Slashdot Mirror
Banana Pi 24-Core ARM Server Running Ubuntu Breaks Cover (hothardware.com)
MojoKid writes: ARM-based server processors have threatened to take on Intel in the data center for some time but not much has materialized thus far in terms of significant deployments. However, a new breed of low cost ARM server implementations may be in the works with a many-core platform called Banana Pi. The latest Banana Pi device being teased is something very different in the form of a 24-core ARM server that speculation suggests might be sold as a Banana Pi server board or as a finished server product.
A video has surfaced that reportedly shows a 24-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor with 32GB of RAM, though the OS only sees 29.4GB of that RAM. The OS is Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS with MATE desktop. Unless the processor used in this device is something unannounced, and that seems unlikely, the chip itself would likely be a SocioNext SC2A11. The same processor is used in the Linaro Developer Box. The demo shows the server fully loaded at 100% CPU utilization building a Linux kernel and reportedly the system also supports NVMe storage as well as TensorFlow workloads for machine learning. Not much else is known about the system at this time but it's an interesting development in the Linux server space to be sure.
A video has surfaced that reportedly shows a 24-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor with 32GB of RAM, though the OS only sees 29.4GB of that RAM. The OS is Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS with MATE desktop. Unless the processor used in this device is something unannounced, and that seems unlikely, the chip itself would likely be a SocioNext SC2A11. The same processor is used in the Linaro Developer Box. The demo shows the server fully loaded at 100% CPU utilization building a Linux kernel and reportedly the system also supports NVMe storage as well as TensorFlow workloads for machine learning. Not much else is known about the system at this time but it's an interesting development in the Linux server space to be sure.
I did a lot of work with "Banana Pi" singe-board computers, and everything thhat comes out with that name, has atrocious hardware support, atrocious hardware and atrocious support.
The hardware is usually barely documented, and does *not* qualify as open hardware, the support forums are censored in Chinese face-saving tradition and full of false promises, and in many, the board design can only be described as *failed*. (E.g. the power regulator not supporting the storage power requirements when powered via USB port. Or the storage and gigabit network interfaces maxing out at 400 MB/s even with tuning.)
Unless you want to be in a world of madness and pain, don't buy them.
(And I'm not one of those who think that China is crap in general. I was very happy with my Blackview BV6000, in all aspects.)