Some doubts

[Guber1]

Hi, now i have a NSLU2 and i want to substitute it by a plugcomputer but i have some question about this,
1) I see plug computer with a lot of accesories like sd slot, esata, wich are the really useful ones?,
2) It posible to install debian or ubuntu, what is the best option?
3) it can be installed on usb disk, sd card , esata disk, flash, the best option?, i think if i install it on usb disk it can be slowest than in flash or esata disk, isn't it?
 
Thanks

[peter a]

1)   I see plug computer with a lot of accesories like sd slot, esata, wich are the really useful ones?,

All are very useful , but it all depends on what you want to do with the plug.
The SD card allow to have different boot options , with just a change of the card .
Esata is faster and uses fewer resources than a USB drive.

2)   It posible to install debian or ubuntu, what is the best option?

Yes you can install debian or ubuntu , I personally would go for Debian.

3)   it can be installed on usb disk, sd card , esata disk, flash, the best option?, i think if i install it on usb disk it can be slowest than in flash or esata disk, isn't it?

AS ( 1 ) it all depend in would you want to do what the plug.

Booting off the SD card as the advantage of been able to sleep , any hard-drives plugged in.
But SD cards have the disadvantage of wearing out fast , if accessed.

Internal NAND , limited in size , But is idea for standalone applications where it`s not going to be connected to a hard-drive , then I would go for the SD card and use the NAND for backup.

[Guber1]

i want to it to download( rtorrent, mldonkey...) and to share the contenet of the disk with nfs to my media player or my pvr for rec, i ask for the accesories because the price i wnt to know if i must really pay for it, i'm thinking to buy the esata because i have an esata disk but the sd slot is expensive and i don't know if i relly need it. Thanks

[Guber1]

other thing that i am wondering if intel atom, what dou you think about it? i think that for a little of more monery i have a pc more unctionally than a plug because the vga or hdmi output, and i think that the power consuption must be similar

[peter a]

The advantages of the plug :-
Lower power , 5 watts compared to about 15 watts for a atom based computer.
The disadvantages of the plug :-
Is no FPU , not as powerful as the atom  , it`s headless – no display or keyboard etc.
The advantage of atom based system is you can install windows or linux !!

If you just want to use it for a file or torrent server I want get the plug for the power saving, If you need to use for other uses the aton may be best.

[Guber1]

other posibility could be the wd live with debian, which is your opinion about?

[peter a]

The Sheevaplug is ideal for the headless server role, like file and printer server.

The WD Live looks like it does good it the other side display the content.