Mega space saving -- Replaced two HP Proliant Gen 8 Servers !!! With one NIPOGI mini PC and 40TB storage

Hi folks
For file sharing, Backup and media streaming - replaced 2 old power consuming NAS HP Proliant Gen 8 servers with ONE small NIPOGI mini PC -- plus 2 X " really cheap RSTECH dual bay docks.

Huge amount of space saved !! and cuts power bills too. I tested running for a few days at 24/7 -- fine, not running hot etc before using the HDD's from mu NAS's/ I don't have too many users to file share with concurrently so these are ideal for home situations with limited space

In spite of the relatively low power of the CPU, sound and graphics (4K UHD X 2 + 1X VGA) is more than adequate . I've got around 40TB of disk storage attached -- working perfectly



These things are cheap enough to dedicate for special tasks too -- performance is way beyond expectation of this CPU -- although I wouldn't recommend gaming on these. Oower consumption is much less than my old NAS servers too and infinitely less noisy (in fact the Toshiba 16TB drives I removed from the proliant servers are virtually soundless.

Note also they will run W11 Pro if you so want -- although I find running a Windows VM more than sufficient when I need Windows. You can upgrade the internal Nvme card -- very simple - I might swap the 512GB one for a 2TB one, and you can add an internal conventional 2.5 inch SSD drive.

Even runs things like SKY GO decently in a VM - no stuttering, excellent video and audio -- screenshot of SKY GO at Paris Olympics -- normally VM's aren't good for this type of stuff.




Cheers
jimbo

yeah, I gave up on running old physical server equipment years ago. For me, it's way to big, it's costly to get the ECC RAM it often requires, or the SCSI,SAS drives that are required, they are often loud, generate lots of heat and consume a bunch of power. And I've worked on them at the work environment for years and years and years....so the hands on experience with "real" equipment isn't a benefit for me.

My favorite little home box for me is actually my M1 Mac Mini.....that thing idles at like 4w of power and rarely exceeds 30w of power when it's all out working, and these little M1 CPU's are super efficient and powerful. Of course, they aren't great for Windows workloads or gaming. But it is what it is. Might actually upgrade to the newer M4 models when they arrive. It's a great way to stay in touch with the Apple ecosystem and help support my Mac friends when they run into issues. Cheap, lower power consumption, take up almost no space.