Introducing Project TinyMiniMicro Home Lab Revolution

[Patrick Kennedy]

STH Project TinyMiniMicro is set to revolutionize the home lab segment with clusters of high-quality, quiet, low power, and inexpensive nodes

The post Introducing Project TinyMiniMicro Home Lab Revolution appeared first on ServeTheHome.

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[Geran]

Would you recommend any of these for small pfSense routers?

 

[Patrick]

@Geran probably not these boxes if you are just doing pfSense. I really prefer having i210/ i350 NICs and multiple NICs versus doing VLANs on a single NIC.

 

[Deslok]

@Patrick I saw a few m.2 gigabit network adapters when someone asked something similar on the main post, have you, or has anyone you know tried such a thing to add a second nic? https://www.transition.com/lines/network-adapters/databus/m2/ These in particular seem focused on the optiplex tiny models although I bet they'd fit any unit with that com/vga punchout on the back.

 

[Patrick]

Not yet.

 

[BlueFox]

@Patrick I saw a few m.2 gigabit network adapters when someone asked something similar on the main post, have you, or has anyone you know tried such a thing to add a second nic? https://www.transition.com/lines/network-adapters/databus/m2/ These in particular seem focused on the optiplex tiny models although I bet they'd fit any unit with that com/vga punchout on the back.

Those are $200+. You're really better off getting something else if you need another NIC.

 

[Deslok]

Those are $200+. You're really better off getting something else if you need another NIC.

There are cheaper ones in the ~20 dollar range www.amazon.com/Crest-Interface-Gigabit-Ethernet-Modules/dp/B07DTK7ZZJ/ however the first ones I linked are designed to fit in some of these mini pc's limiting fabrication requirements. There's also usb adapters between 20 and 50 usd depending if you want gigabit or 2.5gig but I wouldn't suggest a usb adapter for anything performance based.

 

[dmarshman]

Do you have a summary/list of the number of machines and services you plan to setup?

I ask because I think it would be an interesting price/power usage/size comparison between these individual, "tiny" machines all networked together, and one [or two/three] "mega" servers [say running EPYC] running ESXi/Proxmox/Unraid with multiple VMs, with VFIO/GPU passthrough as needed, etc... Once power consumption and network infrastructure is figured in, I wonder how it comes compares.

My setup is purely for home/hobby purposes, and I currently have a mix of both... multiple Intel NUCs and Mac minis, each dedicated to one or two services, and a few more powerful machines [running as FreeNAS servers] but currently over-specced for what they do... [that I could add hypervisors / multiple VMs on].
[And I have multiple client machines in the house - workstation and gaming PC/Macs, laptops, AppleTVs]

e.g. subset of "servers" currently in use:
Ryzen 2700 - 8 HDDs - FreenNAS [main file server] & Plex Jail
Athlon 200GE - 4 HDDs - FreenNAS [TimeMachine/Windows client backup and backup of main FreeNAS server]
NUC7 J5005 - Ubuntu - Roon Audio server and pi-hole [docker]
Core Duo Mac mini - Mac OS X - network Print Server

 

[Evan]

On one hand I love the idea of a home ceph cluster using low power systems, but then you look at say x10sdv-4c boards(new) for $350 and if it wasn’t for the power consumption has everything needed.
chic-fil-a does in store k8’s cluster with ceph, something like that would be cool.

 

[PigLover]

chic-fil-a does in store k8’s cluster with ceph, something like that would be cool.

Chic-fil-a does ceph? I know they’ve discussed their in store K8s cluster but I haven’t seen anything about running ceph on it. Do you have a link?

 

[amalurk]

Does the M720q have 2 x m.2 slots or just one? The connector on the other slot looks like it is missing from pic in the review https://www.servethehome.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Lenovo-ThinkCentre-M720q-Tiny-Bottom.jpg

 

[Geran]

There is only one m.2 slot.

 

[Evan]

Chic-fil-a does ceph? I know they’ve discussed their in store K8s cluster but I haven’t seen anything about running ceph on it. Do you have a link?

opps Your right, must has mixed that up, don’t see it. I thought I had read they did ceph in a VM but I guess not.

 

[Geran]

@Patrick Do any of your test units have PCI-e expandability?

 

[Patrick]

@Patrick Do any of your test units have PCI-e expandability?

Not traditional PCIe expansion, but some do have a PCIe slot. If you really want PCIe, it is probably better looking at another form factor such as the non- Tiny/Mini/Micro SFFs.

 

[Geran]

Not traditional PCIe expansion, but some do have a PCIe slot. If you really want PCIe, it is probably better looking at another form factor such as the non- Tiny/Mini/Micro SFFs.

Understood...just trying to think of ways to downsize my homelab footprint and just need to replace one last thing since my M720q is replacing the pfSense build I had planned (not using the integrated NIC as I am getting an i340 to use instead).

 

[hk92doom]

Understood...just trying to think of ways to downsize my homelab footprint and just need to replace one last thing since my M720q is replacing the pfSense build I had planned (not using the integrated NIC as I am getting an i340 to use instead).

There are also other small-sized products with PCIe that are often used for PFSense

HP T620 Plus- AMD GX-420CA
HP T730 - AMD RX-427BB
Dell Wyse 5070 Extended - Intel J5005
HP T740 - AMD Ryzen V1756B

 

[Geran]

There are also other small-sized products with PCIe that are often used for PFSense

HP T620 Plus- AMD GX-420CA
HP T730 - AMD RX-427BB
Dell Wyse 5070 Extended - Intel J5005
HP T740 - AMD Ryzen V1756B

Yes, I know there are other small-sized products for that. I got my M720q for a steal (under $100 shipped) so I'm trying to use that since I already have it.

If I was able to find one of the boxes you listed for around the same price, I would definitely purchase it and use that instead and use the M720q for something else.

 

[Patrick]

I think I may have a way to add a second 1GbE to TMM nodes inexpensively, but it will be Realtek based.

@Geran if you sell the M720q to get one of the thin clients let me know. I can also look and see if we have one of the above thin clients in storage to sweeten the deal. I do not have a M720q yet.

 

[Marsh]

With HP G2 mini ,
I tested with USB 3.0 and USB-C network , it worked ok but did not do any performance testing.