Comment - FBXL Lotide

Comment on Recommended mini pc for a homelab?

Optiplex etc. with an Intel 8th gen “T” chips seem to offer the best bang for the buck + energy efficiency on the second hand market right now.

The main issue with these thin clients is the lack of SATA ports and power connections for them if you want to add some larger 2.5” SSD/HDD storage. Usually it is only one, but you can also use the DVD drive slot with an adapter in the mid sized versions.

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Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
I have an Optiplex that at one point I had 4 2.5" drives in, had to use some duct tape and glue, but it worked fine.

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Colloidal@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
The mid size versions have 3 drive bays (2x 3.5", one 2.5") plus an optical bay, but only 3 SATA connectors (which was really odd to me). You can find dual SATA adaptors for the “WiFi” M.2 slot if you want to use an adaptor for a 2.5" drive on the optical bay. But if you want more than 4 drives, you’ll need to get creative mounting them.

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- poVoq@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  You mean “mid” as in midi-tower? Because that sounds like the large version. Well maybe there is an even larger workstation version or so, but the normal medium sized Optiplex comes with one 3.5" SATA bay and one DVD drive.
  
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TheFrogThatFlies@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Still didn’t test mine, but I’m planning on using this for two extra (dying) disks for my Jellyfin files in my server: aliexpress.com/item/1005009770143040.html

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- poVoq@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  How will you power the drives?
  
  And from what I have heard, these m2 to SATA adapters have over-heating issues.
  
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  - TheFrogThatFlies@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    Like I said, still didn’t test mine, so can’t even confirm if it works at all, much less if it overheats :/
    
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  - mereo@piefed.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    You can power the drives using a standard PC power supply and power them using a switch like this one: https://ebay.io/m/jRSozI
    
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    poVoq@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    Sure, but the point of getting a mini-pc is usually not that you have an open case with a second ATX PSU sitting on top to power some extra hardrives.
    
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