QNAP TAS-168 and TAS-268 are NAS Running Android and Linux based QTS on Realtek RTD1195 Processor

QNAP has recently launched two network attached storage (NAS) devices with TAS-168 and TAS-268 that are based on Realtek RTD1195 dual core processor, and happen to run Android along side the company’s Linux based QTS operating system, and respectively have one and two bays for 2.5″ or 3.5″ hard drives. QNAP TAS-168 and TAS-268 specifications: SoC – Realtek RTD1195 dual core ARM Cortex A7 processor @ 1.1 GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 2 GB DDR3 Storage 4 GB eMMC and SD card slot TAS-168 – 1x 2.5″ or 3.5″ SATA @ 3Gbs TAS-268 – 2x 2.5″ or 3.5″ SATA @ 3Gbs Video and Audio Output – HDMI port Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet USB – 1x USB 3.0, 4x USB 2.0 host ports Misc – IR receiver, LEDs for HDD, LAN, status, and USB, buttons (Power, reset, USB copy) Power – TAS-168 – 12V/3A (36W) power adapter; TAS-268 – 12V/5A […]

Updated Ethernet & WiFi HDD Enclosure Supports 300Mbps with Mediatek MT7620N Processor

I featured an HDD enclosure with WiFi and Ethernet on CNX Software a few months ago, and several people were interested, bought one, and found out it was running OpenWRT, and easily to adapt to your needs, although some people complains it was not able to connect as a client. There’s now a new model, looking similar, by powered by Mediatek MT7620N and supporting 300 Mbps WiFi. While hardware specifications were not published with the first model, the manufacturer decided to release the full specifications for the new model: Processor – Mediatek MT7620N MIPS processor @ 580 MHz System Memory – 64MB DDR1 Storage 16MB SPI flash for firmware SATA interface for 2.5″ HDD up to 2TB (10TB is shown in the description) File systems – FAT32, NTFS, EXT64 (Sic.). Connectivity 2.4GHz WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n 2×2 up to 300 Mbps with 2 internal antennas Wireless security – WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK/AES encryption, Intelligent […]

Cloudshell for XU4 is a $39 NAS Kit for ODROID-XU4 Board

Hardkernel launched ODROID-XU4 development board a couple of weeks ago. The board is a low cost ($74) update to ODROID-XU3 development board, with an Exynos 5422 octa core processor (4x A15, 4x A7), 2GB RAM, Gigabit Ethernet and USB 3.0, making it a pretty good target for a NAS.  It’s easy to connect all requires parts such as hard drive and power supply together, but it would normally be a mess on your desk. So the company create a NAS kit for the board with an enclosure, cables, fans, and even an LCD display with they call Cloudshell for XU4 for sell for $39, so you can get a high relatively high performance NAS for around $113 + shipping, which will vary depending on your distributor, as well as an HDD or SSD drive. Cloudshell kit content: Enclosure with top and bottom covers, rear, front and side panels. Available in […]

TCL T1 (SL-WR5028J) is a $46 Wi-Fi Router with a 2.5″ SATA Bay

Many routers now come with one or more USB ports to let you connect 3G dongles or/and storage device(s) to share the data on your local network. If you want to go with a fully integrated solution, and obvious solution is to go with a NAS, but these usually cost a bit more, so instead TCL SL-WR5028J (aka TCl T1) router could make a low cost (and low performance) NAS alternative thanks to its internal 2.5″ SATA bay, and it can be had for just $45.99 on DealExtreme. [Update: GearBest sells it for $35.98 with coupon TCLT1] TCL T1 specifications: SoC – Mediatek MT7260 MIPS WiSoC @ 580MHz System Memory – 64MB DDR2 Storage – 8MB Flash for firmware + SATA bay for 2.5″ HDD (5, 7.5 or 9mm thick hard drives are supported). Max capacity: unlimited… 🙂 Connectivity 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi up to 300 Mbps with two external antennas […]

Banana Pi BPI-R1 Board Based on AllWinner A20 Features 5 Ethernet Ports, a SATA Interface, and More

SinoVoIP, a company known for its Banana Pi board and related spamming, has been working on another AllWinner A20 product called BPI-R1 (Banana Pi R1), a router/NAS platform that features 5 Gigabit Ethernet ports, a SATA interface, HDMI, audio output, and more. BPI-R1 Board specifications: SoC- Allwinner A20 dual core Cortex A7 processor @ 1 GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – SD card slot up to 64GB, SATA connector for hard drive or SSD up to 2TB Video output – HDMI, LVDS/RGB via DSI connectors Audio I/O – HDMI, 3.5mm stereo jack, and on-board microphone Camera – CSI connector possibly interfacing with their upcoming BPI-D1 camera Connectivity – 5x Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45) ports including 4x LAN ports, 1x WAN port, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi (RTL8192CU module) with two antenna connectors. USB – 1x USB 2.0 port, 1x micro USB OTG port, 1x micro USB for […]

Raspberry Pi Based Slice, and EzeeCube Quad Media Players Support Internal Hard Drives (Crowdfunding)

Slice is a media player based on Raspberry Pi Compute Module, and EzeeCube Quad is media hub powered by Freescale i.MX6 Quad, and an upgrade to EzeeCube based on i.MX6 dual, which was successfully funded. The underlying hardware between Slice and EzeeCube is much different, but both devices have a lot in common. They are both media players currently being crowd-funded respectively in Kickstarter and Indiegogo, both comes with an internal hard drive, run XBMC, targets typical end-users (rather than tinkerers) and are somewhat pricey. Slice Media Player When I first saw Slice, all I could see was an Raspberry Pi module, put in a case with an internal hard drive bay, and lots of pretty RGB LEDs, and with an air mouse sold for an inflated price of 114 GBP ($190 US) without hard drive or 179 GBP ($300 US) with a 1TB drive, with admittedly some cheaper early […]

The World’s Cheapest Linux Computer? Pogoplug Mobile Now Sells for $7

Somebody asked “Anyone knows a computer cheaper than a Raspberry Pi with a network interface?” on Google+ mini PCs community. Some OpenWRT routers such as TPLink WR703N selling for about $20, or the VoCore Wi-Fi module selling for about the same price (Wi-Fi only) were parts of the answers, and I also mentioned some HDMI TV dongles that now sell for around $35, which is still a little cheaper than the Raspberry Pi model B when one considers shipping. But I found the answer by dhead666 particularly interesting: Pogoplug Mobile goes for 7$ on Amazon and that includes psu and network cable. It run Linux great (I’m using Arch) but you will want to have a ttl-usb cable and soldering iron available in case you manage to mess u-boot (go to the doozan’s forums for more info about the u-boot). Let’s have a look. Pogoplug Mobile is not a new […]

Marvell Armada 370 Processor Datasheet Released, Mainline Linux Kernel Supported on Netgear ReadyNAS 102/104

Free Electrons has been working on porting several ARM SoC to the Linux kernel (mainline), including Marvell XP and 370 SoCs, and they’ve been informed by Marvell that the company finally released Marvell Armada 370 processor publicly without requiring NDA nor registration. Marvell Armada XP dual and quad core processors datasheet found in higher-end NAS and cloud servers has not been released (yet), but we’ve been told many peripheral blocks are very similar, so Marvell Armada 370 datasheet can also be used for Armada XP processors to some extend. Two documents have actually been released for Marvell Armada 370: the functional specification and the hardware specification (datasheet). The first document is actually the one with the most information with 1148 pages providing details about peripherals, against 164 pages for the latter providing details about pins and electrical characteristics. So we’ve got an ARM SoC with mainline kernel support, and decent […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC