If you're going to go that route, a PI is a much cheaper moboard to build on. Also consider the Pine64 (cheaper and more powerful than the PI)
> On Mar 8, 2016, at 21:36, Doug McIntyre <mer...@geeks.org> wrote: > >> On Tue, Mar 08, 2016 at 10:45:30AM -0900, Royce Williams wrote: >>> On Tue, Mar 8, 2016 at 10:21 AM, Hugo Slabbert <h...@slabnet.com> wrote: >>> I'm surprised no one's mentioned freetserv[1] yet. I haven't used them so >>> don't consider this an endorsement, but on the surface it looks to be a >>> good balance of "open / DIY" and "supportable". > .. >> This is great! A mainstream, patchable OS -- not locked into a half-baked >> OS or roll-your-own-TCP-stack hell I've seen in some remote serial and >> power devices. > .. > > Yes, instead of a hacked together hardwareboard, or appliance with > firmware that never gets updated stuck in SSH v1 days (old Cisco?).. > Freetserv looks interesting, but very costly once you add up the BOM. > > I'd get something like a 1U ATOM server ($120 eBay) with small SSD > ($18). Runup your favorite FOSS OS, and conserver. For more than the > single real serialport, you can most likely fit a USB hub inside > the case still, and hang a number of USB serial dongles off. > > Rackmountable, maintainable, and conserver works great. > >
