Topic: Searching for perfect e-smith soho hardware...

[Holger]

Hi

I'm looking for a compact, affordable, fanless platform for my home server.
Does anyone know of a product which is available to end users? Yes - there are dozens of solutions out there on the web. But I can never find a retailer that will actually sell it directly to me at a reasonable price. E.g.
BOX-3410 : from http://www.bcmcom.com
microSERVER: from http://jumptec.de
OpenBrick : http://openbrick.org

Minimum requirements:
1 - 2 * LAN
2 - x86
3 - fanless for "no noise" and improved reliability
4 - 300MHz
5 - 128MB RAM
6 - HD
7 - at least some way of hooking up a CD drive to install e-smith
8 - parallel port or USB for printer
9 - normal PC stuff (VGA + PS2 for mouse+kb)
9 - small form factor
10 - affordable (not much above 300€)
11 - retailor in Europe

Nice to have:
1 - RS232 serial
2 - USB
3 - USB 2.0
4 - PCMCIA - or other means of implementing solid state disks
5 - wireless LAN

Not needed:
1 - PCI slots
2 - fancy graphics
3 - audio

Maybe openbrick does meet these requirements!??
Comments please!

[Norrie Mckinley]

Try...
www.mini-itx.com

Much less expensive than openbrick

[Arkman]

Have a look at some of the Boxes/Systems from Shuttle. Nice and compact and very quite. Some of the setups are definite overkill for a server, but they have some lower end ones that might be useful.

[Darrell May]

Here is what I build:

http://myezserver.com/myEZdesktop.html

This is built with standard components that you should be able to find worldwide.

Darrell

[Josh Turiel]

I use the Slim box version of one of these:

http://www.idot.com/TheStore/minibook/default_slim.asp?Cate.id=19

The slim version can operate fanless, which is handy - it comes with a small case fan that is easily disabled and an external power supply.

If you really want to save power/heat, you can use a laptop HD instead of a standard 3.5" drive, but the brackets have to be adapted.

[Bill Talcott]

I second the Mini-ITX vote. The Via boards have everything you want except a second NIC (which can be put in the PCI slot) onboard, for around US$100.

[Steve Bush]

I tried a mini-itx board...the new EPIA-M 6000 board in a Morex 2677 case.
The processor runs hot...very hot with the fan disabled.  It ran up to >85C when I stopped for fear of frying the components.  I was disappointed to say the least.
I had a 256MB DIMM and used an IBM 40GB laptop drive.

This was to be used for a client workstation with Windows XP Pro installed.
It locked up on me four times while I installed XP and the updates.

I like the concept of fanless PC's, but this didn't seem ready for prime time....

I also contacted (emailed) Via's tech support and received a very cursory response regarding the heat and no response regarding the lockups.

[James Douglas]

im running 5,5 on a toshiba magnia sg10 internet appliance and love it. integrated 7 port switch, headless unit. works wonderfully and they are available at tigerdirect for reasonable prices.

[Steve]

Looks like the magnia operates as a firewall.  Is SME 5.5 that much better than the tosshiba offering?  How difficult was the install?