Re: Looking for a hardware recommendation.

[Dennis Ferguson <dennis.c.ferguson%gmail.com@localhost>]

On 24 Apr, 2012, at 09:23 , Dave Burgess wrote:
> I'm looking for a super-small, super-inexpensive board that I can turn into 
> various projects.  The specs are pretty simple:
> 
> 1)  I need it to support ethernet - a reasonable number of voltage inputs 
> (like no more than a couple).
> 2)  I need it to have a bi-directional parallel port; not necessarily a 
> printer (but that would work) but something that would be able to be 
> interfaced to opto-isolators.  A minimum of 4 input/output bit devices would 
> be cool.
> 3)  I need it to have a USB port.
> 4)  I need it to be able to DHCP/netboot from the wired network.
> 5)  It needs to be fan-less.
> 6)  The price-point for the board itself needs to be in the $30 or less range 
> (qty, say, 100).
> 
> The primary application is going to be a XMPP/Jabber interface and I need it 
> to be able to run some version of NetBSD.  A secondary application will be a 
> SIP "phone-like" device.
> 
> Don't need serial/wireless/video/SATA/IDE/SCSI/RAID/etc.  The less stuff the 
> better.
> 
> The unit needs to be able to fit in a 'standard' desktop-router-sized case.
> 
> Any suggestions?

The Raspberry Pi board almost fits those specifications as I understand
them (though if "voltage inputs" means A/D converters rather than something
related to Ethernet then those are missing) and is $35 with an Ethernet
port.  The board almost fits in an Altoids tin.  NetBSD would need to be
ported to it, though I'd like it if someone did that.

Dennis Ferguson