New Home-Cloud platform : ODROID-HC4

[meveric]

Update: It is available now. We will start shipping from 29-Oct.
HC4: https://www.hardkernel.com/shop/odroid-hc4/
HC4 with RTC+OLED: https://www.hardkernel.com/shop/odroid-hc4-oled/


We announced the ODROID-HC1/2 as an affordable Home-Cloud network storage solution over three years ago.
The ODROID-HC1/2 has been and is still very popular and we have seen many amazing projects like the one shown below.
viewtopic.php?f=98&t=39486


Meanwhile, we’ve heard that many users wanted to run their storage server on a modern ARM 64bit platform with more DRAM memory, higher power efficiency and more storage capacity.
Therefore, we started developing a new Home-Cloud platform late last year and it is time to show you something new based on the same ARM S905X3 CPU in the ODROID-C4.

The toaster form factor ODROID-HC4 accepts 2 x 3.5” or 2 x 2.5”” mechanical HDD or SSD storage devices. You can obviously also use one mechanical and one SSD. See two examples shown below.
Thanks to Linux LVM or mdadm Soft-RAID you can combine two disks in RAID 0, RAID 1 or optimize IO with a large disk using one mechanical drive and an SSD for disk caching.

Two 12TB high performance HDDs on the HC4


Two Samsung SSDs on the HC4


We adopted a 12nm fabricated energy efficient 1.8Ghz Cortex-A55 quad core processor with faster 4GB DDR4 RAM.
A 16MiB SPI flash chip exists on the board for the useful Petitboot feature.
We decided to drop the use of USB3.0 to SATA bridge solutions (quirks, additional IO layer, etc) for the ODROID-HC4.
We are therefore using a more native and reliable PCIe to SATA direct bridge solutions. In doing so the HC4 board provides two SATA storage docks.
A 5.5mm DC power jack, UHS-1 compatible micro-SD slot, USB 2.0, HDMI 2.0 and 1GbE port are available on the rear side of the transparent shell case.
IO ports on the HC4 rear side


Block diagram


Printed Circuit Board (Top and Bottom sides)



SATA Interface Performance
We connected a SATA SSD to the HC4 platform and measured the storage IO throughput. We could observe 390~420MB/s transfer speed which is quite good for many applications.

Code: Select all

odroid@hc4:/media/ssd2$ iozone -e -I -a -s 100M -r 4k -r 16384k -i 0 -i 1 -i 2
       Iozone: Performance Test of File I/O
               Version $Revision: 3.489 $
               Compiled for 64 bit mode.
               Build: linux-arm
                                                             random    random     
             kB  reclen    write  rewrite    read    reread    read     write     
         102400       4    44097    62373    75362    75511    39859    60806 
         102400   16384   428515   426902   390226   392564   391412   427137 

SMB/CIFS network file transfer performance over the Gbit Ethernet connection
As shown below Windows OS client shows a sustainable 100+ MB/s transfer speed when we download/upload large files.
Downloading

Uploading


Helios LAN Test result


Thermal Characteristics
The SoC temperature was around 50~60°C with very heavy computing loads while the chamber temperature was set at 30°C. There is a 40mm cooling fan in the case and it manages the SBC temperature well and the CPU runs without any thermal throttling.
We could keep reading the HDD temperature via smartctl command and it was around 40°C with a continuous heavy rsync test between two HDDs.


Thermographics
When the test chamber temperature was 33°C, the HDD surface temperature was up to 45°C.
Once we used the same system at a normal 25°C room temperature, the HDD surface was lower than 40°C.


Power Consumption

Note 1: ST2000DM006 spin-down power consumption is 0.75W per HDD. Therefore, the HC4 board itself idle mode power consumption is about 2.1W.
Note 2: Power consumption in Active state is tested while copying huge files through SAMBA service.
Note 3: Wake-up sources for the Suspend mode: Wake-on-LAN, IR remote receiver and RTC Alarm.

