[GLLUG] Low-power Home Server

Tom Schouten tom at zwizwa.be
Sun Jul 29 10:02:38 EDT 2012


starting to run into trouble:
Jul 28 09:33:56 zuk kernel: [315727.084000] rsync invoked oom-killer: 
gfp_mask=0x201da, order=0, oom_adj=0, oom_score_adj=0
Jul 28 12:33:09 zuk kernel: [326479.124000] openvpn invoked oom-killer: 
gfp_mask=0x201da, order=0, oom_adj=0, oom_score_adj=0



On 07/25/2012 01:41 PM, Bryan Laur wrote:
> I had thought you might be slightly overextending the capabilities of 
> that device.
>
> OpenWRT is optimized for the situation and as such, it's limitations 
> are by design and aren't necessarily a flaw. (It's just a matter of 
> using the right tool for the job.)
>
> I'm glad you got it working though!
>
>
> On Mon, Jul 23, 2012 at 10:31 AM, Tom Schouten <tom at zwizwa.be 
> <mailto:tom at zwizwa.be>> wrote:
>
>     It works and I'm happy with the setup.
>
>     The main plus point is that Debian's asterisk works without
>     trouble after some tuning.  I can now switch off the PC without
>     worrying about the desk phone.  Next to pbx and normal router
>     functions it has a USB backup drive attached to receive remote
>     backups.
>
>     It takes about 5W, so that goal is more than met.  Also it's
>     cheap.  I used this to purchase a 2nd one for experimentation.
>     Total price was $20 for the router, $12 for the 16GB mini USB
>     flash drive and about $100 for the external USB backup disk. 
>     Prices where amazon/newegg deals so might be a bit higher now.
>
>     Currently it starts standard OpenWRT config that serves as a
>     backup configuration.  From there it detects if the USB flash
>     drive is present, and will proceed booting into Debian, killing
>     the OpenWRT deamons and start the Debian ones.  I do keep the
>     OpenWRT dropbear daemon running to be able to log into the real
>     root.  Debian ssh daemon logs into the Debian chroot.
>
>     The downsides:
>
>     - Needs A LOT of work to tune for memory use and make robust.  My
>     approach just starts a couple of daemons from the Debian chroot to
>     keep the memory usage low, so the rest of the Debian boot is done
>     manually, i.e. I'm not running the main Debian init script.
>
>     - I'd advice to install a hardware serial console from the start. 
>     The board already has the 4-prong header soldered on it.  I broke
>     it once after I switched it to be my main router, cutting myself
>     out due to some network configuration error and a non-working
>     (non-tested) failsafe.  Of course this is just me not being careful.
>
>     - Device is not supported in standard OpenWRT (yet).  I'm not sure
>     if this is just an organizational problem or if there are
>     licencing issues.  Compiling it is a pita.
>
>     - The main disappointment is that ssh/rsync is very slow.  I don't
>     get over 2MB/sec and the limit here seems to be CPU, but for my
>     purpose this is OK (receiving rate-limited incremental backups
>     over the internet).
>
>     - It seems to need swap to run some of the more resource-intensive
>     Debian apps.  Especially during "apt-get install" things can get
>     out of hand.  I have this swap on a USB flash drive which is not
>     ideal.
>
>     It was a nice learning experience, but I did not expect it to take
>     so long to get going.  In retrospect, what I have running as
>     daemons can probably be done in pure OpenWRT, but it sure is handy
>     to have the convenience of a Debian system even if somewhat slow
>     and memory-constrained.  OpenWRT is great for its intended
>     purpose, but has its limitations.
>
>
>
>     On 07/05/2012 05:42 PM, Bryan Laur wrote:
>>     So, how is this working out?
>>     Did this end up being a viable solution?
>>
>>
>>     On Fri, Jun 22, 2012 at 1:57 PM, Tom Schouten <tom at zwizwa.be
>>     <mailto:tom at zwizwa.be>> wrote:
>>
>>         To run debian I had to recompile the image on this page
>>         http://manojpi.blogspot.com/2012/05/openwrt-on-belkin-share-max-n300.html
>>         and enable FPU emulation.  Compilation didn't go without
>>         problems so if anyone is interested in the .trx or the *.ipk,
>>         drop me an email (strip the [GLLUG] tag in the subject line).
>>
>>
>>
>>         On 06/21/2012 07:02 PM, Tom Schouten wrote:
>>
>>             I bought the N300.  Let's see if I can scale down
>>             requirements a bit..
>>
>>             Next is "debootstrap --foreign --arch mipsel squeeze
>>             squeeze" on a USB 2.5"
>>             Looking for more info I ran into this page:
>>             http://wiki.debian.org/DebianWRT
>>
>>             I used OpenWRT + chrooted Debian system a couple of years
>>             ago on an old SimpleTech SimpleShare NAS.  Worked well
>>             only for very basic stuff since the disk was very slow
>>             and the machine was a bit low on memory (32M).  The
>>             Belkin has 64M so should be a little better, but still
>>             seems quite tight.  I'm curious if it will run asterisk.
>>
>>
>>             On 06/19/2012 12:38 AM, Charles Ulrich wrote:
>>
>>                 Not a bad price for a hackable router, even if the
>>                 stock firmware is a bit crap. I might grab one to be
>>                 a wifi bridge.
>>
>>                 Also, what OpenWRT class? :)
>>
>>                 Charles
>>
>>                 On 06/18/2012 11:56 PM, Tom Schouten wrote:
>>
>>                     Thanks a bunch for all the answers.
>>
>>                     In the OpenWRT class I ran into this one today,
>>                     currently $19.97 on amazon
>>                     Belkin Share Max N300
>>                     http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Share-N300-Wireless-Router/dp/B004B1Z6EE
>>                     There are patches for OpenWRT
>>                     http://manojpi.blogspot.com/2012/05/openwrt-on-belkin-share-max-n300.html
>>
>>
>>                     Cheers
>>                     Tom
>>
>>
>>
>>                     On 06/18/2012 08:23 AM, Tom Schouten wrote:
>>
>>                         Hi List,
>>
>>                         Recently I've been doing some math and found
>>                         out that running a 100W
>>                         machine 24/7 at my parent's back home cost me
>>                         about 150 Euros/year
>>                         (Belgian electricity is quite expensive,
>>                         about 20 Eurocents/kWh more
>>                         than double of what it is here). The 100W was
>>                         measured with power
>>                         meter over period of 24h so is probably quite
>>                         accurate. Includes PC,
>>                         GB ethernet switch + wireless router.
>>
>>                         Anyone have an idea of how to replace this
>>                         with something more
>>                         power-efficient?
>>                         I recently ran into [1] which seems like a
>>                         nice solution. Not sure
>>                         about the power though.
>>                         It probably can go lower still. This[2] might
>>                         be nice too.
>>
>>                         The main purpose for the server is backup,
>>                         VPN, asterisk, email with
>>                         spamassassin+clamav, apache and to serve as
>>                         print server and gateway
>>                         for the home network, maybe also PLEX but
>>                         that can also run on a
>>                         "real" PC if necessary.
>>
>>                         [1]
>>                         http://mocko.org.uk/b/2012/06/17/how-i-store-my-1s-and-0s-zfs-bargain-hp-microserver-joy/
>>
>>
>>                         [2]
>>                         http://www.androidauthority.com/via-android-pc-arm-49-dollars-88209/
>>
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>
>

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