Hi, I am looking for a SBC to self host stuff on. I would like it to be somewhat open hardware (manufacturer provides schematics and drivers are open source). Which is why I initially wanted to buy a banana-pi router but after reading a post in this /c/ I found that mainline linux support is fairly rare in these arm/riscv SBCs.
So I was hoping someone more knowledgeable would help me find some options. Here are my “wants”:
Low power drain
Open source hardware and software
Mainline linux support
2 ethernet ports, at least 1Gb
at least 2GB RAM - could do with 1GB I suppose
a reasonable way to connect 2 SSDs and 2 HDDs
- ie. 4 sata ports or one pcie port (not through USB)
EU seller. Not required but I hate dealing with import taxes and I like guarantees
Finally I need it to have “wake on power”, so that it can start automatically after power outage
The more I search the internet, the more it seems that this mythical computer does not exist but maybe someone knows more than me. Thanks for your replies.
Edit: I’m likely going to settle with the Visionfive 2 since it has official ubuntu support and I won’t have to rely on some hacky linux image provided by the manufacturer. It has 2 LAN ports and an M.2 NVME which I’m gonna split into 4 SATAs. Also 8GB RAM is plenty for the lightweight stuff I want to host, maybe even Nextcloud won’t be that painful.
Final note: I’m actually not sure how much is the Visionfive 2 open-source but it seems better than intel and AMD stuff so I’m willing to compromise since I actually want to buy something that exists. But anyone reading this in the future beware that I don’t know whether it’s really open source to the last logic gate. (likely not)
APU board? They are going EOL soon, but these devices are built like a tank. Full Linux x86_64 support, coreboot bios. https://www.pcengines.ch/apu.htm
A few sellers in the EU still have them.
I can second the Zimaboard. I’ve got two HDDs hooked up to the SATA ports, and grabbed a cheap PCIE SATA daughter card for the SSDs.
I also used a PC power supply to run 12v to the board, and i use the built in SATA power cables. Look up “how to use pc psu as power supply”, it’ll tell you how to get it running without a motherboard.
Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately I don’t think the Orange Pi 5 Plus is mainline Linux ready, or at least the RK3588 is not there yet so it seems to me that it’s more of a hacky board.
I don’t think the Zimaboard is open source but it seems pretty good although I personally would buy a coreboot compatible small form factor PC if I went x86.
Finally I need it to have “wake on power”, so that it can start automatically after power outage
WoL is not so common with SBC, but many will automatically start as soon as they have power. Some x86 boards also have the bios option to return to the previous state, i.e. if they were running when the power cut, they will automatically start again on power resumption.
Edit: Missread as Wake on Lan. But comment still applies I guess.
Thanks for your reply. Honestly what I’m asking for does not really exist. You have to pick from features, open source and plug-and-play-ness. Usually you can get 2 of the 3 but it’s hard to get all three. So although I wouldn’t buy this PC, it’s a pretty good recommendation for stumbling on this post in the future.
Yes, the Odroid H series SBC probably come closest to OP’s requirements. Schematics are available on their website. They are also really low power with even the older H2 idling below 4 W.
Thanks, does it have mainline linux support though? I know I am kinda repeating myself but that is probably the most important point as I am not really a good hacker so I don’t really want to buy hacky solutions.
Thank you very much! This is probably the best answer.
For anyone from the future reading this: From my understanding almost every SBC does not really work with “Linus Torvalds’ Linux” which is why one often sees HW manufacturers also providing their own Linux image with the computer. This is fine for development but honestly not something I would want for self hosting stuff.
There are few exceptions like the Raspberry Pi but that one is not that much open source. So imo the best option is to look at https://ubuntu.com/download/risc-v where Ubuntu provides “official” images for few RISC-V boards. (The Visionfive 2 is what lead me there.)
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APU board? They are going EOL soon, but these devices are built like a tank. Full Linux x86_64 support, coreboot bios. https://www.pcengines.ch/apu.htm A few sellers in the EU still have them.
Orange Pi 5 Plus
Not sure about EU sellers or WOP though.
http://www.orangepi.org/html/hardWare/computerAndMicrocontrollers/details/Orange-Pi-5-plus.html
Zimaboard and Zimablade are good too, but I’m not sure if they’re open source. The Zimaboard has PCIE.
I can second the Zimaboard. I’ve got two HDDs hooked up to the SATA ports, and grabbed a cheap PCIE SATA daughter card for the SSDs.
I also used a PC power supply to run 12v to the board, and i use the built in SATA power cables. Look up “how to use pc psu as power supply”, it’ll tell you how to get it running without a motherboard.
Here’s my setup:
Nice
Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately I don’t think the Orange Pi 5 Plus is mainline Linux ready, or at least the RK3588 is not there yet so it seems to me that it’s more of a hacky board. I don’t think the Zimaboard is open source but it seems pretty good although I personally would buy a coreboot compatible small form factor PC if I went x86.
WoL is not so common with SBC, but many will automatically start as soon as they have power. Some x86 boards also have the bios option to return to the previous state, i.e. if they were running when the power cut, they will automatically start again on power resumption.
Edit: Missread as Wake on Lan. But comment still applies I guess.
Ok that’s good then. Thanks for the reply!
I use an Odroid H2 which is an amd64 SBC with two Ethernet ports, two DIMM slots but only two onboard SATA ports. There’s a PCIE slot though.
The new version H3 has a slightly more powerful CPU but is otherwise the same. https://www.odroid.nl/H3-Plus
Thanks for your reply. Honestly what I’m asking for does not really exist. You have to pick from features, open source and plug-and-play-ness. Usually you can get 2 of the 3 but it’s hard to get all three. So although I wouldn’t buy this PC, it’s a pretty good recommendation for stumbling on this post in the future.
Yes, the Odroid H series SBC probably come closest to OP’s requirements. Schematics are available on their website. They are also really low power with even the older H2 idling below 4 W.
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:
3 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 4 acronyms.
[Thread #181 for this sub, first seen 1st Oct 2023, 20:45] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]
Yy3568 has most if not all of that, sata also and thats hard to find.
Thanks, does it have mainline linux support though? I know I am kinda repeating myself but that is probably the most important point as I am not really a good hacker so I don’t really want to buy hacky solutions.
Oh yeah, it’s a 3588, all out of tree, I’m very similar.
I have good luck self-hosting on a Raspberry Pi and on a Linode Nanode server.
VisionFive 2 maybe?
Thank you very much! This is probably the best answer.
For anyone from the future reading this: From my understanding almost every SBC does not really work with “Linus Torvalds’ Linux” which is why one often sees HW manufacturers also providing their own Linux image with the computer. This is fine for development but honestly not something I would want for self hosting stuff. There are few exceptions like the Raspberry Pi but that one is not that much open source. So imo the best option is to look at https://ubuntu.com/download/risc-v where Ubuntu provides “official” images for few RISC-V boards. (The Visionfive 2 is what lead me there.)