Software Support
Petitboot can find the OS on the SD card, the HDD or the SSD. So even if you do not have an SD card but you have a plugged-in HDD or SSD that has an OS installed, Petitboot will boot the HC4 using the OS from the HDD or SSD.
Ubuntu OS can run with the Hardkernel’s preinstalled OS image or Debian/Ubuntu Netboot Installer which you can obtain from the ODROID forum.
Supported Linux kernel versions are:
- 4.9.230 or newer (Hardkernel stock OS version)
- Mainline kernel 5.8 or newer (Unofficial version from ODROID forum)
* Some 3rd party OS images like CoreELEC, OMV and Android will be available within a few weeks.

Availability and price
ODROID-HC4: $65 (including the HC4 board and pre-assembled case shell)
ODROID-HC4-Plus: $75 (ODROID-HC4 with pre-installed RTC + OLED add-on board)
It is ready to sell from 27 October 2020.


RTC + OLED add-on board
A HW Real Time Clock IC for time keeping and small 1inch OLED for showing system status.


Recommended accessories.
- 15V/4A PSU
- IR Remote controller
- WiFi and Bluetooth adapters
- ODROID-Vu series display devices
- USB-UART cable for OS developers

Some samples will be shipped to OS developers in this forum soon.

You can find more information from our WiKi pages.
https://wiki.odroid.com/odroid-hc4/odroid-hc4

[odroid]

A few missing pictures.

Normal HC4 model which has no RTC+OLED add-on board.

ODROID-HC4-no-LED-1024.png (1022.42 KiB) Viewed 730518 times

Heatsink on the board.

odroid-hc4-heatsink.png (660.84 KiB) Viewed 730518 times

[odroid]

Reserved #2

[mad_ady]

Congratulations! "The toaster" looks really nice! Not as stackable/passive as HC1/2, but it looks good as a NAS. The OLED display is a nice addition. I take it it's a 0.96" I2C ssd1306 which is compatible with LUMA, right? The community will probably make nice visualisations for it (similar to CS2).

It's sad that you had to sacrifice usb3 to get pci - I know it's a soc limitation. But why only one usb2 port? Would it be expensive to get a hub circuit onboard? Or is it that you'd get the exact same performance with an external hub?

Anyway, it looks like a great inexpensive NAS. Congratulations!
(what was the HC3 supposed to be? I'm alway curious about products that don't make it)

[odroid]

Yes, it is a generic 0.96" OLED compatible.

We thought very few people need to connect multiple USB 2.0 devices to a NAS platform.

HC3 was the original name of this new platform. But we changed it to "HC4" since it is based on the "C4" hardware design.
We just switched the USB 3.0 + hub controller to the PCIe + SATA controller.
There was no HC3 indeed.

[mad_ady]

One more question - are the disks hot pluggable? And do you get a notification via dmesg if the disks are breifly removed/reinserted? (e.g. does the bus rescan them automatically, or do you need to do something like this? https://serverfault.com/questions/30673 ... t-a-reboot)

Might be useful as a HDD repair/servicing solution where you frequently swap disks in and out. Regarding endurance - do you have a maximum insert/remove count for the connectors?

[joerg]

Nice product!
BTW. I use my N1 as NAS and I don't need any USB device. If the N1 dies one day, I would by this HC4. But...the N1 runs very stable...

[brad]

Very nice design, power efficient with arm64 and dual PCIE -> SATA on amlogic board. Good Stuff!

[Raybuntu]

CoreELEC is already supported on the HC4 since july . We had to wait and didn't push any commits not to spoil the surprise .

[mad_ady]

Nice product!
BTW. I use my N1 as NAS and I don't need any USB device. If the N1 dies one day, I would by this HC4. But...the N1 runs very stable...

I too am fond of my N1. Except that in addition to two sata disks I use 2 usb 3 disks. So I have no replacement for it (not that I'd want to replace it). When I get a bit of time (kindergartens are closing starting tomorow) I'll try to run a benchmark on N1 vs C4. N1 has a faster hexacore cpu, but slower ram.

[venkatbo]

Congrats, Hardkernel !

