Boston Linux Meeting Wednesday, April 20, 2011 Nagios, Gnome 3, Genesi's Efika MX Smarttop

[tmetro-blu-5a1Jt6qxUNc at public.gmane.org (Tom Metro)]

Doug wrote:
> How might people in Blu use the Genesi's Efika MX Smarttop on a home
> network?

Product specs are here:
http://www.genesi-usa.com/products/efika

which includes:
    * Freescale i.MX515 (ARM Cortex-A8 800MHz)
    * 3D Graphics Processing Unit
    * WXGA display support (HDMI)
    * Multi-format HD video decoder and D1 video encoder (currently not
supported by the included software)
    * 512MB RAM
    * 8GB Internal SSD
    * 10/100Mbit/s Ethernet
    * 802.11 b/g/n WiFi
    * SDHC card reader
    * 2x USB 2.0 ports
    * Audio jacks for headset
    * Built-in speaker
    * Size: 160x115x20mm
    * Weight: 250 grams

The obvious answer is all the same sorts of things you use any other
appliance-like computer for:
 -router (would need a VLAN switch)
 -DNS/DHCP server
 -network monitoring/intrusion detector
 -dedicated syslog server (low volume)
 -VPN endpoint
 -home automation controller

The problem is that it doesn't appear to be substantially better than
any number of consumer router platforms that cost the same or less. For
most of these applications, a $30 router appliance would do the job.


Dan Ritter wrote:
> If the video decoder worked, it might be a plausible front-end
> for MythTV.

That was my thought. The specs say, "Multi-format HD video decoder and
D1 video encoder (currently not supported by the included software)."
And what chipset? It just sounds like an uphill battle if you want
hardware assisted video playback.

Having 512MB RAM is also on the lean side for a full MythTV front-end.
Even embedded appliances like the D-Link Boxee Box have 1 GB these days.


Richard Pieri wrote:
> ...the Smarttop file server would be just peachy as the
> video file store.

You would attach the drives via the 2 USB 2.0 ports?

If it had a few port-multiplier compatible eSATA ports that you could
wire to an external drive cage, and GB Ethernet, then it would make for
a decent NAS controller. Otherwise you'd probably be better off with a
hackable WD Mybook or the like.

 -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/