Note Ethernet is via a USB device, which limits throughput and latency, and generally increases CPU load. Hard disk connection is the same: USB only.
Something like this with SATA and Ethernet on a fast bus would be awesome
Something like this with SATA and Ethernet on a fast bus would be awesome
(FWIW: that apple-branded adapter is almost certainly an ASIX part -- the same chipset is sold under dozens of brands and works quite well in my experience.)
This one caught my eye. I'm not sure if the i.MX 6 quad is as capable as the exynos and there's only 1GB of RAM, but the board has SATA (there's a controller built into the SoC AFAICT) and Gigabit ethernet on an RGMII interface. Not that I really know what that means, other than I'm guessing a dedicated, gigabit-capable interface on the SoC. There's also PCIe which they're apparently going to release a breakout daughter-board for at some point.
Of course this board is not all that cheap compared to the ODROID.
EDIT: this was it, the Ubiquity Networks RouterStation Pro http://www.ubnt.com/rspro ; it was the basis of an official "MIPS Linux Starter Kit" http://store.mips-store.com/mips-linux-starter-kit.html which is now "[t]emporarily out of stock". 1 × USB2, 128MB RAM, JTAG, no video. $79 USD MSRP.
http://www.8devices.com/product/3/carambola
Runs OpenWRT
I received one from the indiegogo campaign, haven't played with it much yet though.