I’ve been running an Ubuntu server in a VM at home for some time. The host system is a older XPS laptop running Windows 7. I can’t speak to quality of other XPS systems, but this one has not held up very well. Its now on it’s 4th and final motherboard. I believe most of (all?) the problems have been related to the system overheating.
The main thing I’ve been using this system for is to run a Hamachi VPN and a Squid proxy. Its a nice setup that allows me to browse the web and not have to worry about someone snooping in. However, its only a matter of time before it dies again and a bit overkill.
Sooo, in my quest to find a small low power standalone Linux server I came across the Beaglebone Black. Its a bit more expensive than the Raspberry PI but the specs (see for a side by side comparison: http://roboteurs.com/beaglebone-black-vs-raspberry-pi/) are slightly better suited for what I want to use it for.
For anyone who cares I ordered it from Adafruit. I’ve had good luck with them in the past and was able to order everything with no problems. Here is my parts and price list.
- 1 x Miniature WiFi (802.11b/g/n) Module: For Raspberry Pi and more[ID:814] = $11.95
- 1 x Adafruit Bone Box – Enclosure for Beagle Bone/Beagle Bone Black[ID:699] = $19.95
- 1 x Micro HDMI to HDMI Cable – 2 meter[ID:1322] = $9.95
- 1 x BeagleBone Black[ID:1278] = $45.00
My first task will be to replace the OS with Ubuntu and then get Hamachi working.
Hello, I, too, am excited about finding the beagle bone black. I would love to put together a little squid proxy/dansguardian filter. I’m just wondering what the performance will be like.
Sorry to tell you, but all the previous comments are from spammers trying to get tracebacks and backlinks. They use automated programs to spam blog comments, and these are really ingenious since they actually sound like they are real comments. From “Discount Soccer Jerseys”? Total spammer :/
Anyway, how’s the ubuntu build coming?
Im using a BBB to run a Squid proxy over Hamachi now. Performance is good. I haven’t run any performance tests however I can say that I can’t tell the difference visually when the connection is over the proxy or directly connected to the Internet.
Yea, I saw the spam posts. I went ahead and removed them. Thanks for pointing it out :).
I have a working Ubuntu 13.04 image that will fit on the BBB internal memory. Check out this post: https://gencarelle.com/blog/2013/07/23/updated-ubuntu-13-04-image/