• 0 Posts
  • 4 Comments
Joined 3 years ago
cake
Cake day: June 14th, 2023

help-circle
  • So I have both Rackmount Server and Mini PC’s running in my lab, and it really comes down to what do you want/need.

    Mini PC PRO:

    • small size
    • quiet operation
    • low power, low heat
    • limited remote management option with vPro

    Mini PC CON:

    • limited storage options
    • limited ram
    • lower thread/core counts at lower TDP (often 35w)
    • limited expansion or no expansion

    Rackmount Server PRO:

    • offer expansion
    • offer redundant power
    • lots of RAM
    • lots of cores/threads
    • lots of PCIe
    • lots of networking
    • IPMI (remote management)

    Rackmount Server CON:

    • lots of noise
    • lots of heat
    • lots of power use
    • takes up way more space

    https://www.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-ms-a2

    I think the little Minisforum MS series offer the perfect balance of mini PC with server like options. They give you 4 built in network ports 2x 10g and 2x 2.5g which is perfect for most applications IMO, they are available in both AMD and Intel flavors. With the one open PCIe slot you can add an external SAS card and then just use a SAS enclosure for disks. I currently have USB HD’s plugged into my mini PCs and its not great, they dont get enough cooling, and I live in fear because they are on cheap wallwart power supplies. It is working and for the most part has been.

    My Rack configuration has been stripped down massively and now its just a single 2RU and Dell 1RU that is a low spec storage server only. The 2RU has an AMD 3900x w/ 64gb and 16gb MI25 card so I can tinker with AI, the Dell is just an i3-8gen with 32g and 4x 12tb drives.

    The Lenovo’s are both i5-8gen with 32gb, same with the Dell mini PC, the Minisforum is an MS-A1 before they had the MS-A2 with better networking and PCIe. The Lenovo’s do have upgraded networking so I can have 4 network ports per box, 2x 10gb, 1x 2.5, 1x1g.