variants available based on the same platform, so you might even be able to find something a bit more beefier out there :)

Edit: I've been running a sheevaplug (512mb ram) with ssh, lighttpd, postfix, dovecot, bind and rsync without much trouble for a few users for a long time. RAM usage hasn't been a problem.

Yaa101
I will check further this path... :-)
dynacker
whatever you do, don't buy a guruplug. mine sounds like a hovercraft about to mate with the loudest hair dryer in the world.
TeamMCS
I think one of the Pogo plug series will likely be your best bet. The pro is lacking in ram (256?) but has onboard SATA, Wifi and a shed load of USBs and can be bought for $20-30 iirc.

Failing that one, why not get one of those chinese tablets. The Ainol Elf (classic) runs Ubuntu and has 1gig ram. Thre's even a desktop varient which has SATA (but only 512mg)

Yaa101
Thank you for answering my question, the pogo plug is similar to the sheeva plug, see down.

A tablet wont do, too large, I want to plug it in, configure the stuff and rather forget about it physically, it should gather a lot of dust on the outside.

threedaymonk
OpenWRT on a TL-MR3020 or TL-WR703N. They're broadly similar, although the 703 is physically slightly smaller, cheaper, and Chinese (but easily acquired via eBay). They have ethernet, WiFi, and USB.

I'm using a TL-MR3020 with OpenWRT as the basis of a telepresence robot I'm working on. It has a USB hub connecting it to a flash drive (mounted as a filesystem), camera, and a microcontroller for motor control etc. It works really well.

http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-mr3020 http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-wr703n

Yaa101
Thanks for replying, I got a similar option down this thread on tomatousb.

The hardware specs of these are a little bit too lightweighted for me, like I said below, in itself the idea to put that functionality into a router is great.

threedaymonk
Ah, I thought your concerns were about outdated hardware or software (the TL-MR3020 is on sale now, and I'm running Linux 3.3.8 on mine).

It's definitely not a powerful machine, though, you're right. You can hardly fit anything on the internal flash, and you can only recover flash space by setting it all back to first boot state again, so setting up an external overlay is the first thing you have to do. I think I only have about 10MB of RAM free, too.

It sounds like the Raspberry Pi would actually suit you better than most of the alternatives.

Yaa101
The reason I asked here is mainly because for my usage, the RaspberryPI is unbalanced towards graphical usage, where as I want to see less graphical power and more cpu power and more memory instead of flash.

All these projects seem to want to either move your desktop to it or make it a media center.

I just want it to be a SSH and webserver that can handle occasional spikes of usage, like for instance private music streaming. For that I now have a Dell with duo xeon processor, each with 2 cores, which is pure overkill, and it makes noise too.

mvanveen
Maybe you could help us understand what the Raspberry Pi isn't addressing for you? I run debian on mine, can SSH into it easily over ethernet, am running a webserver on it, and could put external storage on it should I want. And it only cost me $35!

Edit: I should point out that I'm doing all of this from my backpack, and that this was incredibly straightforward to set up with off the shelf parts. Honestly, it feels more or less like any other debian system I've worked with.

Yaa101
Sorry for the late reply, but I had to sleep.

My problem is too much weight on video and too little on cpu power and memory amount.

anthony_barker
used nokia n800 would be very small and expandable.. nettop or netbook would work... thats what I use... more packages avil for x86.... many are fanless... allows use of wine or virtual box.. or video games. Power usage as low as 2tdp and support for various ports - usb 2/3 esata et

good luck and tell us what

Yaa101
I like your out of the box thinking, but the specs are a bit thin to be honest.

Probably it will be something like RaspberryPI, while I would like 1.5 - 2 GHz and 2 - 4 GB RAM and text or vga grade graphics.

jacknews
SATA is also very useful in this application, and quite rare unfortunately. This board might do the trick: http://cubieboard.org/#
Yaa101
Thanks for the tip, but it is hardly different from the RaspberryPI.