Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments on Blueendless X3 Networked “HDD NAS Case” Runs Ubuntu on Marvell ARMADA 3720 SoC

Blueendless X3 Networked “HDD NAS Case” Runs Ubuntu on Marvell ARMADA 3720 SoC

Blueendless X3 2.5-inch HDD enclosure

We’ve previously covered inexpensive Kimax’ Ethernet & WiFi HDD enclosures for 2.5″ SATA drives, powered by MediaTek processor and running OpenWrt. If you need something more powerful and versatile yet still affordable, the easiest way is now likely to go with SBC based solutions such as ODROID-HC1/HC2 or dual SATA NAS enclosure for RockPro64. There may be another interesting option, as I’ve just been informed about another model of those networked HDD enclosure called Blueendless X3 “HDD NAS case” with Ethernet only (no WiFi), and that is equipped with the same Marvel ARMADA 3720 dual core Cortex-A53 processor as found in Marvell ESPRESSOBin board. Blueendless X3 specifications: SoC – Marvell ARMADA 3720 (88F3720) dual core Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.1 GHz System Memory – 512 MB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash for OS, SATA 3.0 interface for 2.5″ drives based on ASMedia ASM1092R port multiplier Networking – 1x Gigabit Ethernet USB – 1x USB 3.0 port Power Supply …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on Cubbit Aims to Crowdsource the Cloud for Improved Privacy (Crowdfunding)

Cubbit Aims to Crowdsource the Cloud for Improved Privacy (Crowdfunding)

Cubbit Cell

Storing data in the cloud is convenient since you have access it from anywhere with an Internet connection, but there are privacy concerns, and you may have to pay a monthly fee if you exceed you storage limit. Cubbit aims to reinvent the cloud by not  storing files in corporate datacenters, but instead relying on a swarm of “Cubbit Cells” to deliver fully private and reliable cloud storage without monthly. You’d just need to pay for the boxes and potentially extra local storage, and then it’s basically free to use afterwards. Cubbit Cell hardware specifications: Processor – Dual core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.2 GHz (possibly Marvell Armada 3700) System Memory – 1GB DDR4 Storage – Built-in SATA drive Networking – 1x Gigabit Ethernet port USB – 1x USB 3.0 port Power Supply – 12V Dimensions – 160 x 142 x 56mm The hardware looks like a basic NAS with a single drive, but what makes Cubbit special …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments on $89 Sheeva64 Plug Computer is Powered by Marvell ARMADA 3720 Armv8 Processor

$89 Sheeva64 Plug Computer is Powered by Marvell ARMADA 3720 Armv8 Processor

Sheeva64 plug computer

Sheevaplug is a Linux plug computer powered by Marvell Kirkwood 6281 ARM9 processor that was launched in 2009 with Ubuntu 9.04. As the name implies, Sheevaplug looks like a power adapter that’s plug directly into your mains socket, but it’s actually a headless computer, i.e. without video output, and instead coming with a USB port, Gigabit Ethernet, and an SD card slot. The device got fairly popular at the time, so it ended up in several hardware projects, and was supported by a long list of open source software projects as you’ll find out in the Wikipedia page. Ten years have passed, and Globalscale Technologies has just introduced an upgraded version with the Sheeva64 plug computer based on the same Marvell ARMADA 3720 dual core Armv8 processor as found in ESPRESSOBin board. Sheeva64 plug computer specifications: SoC – Marvell ARMADA 3720 dual core 64bit Arm processor up to 1.2GHz System Memory – 1GB DDR4 Storage – 4GB eMMC flash, 4MB …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments on Linux 4.20 Release – Main Changes, Arm and MIPS Architectures

Linux 4.20 Release – Main Changes, Arm and MIPS Architectures

Linux 4.20 Changelog

After Greg K-H handling Linux 4.19 release, Linus Torvalds is back at the helm, and released Linux 4.20 just before Christmas: Let’s face it, last week wasn’t quite as quiet as I would have hoped for, but there really doesn’t seem to be any point to delay 4.20 because everybody is already taking a break. And it’s not like there are any known issues, it’s just that the shortlog below is a bit longer than I would have wished for. Nothing screams “oh, that’s scary”, though. And as part of the “everybody is already taking a break”, I can happily report that I already have quite a few early pull requests in my inbox. I encouraged people to get it over and done with, so that people can just relax over the year-end holidays. In fact, I probably won’t start pulling for a couple of days, but otherwise let’s just try to keep to the normal merge window schedule, even …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on ClearFog CX 8K ARMADA 8040 Networking Board Complies with COM Express type 7 Specifications