[superpowter77]

Some great news about latest HK's innovative product. I really like its speedy transfer speeds, good thermals and Petiboot compatibility and the fact it works with custom Tobetter Ubuntu version. Kudos for dropping off a USB3.0 to SATA bridge design for a much better PCIe to SATA direct bridge implementation which will avoid potential headaches handling multiple SSD's storage.

[istanbulls]

Nice product, thanks Hardkernel.
I think CoreElec fans will be happy with this news.

I know the oled clock from somewhere.

[istanbulls]

I know the oled clock from somewhere.

Yes~~ We loved your OLED clock design.

One more question - are the disks hot pluggable? And do you get a notification via dmesg if the disks are breifly removed/reinserted? (e.g. does the bus rescan them automatically, or do you need to do something like this? https://serverfault.com/questions/30673 ... t-a-reboot)

Might be useful as a HDD repair/servicing solution where you frequently swap disks in and out. Regarding endurance - do you have a maximum insert/remove count for the connectors?

Hot-plug function seems to be working at least but we don't know how much it is reliable and stable with hardware as well as software driver.
The connector spec says its endurance is 100 times of insertion only. I have a concern about the electrical shock to the expensive HDD/SSD too.
So you can try the hot-plug stability test with your own risk.

[tobetter]

Nice product, thanks Hardkernel.
I think CoreElec fans will be happy with this news.

I know the oled clock from somewhere.

Your effort for OLED display in this forum will be provided as a package...
https://github.com/tobetter/odroid-homecloud
https://github.com/tobetter/odroid-home ... y/clock.py

[rooted]

This is a great package, I have an SSD and a couple of drives laying around doing nothing when they could be providing much needed extra storage.

The display is a nice touch, can provide real time information such as capacity, CPU usage, network stats..etc.

I think the HC4 product will be a popular addition to the Hardkernel lineup.

[wrxtasy]

Great product.

It really is going to be nicknamed "The Toaster" !

I often get asked for an "All in one package" for NAS storage plus 4K HDR + HD audio media playback - and now this is the solution

[crazyquark]

Wow!
I want this .
But I still really love my Cloudshell2....
Hummmm...

[crazyquark]

@crazyquark,
As you might know, the CPU computing power of the XU4/HC1/HC2/CloudShell2 is still 20~30% higher than the ODROID-C4/HC4.

[fvolk]

Why does this news start with a photo of some else's project and especially with something the HC4 is NOT, a convenient, stackable form factor? :-)

[tcdiem]

@odroid:
Are you going to make available boards only (without plastic case, etc) ?

The reason behind it is that I liked the "stackable" form also as I don't plan to run it with hot-swap, I would rather 3D print my case than using HC4 as a "dock" for HDD with them sticking out ... also cost savings when buying multiple units as I would have no use for the plastic case (hints at multiple CEPH nodes )

[hominoid]

With the low power consumption and a PCIe to SATA interface this will be a great NAS.

[cdu13a]

For anybody that wants to get creative with a DIY project using the HC4

You can get SATA extension cables relatively cheap that have both the 7 pin (SATA data) + 15 pin (SATA power), which can allow you to get a bit more creative in making a DIY case, or adding SATA devices other then Hard Drives.

Adding an MCP23008 or MCP23017 I/O Expander (Both are fairly easy to work with) to the I2C bus may also allow for some interesting options.

[mad_ady]

@cdu13a - I was worried about the lack of GPIO ports - for instance my NAS (an odroid N1) has an IR blaster and two relays hooked up to its GPIO pins. I'm curious if those expanders can expose the GPIO pins in a way that can be used directly with linux (e.g. as a gpiobank, so that they can be used by other modules). Also, not sure if there is a 5V pad where one can hook into... (the J1 connector has only 3.3V).

Edit: Hmm, with a little skill one could solder a wire to the 5V pin of the USB connector, it's accessible on the underside of the board...

