[Eug-lug] is this the perfect home server?

[Ben Barrett]

For instance, here are some ~5W mobo's under $130 that match... these
also have fixed RAM, but may be more hackable than the fit-pc.  OTOH,
BYO case, PS, drives, OS, etc :)
http://www.mini-box.com/Alix-2B-Board-2-LAN-2-MINI-PCI_2?sc=8&category=99
http://www.mini-box.com/Alix-2B-Board-3-LAN-3-MINI-PCI_1?sc=8&category=99
$132 and $137, respectively -- both out of stock on this site at
present, but these board also have miniPCI for further expansion;
they're basically made to be routers/repeaters but could also run some
lightweight, ie non-floating-point-intensive, fun stuff.  Wifi
asterisk station, anyone?

Also, here are some examples of mini-itx boards that match up (dual
NIC)... note that these are MUCH more capable as media centers and
general purpose computers, and although they also lack FPU's they make
up for it in some handy ways.
http://www.mini-box.com/Jetway-Versa-J7F4K1G5D?sc=8&category=99
http://www.mini-box.com/Jetway-Versa-J7F4K1G2E-Fanless?sc=8&category=99
(fanless)
http://www.mini-box.com/VIA-EPIA-EK10000G?sc=8&category=99
http://www.mini-box.com/VIA-EPIA-EK8000EG-Fanless?sc=8&category=99 (fanless)
The Jetway models listed here have dual *gigabit*, woot woot.

Finally, I'd like to point out this nifty resource I just came across
-- like I said, I haven't been keeping up with the mini-itx scene &
sites lately ....
http://resources.mini-box.com/online/powersimulator/powersimulator.html
Enter your mobo & parts and see how much power it likely uses :)

So, whaddya think?  Fanless might be a big consideration for a home
server, but then again if you're going to run a drive array that'd
make as much or more heat than these boards...
were you thinking storage in-system or external?  Was this to be a
router, primarily, or to run Mr. House w/ X-10 gizmos, or what?

ben



On 10/15/07, Ben Barrett <stircrazyben at gmail.com> wrote:
> Please compare and contrast with the (Epia, etc) mini-itx and nano-itx systems we're more familiar with.
> I thought those were winners... maybe the similar packages cost more though.  2 USB hardly seems like enough any more, but if you're using this headless or with just IR then that should work fine... ya know, between input devices, storage, lights, fans, and deep fryers, USB power and bandwidth drain bums me out.
> I've mostly seen the stuff on mini-itx.com and mini-box.com but haven't kept up with them in  while...
>
> ben
>
>
>
>
>  On 10/15/07, Garl Grigsby <badd_karma at comcast.net> wrote:
> >  They've recently been slashdotted/boing-boing'd/ Engadgeted/etc'd so
> > their site is a bit slow, but this looks like an ideal home server/low
> > end firwall.
> > Low power consumption? Check (5w).
> > X86 based? Check (AMD Geode).
> > Expandable? Check (2x USB 2.0).
> > Dual NICs? Check. Runs Linux?
> > Check (pre-installed with Gentoo)
> > Inexpensive? Reasonably so ($285)
> >
> > It's a little light on the ram and you can't add to it,  and to be
> > perfect it would need a mini-pci slot for a wireless card. Still for the
> > price...
> >
> > http://www.fit-pc.com/index.htm*
> >
> > *--Garl
> >
> > *
> > *
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> >
>
>