ClearFog CX 8K ARMADA 8040 Networking Board Complies with COM Express type 7 Specifications

ClearFog CX LX2K

After ClearFog GT 8K earlier this year, SolidRun has now launched another variant of their Marvell ARMADA based ClearFog networking boards: ClearFog CX 8K. The new single board computer features the same ARMADA 8040 quad core Cortex A72 processor as found in the GT 8K model, but complies with COM Express type 7 standard, and takes the company’s  CEx7 A8040 module, and in the future any compatible COM Express type 7 module that may be launched by the company, or others. ClearFog CX 8K specifications: Supported COM Module – CEx7 A8040 Marvell ARMADA A8040 quad-core Arm Cortex A72 Memory –  Up to 16GB DDR4 DIMM Storage – M.2b & M 2280 SSD, microSD slot, on-module eMMC flash, SATA 3.0 port Networking – 4x SPF+ cages including 2x 10GbE SFP, 1x 1GbE copper (RJ45) USB – 1x USB 3.0 Expansion 2 x mPCIe 1 x PCIe x4 Gen 3.0 I/O – GPIO header Debugging – MicroUSB for debug (UART over USB) …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on Linux 4.19 Release – Main Changes, Arm and MIPS Architectures

Linux 4.19 Release – Main Changes, Arm and MIPS Architectures

Linux 4.19 Changelog

With Linus Torvalds taking a leave from the Linux kernel project, Greg Kroah-Hartman was the one to release Linux 4.19 last Sunday: Hi everyone! It’s been a long strange journey for this kernel release… While it was not the largest kernel release every by number of commits, it was larger than the last 3 releases, which is a non-trivial thing to do. After the original -rc1 bumps, things settled down on the code side and it looks like stuff came nicely together to make a solid kernel for everyone to use for a while. And given that this is going to be one of the “Long Term” kernels I end up maintaining for a few years, that’s good news for everyone. A small trickle of good bugfixes came in this week, showing that waiting an extra week was a wise choice. However odds are that linux-next is just bursting so the next -rc1 merge window is going to be bigger …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on VMWare Showcases ESXi Bare Metal Hypervisor Support for ARM64 Edge Servers

VMWare Showcases ESXi Bare Metal Hypervisor Support for ARM64 Edge Servers

ESXi ARM64

As I checked my Twitter timeline in Thunderbird this morning, I started to see a lot of tweets about #VMworld2018 and “ESXi on 64-bit Arm”. What is that? VMWare has just announced and showcased several technology innovations at VMworld 2018, including Virtualization on 64-bit ARM for Edge, and the company demonstrated ESXi on 64-bit ARM running on a windmill farm at the Edge. It may be useful to readers (and this writer) to look up what ESXi is and does exactly. As explained on VMWare website: VMware ESXi is a purpose-built bare-metal hypervisor that installs directly onto a physical server. With direct access to and control of underlying resources, ESXi is more efficient than hosted architectures and can effectively partition hardware to increase consolidation ratios and cut costs for our customers. So basically it’s an hypervisor that stays a close as possible to the hardware to keep performance optimal, and the ARM64 implementation also avoids dynamic recompilation such as  Transitive/OS …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on ClearFog GT 8K is a High-End Networking SBC Powered by Marvell ARMADA A8040 Processor

ClearFog GT 8K is a High-End Networking SBC Powered by Marvell ARMADA A8040 Processor

A few years ago, SolidRun launched ClearFog Pro and Base router boards based on Marvell ARMADA 388 Armv7 (32-bit) processor, and about a year later, the company introduced MACCHIATObin networking board powered by a more powerful Marvell ARMADA 8040 quad core Cortex A72 processor. The company has now given an upgraded to its ClearFog family with ClearFog GT 8K networking board powered on the same ARMADA A8040 processor as on the community board, and offering support for up to 16GB RAM, 6 network interfaces including one 10GbE SFP+ cage , and three mPCIe slots. ClearFog GT 8K specifications: SoC – Marvell ARMADA A8040 quad-core Cortex A72 processor up to 2GHz (commercial), up to 1.6 GHz (industrial) Memory – DIMM slot for up to 16GB DDR4 Storage – Up to 128GB eMMC flash, 64 Mbit SPI flash, micro SD slot, M.2 SSD via optional M.2 mPCIe adapter Connectivity 4x 1GbE switched LAN (RJ45) with 2.5 Gbps uplink to SoC 1x 1GbE WAN …

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