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April 12, 2026April 12, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

UmbrelOS – A Debian-based personal home cloud OS with a slick user interface

UmbrelOS is a Debian-based home cloud OS with a neat web-based interface that works on devices like Raspberry Pi SBCs, mini PCs, old computers, and more. Having been first released in 2020, the OS is not exactly new, but I only discovered it today after noticing it was one of the supported operating systems for the Pironman 5 Pro Max enclosure for the Raspberry Pi 5. It initially launched as a tool for running a Bitcoin full node on a Raspberry Pi easily, but eventually turned into a home cloud OS that competes against other open-source solutions such as OpenMediaVault or CasaOS/ZimaOS. UmbrelOS highlights: Intuitive web dashboard at umbrel.local or your device’s IP. Umbrel App Store — Over 300 apps, including Nextcloud or Immich for media and document storage, Jellyfin for media streaming, Home Assistant automation framework, Vaultwarden password manager, Bitcoin and Lightning nodes, AdGuard Home adblocker, and AI-related tools […]

April 3, 2026 by Debashis Das - 2 Comments

SupTronics X1208 – A UPS + M.2 NVMe SSD HAT for the Raspberry Pi 5

SupTronics X1208 Raspberry Pi 5 UPS + M.2 HAT

The SupTronics X1208 is a UPS and M.2 NVMe SSD HAT for Raspberry Pi 5 designed to offer fast storage and protect the system against data loss during power outages for Edge Computing, NAS, data logging, and other always-on applications. The HAT draws up to 5V/5A from the USB-C port, which charges a 21700 lithium-ion battery (1.5A) and powers the Raspberry Pi 5 directly through the 40-pin GPIO header, eliminating the need for extra cables. It also features an M.2 M-key NVMe slot supporting 2230/2242/2280 SSDs up to 4TB with PCIe 2.0/3.0 speeds. The UPS supports power switching, auto power-on, safe shutdown on low battery, and GPIO-based power/charging control, along with power loss detection. The X1208 board is also equipped with a Maxim fuel gauge I2C chip for battery voltage and capacity monitoring. SupTronics X1208 UPS + M.2 HAT specifications: Compatibility – Raspberry Pi 5 Model B Storage – M.2 M-key […]

March 28, 2026March 28, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

TerraMaster F2-425 Plus NAS review – Part 2: Configuration, benchmarks, and AI-enhanced media storage

I received the TerraMaster F2-425 Plus 3+2 Hybrid NAS for review last month, and after checking out the hardware in the first part of the review, I’ve finally had time to test the Intel N150 NAS. After installing two 4TB SATA drives and an M.2 NVMe SSD, I’ll report my experience setting up the system with the TNAS Android app, before running some benchmarks, and testing features like photo backup with AI search capabilities. Hard drive installation I already had an old, but little-used, 4TB HGST SATA drive, and I bought a “new” 4TB SATA drive online for a pretty good deal (2979 THB or a little over $90 US). It turns out the HPE MB4000GVY2K drive I got was refurbished, having been manufactured in 2017. However, it’s an enterprise-grade drive, and the TNAS app reports it has been used “only” for 2,517 hours, so I don’t feel too bad […]

March 4, 2026March 5, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

NanoPi NEO3 Plus – A tiny Rockchip RK3528A headless SBC with Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0 port, GPIO header

FriendlyELEC NanoPi NEO3 Plus is an ultra-compact headless SBC powered by a Rockchip RK3528A SoC paired with 1GB RAM, whose main interfaces are a Gigabit Ethernet jack, a USB 3.2 port, and a 26-pin GPIO header. I can still remember using its predecessor, the NanoPi NEO3, based on a Rockchip RK3328, which I reviewed with Armbian in 2020. The new model is similar, with a quad-core Cortex-A53 SoC but clocked at 2.0 GHz instead of 1.5 GHz, and offered with a black metal case instead of a white plastic case. The OS can still be booted from a microSD card, but the NanoPi NEO3 Plus also offers a socket for an optional eMMC flash module, and adds an RTC battery connector, a speaker connector, and a MASK button for firmware updates. NanoPi NEO3 Plus specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3528A CPU – Quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 @ 2.0 GHz GPU – Arm […]

February 26, 2026February 26, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Raspberry Pi CM5 mini-ITX-compatible carrier board features up to nine Ethernet ports for NVR, Smart Home, and Edge AI applications

