![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
crashnburn
Weaksauce
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2007
- Messages
- 93
A laptop users SLAVE Box. Need Advise: Thin/ Mini ITX Mobo + Tiny Case + PSU?
- ATV/ Mac Mini/ NUC like Case/ or little larger as well - like a thick/ big book
- But not the Mini-ITX towers/ desktops I see.
Typical use this for:
- XBMC/ Kodi streaming from Synology NAS
- Maybe offload my downloading/ torrents etc to this box
So,
- Usually will contain a single Drive: Old 2.5" HDD/ SSD to start & some RAM
BUT - Main reason for buying - Once in a while hack/ heavy use:
The max I will load it with hardware is when we
PLUG in 2 or 3 new or old 3.5" / NAS Drives - {Wont fit inside obviously - Can lie around}
Typically for overnight burn in tests; dban, badblocks, chkdsk, SMART/ Surface Tests, Seagate/ WD Tests
Sometimes HDD/ Partition Cloning / Ghosting etc.
On a laptop, this is stuff that's slow, hot & time consuming - not easy or done well.
Hence, delegate to a Slave Box.
I hope the PSU can handle 2/3 drives for short term burning:
Open to advise/ recommendations on inside/ outside power supply; 100 - 240 V - May take it for long term global travel.
- DISPLAY:
- No gaming performance required/ not majorly anyways
- Will be using QHD or UHD/ 4K Display - Monitor or TV as I thrive on High Res workspace
.. Hence preferably
- DP 1.new HDMI 1.4/2.0 @60Hz would be key
- Dual Link DVI D / I as a second nice/ must have
- VGA/ D-Sub - not key but hey no harm if its there else can use an Adapter
Slave Box:
- I'm primarily a laptop user for 10+ years
- I'd just like a small, compact SLAVE Box to delegate things to, without having to stop work on my laptop
- At times I need for format, image, clone HDDs & hack around, do multi boot experiments etc.
- For that I don't need a big PC
- Just something that has bunch of HDD/ SSD ports to plug into:
- SATA / eSATA?? / USB 3.0/3.1??
Nice To Have:
- m.2 ports - Mainly future proofing; Will add if price diff not huge for Mobo?
Just started reading about them & given SSD prices are falling be nice to have for faster Storage & Bus performance
..
- Mac OSX friendly - Ignore this part if its taboo on this forum.
Bonus:
- Dual GigE NICs - Just in case i want to run a Network Appliance like pFsense/ Sophos on it
- ATV/ Mac Mini/ NUC like Case/ or little larger as well - like a thick/ big book
- But not the Mini-ITX towers/ desktops I see.
Typical use this for:
- XBMC/ Kodi streaming from Synology NAS
- Maybe offload my downloading/ torrents etc to this box
So,
- Usually will contain a single Drive: Old 2.5" HDD/ SSD to start & some RAM
BUT - Main reason for buying - Once in a while hack/ heavy use:
The max I will load it with hardware is when we
PLUG in 2 or 3 new or old 3.5" / NAS Drives - {Wont fit inside obviously - Can lie around}
Typically for overnight burn in tests; dban, badblocks, chkdsk, SMART/ Surface Tests, Seagate/ WD Tests
Sometimes HDD/ Partition Cloning / Ghosting etc.
On a laptop, this is stuff that's slow, hot & time consuming - not easy or done well.
Hence, delegate to a Slave Box.
I hope the PSU can handle 2/3 drives for short term burning:
Open to advise/ recommendations on inside/ outside power supply; 100 - 240 V - May take it for long term global travel.
- DISPLAY:
- No gaming performance required/ not majorly anyways
- Will be using QHD or UHD/ 4K Display - Monitor or TV as I thrive on High Res workspace
.. Hence preferably
- DP 1.new HDMI 1.4/2.0 @60Hz would be key
- Dual Link DVI D / I as a second nice/ must have
- VGA/ D-Sub - not key but hey no harm if its there else can use an Adapter
Slave Box:
- I'm primarily a laptop user for 10+ years
- I'd just like a small, compact SLAVE Box to delegate things to, without having to stop work on my laptop
- At times I need for format, image, clone HDDs & hack around, do multi boot experiments etc.
- For that I don't need a big PC
- Just something that has bunch of HDD/ SSD ports to plug into:
- SATA / eSATA?? / USB 3.0/3.1??
Nice To Have:
- m.2 ports - Mainly future proofing; Will add if price diff not huge for Mobo?
Just started reading about them & given SSD prices are falling be nice to have for faster Storage & Bus performance
..
- Mac OSX friendly - Ignore this part if its taboo on this forum.
Bonus:
- Dual GigE NICs - Just in case i want to run a Network Appliance like pFsense/ Sophos on it
Last edited:
. I figure over the years I can change the MoBos, and invest in a good case - But, this is a lot