[Arm-netbook] EOMA68 switch / NAS

[joem]

Hi,

The  $55 Phytec Cosmic Boards Feature Freescale Vybrid SoCs are out:
http://www.cnx-software.com/2013/07/25/55-phytec-cosmic-boards-feature-freescale-vybrid-socs/

It uses Cortex A5 
http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=VF6xx
According to datasheet it has Dual 10/100 Ethernet with L2 Switch (IEEE 1588)
Would 2 ports be enough?
We talk about the Vybrids before - they have no sata and would not suit an EOMA
but since that is not the aim here, and Freescale are far more generous
with their documentation, you could just run a version of Linux
that does the ethernet comms (and may be other functions such as router) and then set up some sort of comms with 
EOMA to turn it into a fully fledged NAS/SoHo server and the like.
(But looking at prices $12 /1000 pcs lacks cost realism for this chip when compared to whats out there.)

________________________________________
From: arm-netbook [arm-netbook-bounces at lists.phcomp.co.uk] on behalf of luke.leighton [luke.leighton at gmail.com]
Sent: 25 July 2013 19:44
To: Linux on small ARM machines
Subject: Re: [Arm-netbook] EOMA68 switch / NAS

On Thu, Jul 25, 2013 at 7:28 PM, Derek LaHousse <dlahouss at mtu.edu> wrote:
> Yo Luke,
>
> luke.leighton <luke.leighton <at> gmail.com> writes:
>
>>
>> https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=38064
>>
>> joe (or anyone else for that matter) - still up for doing open
>> hardware projects?  i've got a requirement for doing a hybrid NAS /
>> switch product which has the following features:
>>
>> * gigabit network ports (e.g. 4 of)
>> * MiniPCIe 3G modem support with *dual* SIM sockets
>> * plugs in an EOMA68 CPU Card...
>> * which then turns an otherwise run-of-the-mill switch into a full NAS
>> / SoHo server
>>
>
> I'm a little confused as to what we're doing.  Is the EOMA68 just a computer
> on the side of the switch, or do you expect it to act as the wireless router
> component?
>
> If I were to guess, I expect you're talking about a form-factor like the
> WRT-54G.  The problem with this is that EOMA-68, with only a single ETH
> connection out, is not good for routing physical networks.  Still:
>
> The RTL 8366 provides the gigabit switch portion:
> http://realtek.info/pdf/rtl8366_8369_datasheet_1-1.pdf

 AH HA!  perfect.  that's exactly what i was looking for

> Except, the EOMA68 doesn't connect ethernet by GMII, does it.

 no but you can wire it to one of the RTL8212 PHYs instead.

> And as for the MiniPCIe modem, you might have decent success with a USB
> modem in the PCIe form... but you'll confuse people if you have a PCIe slot
> without PCIe connection.

 not at all.  it's actually very common to do USB-only in MiniPCIe,
specifically for USB-based low-cost WIFI cards and 3G MiniPCIe modems.


>
> This looks like the closest integration you can get is hardwiring an
> ethernet connection to the Micro-Engineering Board from a OpenWRT router.

 yes, that's the plan.

> The connection would be ONLY ethernet, with none of the host-to-host USB
> tomfoolery (apologies to Tom).

 :)

 then MDC/MDIO can still be used to talk to it.

l.

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