Is a web GUI running on the core realistic

I want to use the core for implementing a webserver on the core (not on the cloud) which handles a little GUI for some functions.
I thought of hosting the webpages on a SDcard and serve them by the core.

But after twiggling around with a simple telnet server, seeing very poor performance, WiFi crashes every few minutes and so on, I am unsure if the core is the right platform (Some IP stacks for AVR controllers perform better).

I wouldn’t like to use a fullblown Linux like the Pi for such simple tasks, but before investing months on twiggling with the core, maybe it would be more sensefull.

What do you think?

Thorsten

I think it’s perfectly doable, but I’m not 100% sure of the TCP throughput speeds (I haven’t tested it personally). There are a couple of web server libraries written that you might be able to borrow from.

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Anyone with a little Linux familiarity would have what you want running on the Raspberry Pi in a very short amount of time. If you don’t need to interface with hardware, and if you don’t need a tiny footprint, and if you have access to stable 5V 700mA power then I would choose the Pi over the Spark (or any microcontroller) every time.

One of my Pi’s is the network’s file server (2TB mirrored) running Samba, and it’s the network’s dnsmasq nameserver, and it monitors and commands using UDP three Spark Cores operating the central heating boiler and taking temperatures, and it collects podcasts automatically and serves them using DLNA, and it acts as a hub syncing my Linux a/c between various laptops and a remote server, and it is mostly idle. And it stays up for weeks at a time, never crashing.

The Spark Core has its well earned place and I like it a lot, but horses for courses.

@psb777: I was thinking of also using the SparkCore as a sort of watchdog for the Pi. The PI would check in every X minutes with the core with a function call to the spark and the spark could publish a “i’m alive”(might not be necessary) every Y minutes. If the Spark didn’t receive the function call every X+dx minutes it would let an admin know, perhaps with a text message, and if the Pi didn’t see the Spark it would also let the admin know. Have you thought about doing something similar? Or perhaps you already have something similar setup.

I only though of this after a node.js app I made to interact with the Spark frozen and I didn’t know for hours

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It’s possible. I implemented a simple guit to show the file system in external flash.

But whether this is the most ideal approach will depend upon the specifics of your gui and development process.