EXAVIZ Cruiser is a mini-ITX-compatible carrier board for the Raspberry Pi CM5 featuring up to nine Ethernet ports (one 2.5GbE port, and up to eight GbE PoE+ ports) designed for Network Video Recorders (NVRs), Smart Home gateways, and edge AI applications. The board also features two 4K-capable HDMI 2.0 video outputs, two SATA ports, an M.2 PCIe Gen2/3 x1 socket for an NVMe SSD, an AI accelerator, or a SATA expansion module, three USB 3.0 ports, and four USB 2.0 interfaces. It also supports 2.4 GHz WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.4 LE, and Zigbee connectivity through an ESP32-C6 module, and you can also add eight extra 10/100Mbps PoE+ RJ45 interfaces through an additional expansion board for up to sixteen PoE-capable Ethernet ports in total. EXAVIZ Cruiser specifications: Supported SoM – Raspberry Pi CM5 and CM5 Lite. note: Raspberry Pi CM4 and Banana Pi CM4 are explitly not supported Storage M.2 Key-M […]

February 19, 2026March 28, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

TerraMaster F2-425 Plus 3+2-bay hybrid NAS review – Part 1: unboxing, teardown, drives installation, and first boot

TerrasMaster F2-425 Plus Review TOS initialization

TerraMaster has sent us a sample of the F2-425 Plus 3+2-bay NAS for review. It’s powered by an Intel Processor N150 CPU paired with 8GB of RAM, with two 3.5-inch SATA bays and three M.2 NVMe sockets for storage, as well as two 5GbE RJ45 jacks, and a few USB ports. Since we’ve already written the specifications in the previous article, we’ll focus the first part of the review on an unboxing and a teardown to check out the hardware design, before showing how to install the drives, and giving it a quick first try. TerraMaster F2-425 Plus NAS unboxing We received the F2-425 Plus “All new 2-Bay Hybrid NAS” in its retail package. UPS took nearly two months to deliver it from Hong Kong to Thailand, mostly due to customs issues, but I digress. The package includes an accessories box with a Quick Installation Guide, a Limited Warranty brochure, […]

February 10, 2026March 24, 2026 by Debashis Das - 8 Comments

Beelink ME Pro 2-bay Intel N95/N150 NAS and mini PC supports 5GbE networking, up to 3x M.2 MVMe SSDs

Beelink ME Pro is a compact 2-bay hybrid NAS and Windows 11 mini PC built around Intel N95 (Alder Lake-N) or N150 (Twin Lake) SoC, and equipped with two 3.5-/2.5-inch SATA bays and three M.2 2280 NVMe slots for storage. It also features a “DIY drawer” design that lets users swap the motherboard for upgrades. The system also features up to 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory, 5 GbE and 2.5 GbE networking, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and various I/Os, including USB-C (10 Gbps), USB-A, HDMI 2.0, and a 3.5 mm audio jack. An internal blower-based cooling system, an aluminum chassis with thermal pads, and anti-vibration drive mounts help with improved thermals and noise control. Target applications include home NAS, media server, Proxmox/TrueNAS host, small office file server, lightweight virtualization, backup appliance, and compact desktop PC. Beelink ME Pro specifications: SoC(one or the other) Intel Processor N95 quad-core “Alder Lake-N” processor […]

December 28, 2025December 27, 2025 by Debashis Das - 10 Comments

Bit-Brick Cluster K1 – A 4-slot RISC-V cluster board for SpacemiT K1-based SSOM-K1 system-on-module

Bit-Brick Cluster K1 is a cluster board designed to mount up to four SSOM-K1 system-on-modules powered by a SpacemiT K1 octa-core RISC-V processor. The board targets developers, researchers, and system integrators working on edge computing, AI workloads, and high-performance embedded applications. The Cluster K1 relies on an onboard Gigabit Ethernet switch chip to interconnect four core boards, giving each board an independent network port for fast and stable inter-node communication with automatic IP assignment. Other key features include USB 3.0/2.0 ports, HDMI output (master slot only), a USB Type-C debug port, an M.2 M-Key slot for storage expansion, a 3-pin fan power header, and dedicated power, reset, and download buttons. The SSOM-K1 system-on-module features a K1 octa-core 64-bit RISC-V CPU with vector extension and AI acceleration up to 2 TOPS. It ships with up to 8GB dual-channel LPDDR4X memory, up to 64GB eMMC flash, and offers dual Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI 1.4 […]