Slashdot Mirror

A cheaper alternative to the Sokeris is the WRAP by PC Engines. The cheapest one goes for $140 with a 266MHz CPU. For an additional $15 they come with a real neat case. They only use 3 to 5 Watt and support POE. They don't come with an IDE interface though, so if you want to read and write, you will have to invest into a Microdrive. My WRAP is running OpenBSD off a 32MB CF card, working as a router and has been running like a charm.

A cheaper alternative to the Sokeris is the WRAP by PC Engines. The cheapest one goes for $140 with a 266MHz CPU. For an additional $15 they come with a real neat case. They only use 3 to 5 Watt and support POE. They don't come with an IDE interface though, so if you want to read and write, you will have to invest into a Microdrive. My WRAP is running OpenBSD off a 32MB CF card, working as a router and has been running like a charm.

These are both excellent, low power consumpsion, single board computers. They will both run FreeBSD without trouble. I know the WRAP is capable of POE; not sure about Soekris machines.

http://www.pcengines.ch/wrap.htm
http://www.soekris.com/

Currently running m0n0wall on a WRAP and FreeBSD on a Mini-ITX. Both run like a dream.

The OpenBrick costs EUR 300 to 400, while you can get a Soekris for US $135 to $240 depending on the model. The Soekris boards have RAM included (AFAIK, OpenBrick and VIA boards don't), and the optional cases are cheap, so they're not as expensive as they seem.

The WRAP and RouterBoard are the only things I've seen which are comparable to Soekrises in terms of features and price.

You don't need any special drivers, you don't need any special firmware, and you don't need to touch the BIOS. Compact Flash cards already support the IDE access. Just spend 10 or 20 bucks and get one of these.

seriously.. what does it take to yank my hard drive, insert one of these, and drop that weight/power consumption/fragility of my drive?

what would the access times be like? comparable to a 42000 rpm drive? 5400? 10,000 sata?

I've used "PC Inspector File Recovery" with great success in recovering files from a smartmedia card that I accidentally deleted from the camera's interface. Compactflash should be similar.

CF cards shouldn't get wet! They have plenty of space inside for moisture to linger. You got lucky. If I got a CF card wet and it didn't work after blowing the holes dry, I'd crack it open and rinse the innards with alcohol, then try again. I've got pics of the insides of a CF card on my photo gallery under the Tech album.

For those who want to attach CF cards directly to IDE controllers, adapters are available.

In the case of buying an adapter separate from the card itself, perhaps taking to this plan and buying in bulk may be more expensive. However, for do-it-yourself hobbyist projects, any CompactFlash card, combined with one of these from PC Engines, makes an ideal, tiny hard drive suitable for your embedded application.

Whoah, I sound like one of those people who sells stuff.