Earlier this month, I listed SoliRun MACCHIATObin networking board as one of the top 5 most powerful ARM boards in 2017/2018, thanks to its fast quad core Cortex A72 processor, support for up to 16GB RAM, three SATA interfaces, and network connectivity options with several Ethernet copper/SFP interfaces up to 10 Gbps.
The problem with powerful boards is that they can be expensive, and the original MACCHIATOBin (Double Shot) board sells for $369 and up. The good news is that SolidRun has just launched a cheaper version called MAACHIATOBin Single Shot with a quad core Cortex A72 processor limited to 1.6 GHz (instead of 2.0 GHz), and the two 10 Gbps interface are only accessibly through SFP cages, and not Ethernet copper (RJ45) ports anymore.
MACCHIATOBin Single Shot is based on the same PCB as the original version of the board, and the rest of the specifications are just the same:
- SoC – ARMADA 8040 (88F8040) quad core Cortex A72 processor @ up to 1.6 GHz with accelerators (packet processor, security engine, DMA engines, XOR engines for RAID 5/6)
- System Memory – 1x DDR4 DIMM with optional ECC and single/dual chip select support; up to 16GB RAM
- Storage – 3x SATA 3.0 port, micro SD slot, SPI flash, eMMC flash
- Connectivity – 2x 10Gbps Ethernet via
copper orSFP, 2.5Gbps via SFP, 1x Gigabit Ethernet via copper - Expansion – 1x PCIe-x4 3.0 slot, Marvell TDM module header
- USB – 1x USB 3.0 port, 2x USB 2.0 headers (internal), 1x USB-C port for Marvell Modular Chip (MoChi) interfaces (MCI)
- Debugging – 20-pin connector for CPU JTAG debugger, 1x micro USB port for serial console, 2x UART headers
- Misc – Battery for RTC, reset header, reset button, boot and frequency selection, fan header
- Power Supply – 12V DC via power jack or ATX power supply
- Dimensions – Mini-ITX form factor (170 mm x 170 mm)
They just did not solder the 10 Gbps Ethernet connectors and related chips, and used some ARMADA 8040 SoCs that may not have passed QA @ 2.0 GHz, but work fine up to 1.6 GHz.
The board supports mainline Linux or Linux 4.4.52, buildroot 2015.11, Ubuntu 16.04.03 LTS, OpenWrt, and more. Software and hardware documentation can be found in the Wiki.
Just like it’s predecessor, the board ships with either 4GB or 16GB DDR4 memory, an optional 12V DC/110 or 220V AC power adapter, and an optional 16 GB micro SD card. The changes made bring the price down to $269 for the 4GB RAM version of the board, exactly $100 cheaper than the original “Double Shot” version.
Thanks to Blu for the tip.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Should be mentioned that the new PCB revision (applies to the Doppio too) moved the JTAG header and comes with an open PCIe slot so now PCIe x8/x16 cards can be inserted without the need for a riser card. Also PCIe BAR issue has been resolved so this great network board could even be misused as desktop adding any PCIe GPU.
@tkaiser
AFAIK, the PCIe fix and open-ended connector were already in the last batch of rev 1.2.
BTW, I’m curious to see how the dropping of the 10Gbe copper PHYs from the Single-shot affects the consumption, as those PHYs were hot even at idle.
@cnx-soft
BTW, Single-Shot version is based off rev 1.3 of the board, which is now called Double Shot; the prev publicly-available rev was 1.2. Here’s the official list of all changes between rev1.2 and rev1.3 (mostly cosmetic but some voltage fixups too): https://wiki.solid-run.com/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=a8040:docs:sr-a8040-mcbin-pcn-20171205.pdf
10GBase-T are known for high power consumption in the networking field.
SFP+ with 10GBase-SR or DAC cables are preferred.
@tkaiser
This is a great networking board on paper. But to be a great router, you need to have a great software. So @tkaiser, do you recommend any?
They have a complete gateway based on the Single Shot board called SolidRun ClearCloud 8K that connects to Google IoT core support. $399.
https://www.solid-run.com/clearcloud-cloud-iot-core/
Sounds Great,
Is there anyway to access Programmer’s Manual for Marvell SOC? Would like to know specs and limitations of packet processing engine.