[Asterisk-Users] Asterisk on Soekris

[Kristian Kielhofner]

Dustin Wildes wrote:
> Maybe my point was missed.
> Hardware wise - a VIA MII EDEN based board will greatly outperform a 
> Soekris system, which is why my embedded platform is based on the VIA 
> hardware instead of the Soekris, because I AND my customers did want an 
> all-in-one system, and small offices tend to want an all-in-one piece of 
> equipment.

Dustin,

	Yes, a VIA Eden board will greatly outperform a Net4801.  My CL10000 is 
actually quite powerful.  However, several points on the mini-itx 
architecture that need to be mentioned:

1) Heat/Reliability.  Much more heat generated, my mini-itx system has 
three fans.  The Soekris has none (not even a heatsink).  This makes the 
Soekris much more reliable - no moving parts.

2) Power usage.  All though I have yet to measure it, my mini-itx system 
has a 90 watt power supply (which is ATX based, btw).  My Soekris has a 
12 watt power supply.  Also on another note of reliability, I trust the 
Soekris power supply much more than the half breed ATX in most mini-itx 
systems.  Yes, I do know that just because you have a 90 watt power 
supply you are not using all 90 watts, but the fact that the Soekris has 
a 12 watt power supply means that it is DEFINITELY not using more than 
12 watts.

3) Cases.  Have you been able to find a reasonably priced case for 
mini-itx that doesn't look like some cheap home theater appliance?  I 
haven't.  One thing often looked for (especially in the embedded space) 
is for the device to look like an appliance.  People are much less 
likely to mess with something when they don't know what it is.  With a 
mini-itx case with upfront firewire and line-out, my 14 year old cousin 
would have his fingers in that case in a minute!

	When the 7501 comes out later this year there won't even be a point of 
"arguing" this anymore.  That board is going to be killer!

	Your point was not missed, but I don't think it is a good idea to 
include that much hodge podge functionality (web server, mail server, 
PBX, streaming media server, etc, etc) in one system.  Also,  most of my 
customers want reliability. Which the Soekris has over the ITX stuff, 
hands down.

	Also, as far as AstLinux is concerned, I don't care whether you are 
using a Soekris or not.  That is why I have a generic i586 image!  It 
works perfectly on the mini-itx boards, and in fact, is what my CL10000 
is running right now.

P.S. - Please apply :) or ;) to this whole message.  It might sound like 
I got pretty fired up, but that is almost never the case with me!

-- 
Kristian Kielhofner