[dchang0]

Next board design, please recess the microSD card slot so that the card doesn't stick out, exposed to physical damage. I just accidentally broke mine off today on one of my HC2 units. Very annoying.
If necessary, switch to a spring-locking microSD slot so that people can push in and then have the microSD card pop out far enough to pull on it.
Recessing the microSD would help with those of us who like to bolt the bare boards to custom-made open frames.

The HC4 looks great, though. I'll probably order one on launch, maybe two.

[odroid]

@odroid:
Are you going to make available boards only (without plastic case, etc) ?

The reason behind it is that I liked the "stackable" form also as I don't plan to run it with hot-swap, I would rather 3D print my case than using HC4 as a "dock" for HDD with them sticking out ... also cost savings when buying multiple units as I would have no use for the plastic case (hints at multiple CEPH nodes )

We have no plan to sell the board separately since there will be little demand.
If we remove the case shell and the cooling fan, you might save several dollars though.

[odroid]

Next board design, please recess the microSD card slot so that the card doesn't stick out, exposed to physical damage. I just accidentally broke mine off today on one of my HC2 units. Very annoying.
If necessary, switch to a spring-locking microSD slot so that people can push in and then have the microSD card pop out far enough to pull on it.
Recessing the microSD would help with those of us who like to bolt the bare boards to custom-made open frames.

The HC4 looks great, though. I'll probably order one on launch, maybe two.

We will consider that suggestion.
HC2/HC4 has the micro-sd card protrudes about 4mm.

[dchang0]

We will consider that suggestion.
HC2/HC4 has the micro-sd card protrudes about 4mm.

Haha, yep, 4mm is about where the microSD card snapped in half... Thanks for considering my suggestion!

[zupet]

HC4+ with 2.5Gbps ethernet ?
Oh.. 905X3 has only gbps mac.

[lox]

We thought very few people need to connect multiple USB 2.0 devices to a NAS platform.
We just switched the USB 3.0 + hub controller to the PCIe + SATA controller.

Too bad .... You know, some people really are doing regular encrypted backups on external drives. USB 2.0 is sooo sloooow...

[dchang0]

Next board design, please recess the microSD card slot so that the card doesn't stick out, exposed to physical damage. I just accidentally broke mine off today on one of my HC2 units. Very annoying.
If necessary, switch to a spring-locking microSD slot so that people can push in and then have the microSD card pop out far enough to pull on it.
Recessing the microSD would help with those of us who like to bolt the bare boards to custom-made open frames.

The HC4 looks great, though. I'll probably order one on launch, maybe two.

We will consider that suggestion.
HC2/HC4 has the micro-sd card protrudes about 4mm.

Oh, just remembered that there's another way to protect the microSD card: redesign only the plastic case so that there's a snap-on protective cover over the microSD slot. One of the Raspberry Pi Zero cases I have does this, and it's a fantastic design improvement.

It would be nice if a later version of the HC4's case had this feature. You wouldn't have to redesign or change the board itself.

[fvolk]

We will consider that suggestion.
HC2/HC4 has the micro-sd card protrudes about 4mm. :(

That was also a weak point of the HC1.
The HC1 was a nice sized brick to take with you in your backpack as a micro server, just attach power+net whereever and you are good to go.
The negative was that the metal heatsink corners were a bit sharp and could damage the backpack and the protruding microSD card needed removal and replug for transport - annoying.

I'm a bit sad there is no successor to the HC1. I once demoed it for a company doing "smart grids" and due to the HC1 size was interested in doing a field deployment, to put it into switching cabinets in the field as sensors data preprocessors to reduce bandwidth etc. Well, in the end did not work out. But I still think a backpack transport compatible unit would be nice for some :-)

[odroid]

We thought very few people need to connect multiple USB 2.0 devices to a NAS platform.
We just switched the USB 3.0 + hub controller to the PCIe + SATA controller.

Too bad .... You know, some people really are doing regular encrypted backups on external drives. USB 2.0 is sooo sloooow...

You cannot enable both USB 3.0 and PCIe(SATA) at the same time. It is a hardware limitation in the SoC.

