Single board ARM computer Banana PI R1

The Banana Pi R1 single board computer is a version of a similar product that is enhanced with WiFi and Ethernet switch. Detailed information about this unique computer can be found in this article.

China has produced a very interesting new computer with an ARM processor. It is an improved version of Banana PI model R1 (router). Banana PI already includes a SATA interface in the base! The Banana PI R1 version is dimensionally adapted to the size of the SATA 2.5" drive, which connects directly to the motherboard and the computer also has a factory WIFI and Ethernet switch. This makes the computer perfectly suited for a complex network device that will run around the clock and support any network services you can think of. Thanks to GNU/Linux, it can also act as a server! It can thus function, for example, as: DHCP server, Ethernet switch, WIFI AP, network storage, web server, mail server, print server, etc. all in one!. Moreover, its power consumption is very low and the performance of the dual-core processor is very good.

Hardware:

Hardwarespecification
CPU	A20 ARM Cortex™-A7 Dual-Core
GPU	ARM Mali400MP2Complies with OpenGL ES 2.0/1.1
Memory (SDRAM)	1GB DDR3 (shared with GPU)
Onboard Storage	Micro SD (Max. 64GB) card slot UP to 2T on 2.5 SATA drive
Onboard Network	10/100/1000 Ethernet RJ45, WLAN @802.11b/g/n
Video Input	A CSI input connector allows for the connection of a designed camera module
Video Outputs	HDMI , LVDS/RGB
Audio Output Audio Input	3.5 mm Jack and HDMI Microphone
Power Source	5 volt via MicroUSB(DC In Only)
USB 2.0 Ports	USB Hostand MicroUSB (OTG) USB Host
Buttons	Reset button: Next to Power button Power button: Next to Battery connector
GPIO(2X13) pin	GPIO,UART,I2C bus,SPI bus with two chip selects, CAN bus,ADC,PWM,+3.3v,+5v,ground.
LED	Power Key & & RJ45
Remote	IR
OS	Android 4.2, Linux
Interface definition
Product size	148mm ×100mm
Weight	83g

Programs

The Banana Pi R1 can run the same services as any other GNU/Linux computer. Linux professionals have an idea of how such a computer can be used. For less knowledgeable users, I have created a short list of what to install on the computer.

Server programs:
• ssh
• FTP - pureftp, vsfptd, proftpd
• VPN - openvpn
• databases - MeridaDB (MySQL), PostgreSQL, SQLite and others
• WEBs - apache
• Mail - Postfix + Dovecot + dkim + sieve
• Version control - SVN, git
• Data sharing - NTFS, Samba
• XMMP/Jabber - Openfire, Prosody
• VoIP - Asterisk
• fail2ban
• Music server - Ampache
• DNS - Bind9
• DHCP - isc-dhcp-server, udhcpd
• Press server - CUPS
• Statistics - AWSTATS
• Boot over network - PXE
• Time server - NTPD
• Share multimedia data with TV using DLNA - minidlna
• Connecting microprocessors and processing data from, for example, a wireless sensor network
• phpmyadmin

Those who do not reject the efficiency of the console will make use of many user console programs for example:
• Virtual Terminal Manager - Screen
• Torrents - rtorrent
• Jabber/XMPP client - mcabber
• Editors - Vim, Nano

System programs and other uses:
• Disk Status - smartmontools
• Firewall - Iptables
• System Integrity Checker - AIDE
• Backup
• Log check - logcheck
• Crontab
• UPS - NUT, apcupsd

With Banania Linux, installing and configuring these programs is the same as on any other Debian machine.

Other Resources

I wrote a series of articles about the Banana Pi R1 single board computer for root.cz.

A recording of my talk about the Banana Pi R1 from the OpenAlt conference.

Presentation

Here is a downloadable PDF file with the extended version presentation about the Banana Pi R1 single board computer, which I created for a talk at the OpenAlt conference.
Compared to the original presentation, I have returned the lists with examples of programs and applications. Just a list of what the Banana Pi R1 can be used for, for example.