Using Parallella as an experienced sys.admin

[jlambrecht]

Dear,

I've got the money ready but i keep on running circles while deciding to buy a parallella board. I have no FPGA programming prowes, no Epiphany parallell programming skills just the desire to assemble a system for fun. It's purpose is to be a home-entertainment-system.

What it should accelerate

* ip routing for minimal overhead
* accelerate IDS and IPS functionalities
* encryption/decrypt for SSH, SSL, IPSec, WPA etc
* act as a webserver
* act as a fileserver
* act as a streaming-server for 1080p HD video
* act as an HD audio-streaming server
* maybe * serve as a compile-node when sticking multiple parallella-boards onto one another

My questions are, as future for fun system builder

* Would it be possible to load a component to add more RAM using a daughter board ( upto 8GB or even 16GB ? ) , i assumed so while reading up on the specs
* most of what i need seems to work for the FPGA, i don't see how i can make use of the Epiphany-III/IV but assume it should be possible to actually get this work for the formentioned functionalities
* the embedded system does have (much) more extendable FPGA, is it worth the cost ?
* It's been a while, is there now a recompile-only way to have software make use of the FPGA and/or Epiphany, especially for multi-threaded applications
* What extra costs would there be involved in getting additional IP Cores working for accelrating the formentioned functionalities ?

Thank you for your consideration,

Joris

[9600]

[jlambrecht]

Thank's Andrew, i know what i need to know now. Besides how to calculate what FPGA 10 or 20 i would require.