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Marvell Unveils Plug Computer 3.0

Awesome news, I was just made aware that Marvell unveiled the successor to the SheevaPlug. Simply name Plug Computer 3.0, it is a more powerful version of the SheevaPlug. Stuff that are known:

  • a new ARM base 2Ghz ARMADA 300 Processor.
  • embedded WiFi (woot!)
  • embedded Bluetooth
  • "build in hard drive" (in quotes from Marvell's press release, I have NO IDEA what this means)
  • "Multiple standard Linux 2.6 kernel distributions" (As standard as ARM base kernel goes I suppose)

From the picture, the new plug computer still has the standard RJ45 and a USB port. I was really hoping they add an addition USB port so I don't need to run a USB hub. But I suppose if you have 2 USB than someone would ask for 3. You can't please everyone.

Marvell continues to boost about their low power footprints and that it "draw less than one tenth of the power of a typical PC being used as a home server". However, I image Plug Computer 3.0 will ultimately draw more power than the SheevaPlug because the CPU core is faster and that it has a "build in hard drive". It sounds like Marvell has abandon internal flash and replaced it with a hard drive. I don't know if this is the best decision. First, the ultra-low power users who run their SheevaPlug directly from flash will now have to pay the power penalty of the hard drive. On the other hand, the internal harddrive will probably be too small for large disk space users like myself. So I will probably continue to use my external USB harddrive as boot and data storage. So again I'm force to pay a power penalty of the internal harddive. I suppose we'll just have to see how this will work itself out.

Marvell claims devkits will be available at the usual places when it is release. Here is the link to Marvell's press release.


Welcome to Computing Plugs.

Globalscale's Sheeva Plug
Ionics' Plug Computer

Plug Computing is a new term coined by Marvell to describe a new form of server. The idea behind plug computing is to have a small, low power, always on server that connects to the local network and provides the user access to central services. To promote the new concept, Marvell created the SheevaPlug development kit. The "computer" itself is housed in a 4"x2.5"x2" wall wart that plugs directly into any typical household AC outlet. The SheevaPlug was built with the following hardware:

  • Kirkwood series SoC with an embedded Marvell Sheeva (88F6281) CPU core running at 1.2Ghz.
  • 512 Mbytes of DDR2 memory.
  • 512 Mbytes of NAND Flash memory use for system boot and the OS filesystem.
  • USB 2.0 (480Mbps) running as HOST.
  • Gigabit ethernet connection to the cpu.
  • SDIO interface capable of using SDHC type SD memory cards.
  • Dual serial port for JTAG interface (used by openOCD and OS serial output)

The Sheeva Plug development kit comes with the following software and documentation:

  • U-Boot
  • Linux Support Package (LSP)
  • Ubuntu and Gentoo File System
  • Host Software Support Package for Linux and Windows
  • Schematics & Bill of Materials

The product brief is available here.

For some time the only place you could get a SheevaPlug is from Globalscales. I've found out that Ionics will begin to offer a plug computer at the end of July, 09. I don't know if it is still call a SheevaPlug or not, and I have no information other than their product shot.

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