Building the World’s Smallest InfluxDB Server
Tags: gadgetry, iot, work
Published: 2020-02-13 23:11:18

---
title: Building the World’s Smallest InfluxDB Server
published: true
date: 2020-02-13 23:08:17 UTC
tags: Gadgetry,IoT,Work
canonical_url: https://davidgs.com/2020/building-the-worlds-smallest-influxdb-server/
---

I’ve built a lot of [InfluxDB](https://www.influxdata.com/products/influxdb-overview/) servers in my time here, and I’ve built some pretty esoteric ones at that, but I think I’ve finally pulled off what can only be described as the World’s Smallest InfluxDB Server! Back in the summer of 2019, I saw a project on [CrowdSupply.com](https://www.crowdsupply.com/groboards/giant-board) for something called the ‘Giant Board’. It looked really, really cool! A complete Single Board Computer (SBC) that ran Linux, all in a Feather form factor. I immediately backed it! Then, thinking about it for a second, I backed it _again_! So I got 2 of these things. Total accident, I swear.

Some specs. Here’s what the Giant Board actually is:

**Giant Board Specs** :

- **Processor** : Microchip SAMA5D2 ARM® Cortex®-A5 Processor 500 MHz
- **Memory** : 128 MB DDR2 RAM
- **Storage** : microSD card
- **Sensing** : 6 x 12-bit ADC with 3.3 V reference and external trigger
- **Actuation** : 4 x 16-bit PWM with external trigger
- **Connectivity** : 1 x I²C, 1 x SPI, 1 x UART, more with Flexcom
- **Power** : via USB, with support for LiPo batteries
- **Operating System** : mainline Linux kernel

All in this tiny form-factor that I usually use for Microcontrollers!

Well, a few weeks ago, they arrived! So, some unboxing pictures:

[![GiantBoard in package](https://www.influxdata.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_6750-768x1024.png)](https://www.influxdata.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_6750.png)

Wait, the whole thing fits in that one little bag? Yes. Not only that — there are multiple parts in that bag! And I realize (now) that there’s no scale to that bag in the picture, but that’s a Mac Mouse next to it. I’d retake the picture, but I already threw the bags away!

[![Giant Board Parts](https://www.influxdata.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_6752-1-768x1024.png)](https://www.influxdata.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_6752-1.png)

That’s right: I ordered the WiFi Feather Wing add-on because, after all, what’s an IoT board — and especially what’s an InfluxDB server — without networking!

[![Giant Board with Feather wing](https://www.influxdata.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_6754-1-768x1024.png)](https://www.influxdata.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_6754-1.png)

And just for scale, that’s a US Quarter in between them. So that’s going to be my server _and_ my network interface! For something called the ‘Giant Board’ it sure is small!

After a little soldering, I had it all put together and, with the addition of a MicroSD card, it booted up!

[![Command line with login to the Giant Board](https://www.influxdata.com/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2020-02-11-at-9.04.12-AM.png)](https://www.influxdata.com/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2020-02-11-at-9.04.12-AM.png)

Woah! This tiny little thing runs Debian Linux? Why yes, yes it does! So that makes [installing InfluxDB](https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb/v1.7/introduction/installation/) super simple since we already ship ARMv7 binaries for InfluxDB and all the rest of the [TICK Stack](https://www.influxdata.com/time-series-platform/)!

[![Terminal showing influxd running](https://www.influxdata.com/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2020-02-11-at-9.07.54-AM.png)](https://www.influxdata.com/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2020-02-11-at-9.07.54-AM.png)

Ok, sure, it’s currently hammering this tiny CPU, but it is also running!

[![live shot of a dashboard on the Giant Board](https://www.influxdata.com/wp-content/uploads/Kapture-2020-01-21-at-12.22.19-1024x372.gif)](https://www.influxdata.com/wp-content/uploads/Kapture-2020-01-21-at-12.22.19.gif)

And as you can see, the dashboard runs in [Chronograf](https://www.influxdata.com/time-series-platform/chronograf/) to give me a view into how the whole thing is running!

Now, would I run this as a production system? Absolutely not! As you can see, it is using far too many system resources on such a small device. Would I run it as an edge collection and forwarding device? Quite possibly. Would I run it as an embedded [Telegraf](https://www.influxdata.com/time-series-platform/telegraf/) agent device? 100% absolutely. Especially since I can also do this with it:

[![Giant Board running on battery](https://www.influxdata.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_6779-768x1024.png)](https://www.influxdata.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_6779.png)

That’s right, I can run it on a battery! A rechargeable LiPo battery at that (and the recharging circuitry is built in to the board!). And for completeness, I’ll provide a pin-out here so you can see what _else_ I can add to this thing — sensors, actuators, etc., — to make it both a data node and a sensor node:

[![](https://www.influxdata.com/wp-content/uploads/giant-board-pin-out-1024x690.png)](https://www.influxdata.com/wp-content/uploads/giant-board-pin-out.png)

Next I will build a version of InfluxDB 2.0 for ARMv7 and see if that runs either better or worse on this device, so watch this space to see what happens!

The post [Building the World’s Smallest InfluxDB Server](https://davidgs.com/2020/building-the-worlds-smallest-influxdb-server/) appeared first on [David G. Simmons](https://davidgs.com).