Choosing an embedded platform

P

Peter2121

Hello,

I'm searching a small card (something like Raspberry Pi) to create a home server, based on FreeBSD, essentially for ZFS snapshot based backups of my cloud server (and for some other services). I would like to use a USB external drive for data storage (to be able to disconnect it and operate a restore, using another computer). As the server will be up 24/7 - the power consuming is important. Also, to have a correct ARC for ZFS, the server needs some free RAM (totally - 2GB?). If I can have two additional USB ports (so, 3 ports totally) - it would be perfect. If Wi-Fi is supported - it is perfect, if not - it is not critical (I can use a wired connection).

Could someone recommend me a hardware platform for such project? This platform must have good a FreeBSD support, even if I must create the image myself - it is not critical if there is a good docs for it.
 
For mainstream, it's either ARM or x86. ARM -- whether you choose RPI or Pine64 or the many others in this space -- has growing FreeBSD support but there are still serious gaps. Last I checked RPI4 won't run FreeBSD without major hacking. I run FreeBSD on RPI3, but that has nowhere near the power you need. Also, ARM on FreeBSD is Tier 2 so you can't use freebsd-update which turns me away. Honestly, if you want to run an ARM device, IMO FreeBSD is not there yet.

On the other hand, there are a lot of x86 single boards out there, and these will run FreeBSD in all its glory (as always, check hardware compatibility). These devices are less popular, (usually) more expensive, and don't always hit those miniscule power numbers ARM is famous for, but they're pretty close.
 
phalange said:
On the other hand, there are a lot of x86 single boards out there, and these will run FreeBSD in all its glory (as always, check hardware compatibility). These devices are less popular, (usually) more expensive, and don't always hit those miniscule power numbers ARM is famous for, but they're pretty close.
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Googling a little, the only x86 card that fits my needs is Rock Pi X. It is not available in Europe (need to order in Chine), and (even without importation taxes) is rather more expensive that any ARM alternative. All other x86 cards are much more expensive (Udoo x86 II) or too exotic (Atomic Pi).
So, in the real life, actually x86 cards are not suitable for me.
 
I think the main driver issues with arm boards are wifi, bluetooth, GPU. If you don't need those, probably any board will serve your purpose. :)

You could browse through the freebsd-arm mailing list archive of the last couple of months. See whether any board catches your interest: freebsd-arm Archives
 
RockPro64 (4Gb) is by far your best bet and has better support than RPI4 at this stage. That being said, there are still some bugs and you more or less want to track -CURRENT irregardless of SBC.
 
I know it's more expensive than RPi, but yeah, PC Engines' APU is very nice. I have two of their older models I use for routers.
 
Maybe something like Igel M310C / M320C / M330C or Futro S450 / S500 / S700 depending on where you are located and what you can get for cheap (check ebay)? You'll likely have to upgrade the RAM to get to 2GB though.
 
I have a success of using FreeBSD on Raspberry Pi. It's RPi 2 (armv7). My use case is of using Java server applications. Java is a bit sluggish there because no hotspot. Otherwise the experience is a pleasant. I published a guide in GitHub how I did that.
 
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