[brad]

You could use a sata extension cable (or maybe even esata) to make a drive "external" if you only plan to use 1 disk in the nas in this case it should be quicker than USB. You might even be able to use a SATA port multiplier unsure if the host will support this?

[odroid]

You might even be able to use a SATA port multiplier unsure if the host will support this?

I don't think a multiplier works with the HC4.
Anyway, we need to find time slot to setup this test environment again.
https://wiki.odroid.com/odroid-h2/appli ... ata_drives

[kenarp]

Great job! Looking for an ARM device can be used as a NAS for a long time and finally it's here! I really love the feature of power efficiency and decent performance simultaneously that 905x3 has, together with the 2 sata ports, hc4 is just perfect to me.

The only thing I would expect will be the compatibility of sata multipliers. For branded NASes like Synology and Qnap, they always tend to double the price of a 4-bay NAS compared to a 2-bay one, even with exact same CPUs. If a SATA multiplier can work with HC4, I'll use a full speed SATA port for system and important file backups, while the multiplied ports can be used for BT download and other resources backups. Looking forward to the compatibility tests if there will be any.

[tkaiser]

I don't think a multiplier works with the HC4.

ASM1061 does support PMs but not with FIS based switching so something like this is to be expected with concurrent disk access behind the multiplier: https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-9 ... art-0.html

[ecko]

Yes! YES!

What kinds of speeds do you reach with a RAID 1 array on the HC4?

[chunna]

Would it be possible to provide schematics/board dimensions so that we can design our own cases for it?

[brad]

Would it be possible to provide schematics/board dimensions so that we can design our own cases for it?

See the wiki for this information - https://wiki.odroid.com/odroid-hc4/hardware/hardware

[powerful owl]

Are the HC1 and HC2 going to be continued to be sold?

[hominoid]

For those wanting to work on a case design I have added the Odroid-HC4 to the SBC Model Framework. The HC4 model was created from the mechanical drawings on the HK wiki.

hc4-top.png (20.72 KiB) Viewed 721165 times

hc4-bottom.png (21.97 KiB) Viewed 721165 times

[elatllat]

...CEPH...

was also my first thought because "LVM or mdadm" or ZFS or Btrfs only benefit from more local physical volumes.

.... You know, some people really are doing regular encrypted backups on external drives. USB 2.0 is sooo sloooow...

Buy 2 and use the GbE which is faster than the encryption speed anyway, or if you are using the partial ZFS encryption snapshot sync then buy a C4/N2+/H2+... But you would need a lot of space 100TB+ anyway to find GbE slow with modern sync software.
Would be nice if stratis adopted the 2 lvm snapshot sync projects for mainstream full encryption snapshot sync without re-encription...

The C4 was nice and stable so I expect the HC4 will be solid (and not require any USB-SMART workarounds).

[Sebas_Ledesma]

Nice product, thanks Hardkernel.
I think CoreElec fans will be happy with this news.

I know the oled clock from somewhere.

Congrats on the new product.
The Oled display can also be used to show the IP of the HC4 or the hostname..

Sebas

[tobetter]

Just let you know that ODROID-HC4 is available to access/test on the ODROID BENCH.
viewtopic.php?p=309135#p309135

[powerful owl]

Are the HC1 and HC2 going to be continued to be sold?

They will be available two more years probably.

[habibie]

We just switched the USB 3.0 + hub controller to the PCIe + SATA controller.

I am a bit confused here and hope you can make additional clarifications. Is the PCIe + SATA controller a replaceable module (not soldered to the main board)? If so, anyone can just buy a PCIe + SATA/USB3 (if there exists one) module to swap out the original PCIe + SATA module to have (both SATA and) USB3 port(s).

[mad_ady]

No, it's built-in the board. Otherwise it would have come with a pcie interface.

[TM272]

it hasn't yet started selling out and I have already suggestions for next revision

eMMC, 8GB of RAM and 2+ USB ports

[elatllat]

it hasn't yet started selling out and I have already suggestions for next revision

eMMC, 8GB of RAM and 2+ USB ports

Just get the H2+ if you want that.