User talk:Tkaiser

sunxi NAS
The following article tries to give some hints how to build a sufficient file server or NAS ([Network-attached storage) with sunxi devices. The focus is 'classic' LAN based file sharing using protocols like NFS, SMB or AFP and not internet or cloud optimised stuff (FTP, SFTP, SeaFile, ownCloud and the like)

Requirements / which device to choose
3 things are important for a performant NAS:


 * I/O bandwidth (how fast can the server access storage/disks?)
 * Network bandwidth (how fast can clients access the server?)
 * CPU horsepower (is the server able to deliver all accessing clients at maximum speed?)

For normal NAS use cases the first 2 requirements are more important. Some Allwinner SoCs feature a SATA port in addition to their USB ports, some provide 10/100 Mbits/sec EMAC Ethernet and some even Gbit Ethernet (GMAC). Since the A20 is the only SoC capable of both SATA and GMAC it's the most interesting choice for a NAS (the A80 would also be a great choice due to USB3.0 but Linux support for this SoC is still very limited).

Since not every A20 based sunxi device uses GMAC networking (or even Ethernet at all) the following devices are best choices: A20-OLinuXino-Lime2, Banana Pi, Banana Pro or Banana Pi M1+, Cubietruck, Hummingbird A20, Lamobo R1, Orange Pi, Orange Pi Mini or pcDuino3 Nano.

Differentiation to other ARM devices
What's different to x86:

- MAC inside the SoC utilizing an external PHY - RTL8211 used with GMAC in different mode --> different drivers, different features (no WoL for example)