Lenovo M90n-IoT $200

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Patrick

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DavidRa

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According to the spec sheet I found:

Network Onboard
Ethernet
• Gigabit Ethernet, Intel Ethernet Connection I219-V, 1x RJ45, supports Wake-on-LAN
• Gigabit Ethernet, Intel Ethernet Connection I219-LM, 1x RJ45, supports Wake-on-LAN

Two M.2 plus WiFi, too... but the 4GB RAM is a bit limiting.
 
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WANg

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If you wanted a low-cost node, not as good as many of the TMM nodes, but this is a passively cooled unit with 2x NICs, 4GB, low-power Core i3, Win 10 home, and a 128GB SSD:

$200 here Lenovo ThinkCentre M90n IoT Desktop, i3-8145U, UHD graphics, 4GB, 128GB SSD | eBay

Not too bad really for this class of device. Thanks to @WillTaillac for sending this to me.
2 words - “soldered RAM”. Check the HMM if you want confirmation.

I swear, did Lenovo launch a jihad against SODIMM makers or something? Everything else besides the CPU and the NIC on that machine can be replaced - the M.2 and the WiFi - just not the RAM. You figure that even one DDR4 SODIMM slot would make this a more compelling machine to purchase for the long run...
 

gizzard

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According to the spec sheet I found:

Network Onboard
Ethernet
• Gigabit Ethernet, Intel Ethernet Connection I219-V, 1x RJ45, supports Wake-on-LAN
• Gigabit Ethernet, Intel Ethernet Connection I219-LM, 1x RJ45, supports Wake-on-LAN

Two M.2 plus WiFi, too... but the 4GB RAM is a bit limiting.
The ebay link lists 11AHS0B200 as the MPN, which is a M90n-1 Nano IoT and not an M90n-1 Nano. The IoT version does not appear to have two Intel NICs, whereas the non-IoT version does as the spec sheet above shows. Here is the M90n-1 Nano IoT psref:

Onboard Ethernet
  • Two gigabit Ethernet, Intel Ethernet Connection I219-LM and Realtek RTL8111H, 2x RJ45, supports Wake-on-LAN
  • One gigabit Ethernet, Realtek RTL8111K, 1x RJ-45, Wake on LAN®
  • Two gigabit Ethernet, Realtek RTL8111K and RTL8111H, 2x RJ-45, Wake on LAN
I cannot find 11AHS0B200 at psref.lenovo.com, which is strange. However, all 11AH models with the 8145U processor and 9560 wlan chip come with option #3 (one RTL8111K and one RTL8111H). In order to get option #1, it looks like the IoT version must be configured with the 8365U processor and 8 gb RAM... which I can't configure on Lenovo.com right now.
 

Flazabancy

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This looks like an excellent pfsense/opnsense box at an excellent price. Thank you for the link! With the i3 cpu, I'm expecting it to route openvpn at over 600-700mbit on my gig line (that's as fast as I'm getting with an i3-6300t)... that is if this unit has intel nics. At $200, it beats the pants off this alibaba celeron unit that I just picked up at $175 which also uses realtek.

Keep in mind the 4gb soldered is limiting for use cases beyond iot/firewall.

But, maybe the perfect pfsense box if you only need 2 nics?
 

Flazabancy

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2 words - “soldered RAM”. Check the HMM if you want confirmation.

I swear, did Lenovo launch a jihad against SODIMM makers or something? Everything else besides the CPU and the NIC on that machine can be replaced - the M.2 and the WiFi - just not the RAM. You figure that even one DDR4 SODIMM slot would make this a more compelling machine to purchase for the long run...
Totally agree. I think the soldered ram thing is why they are clearing out at $200 now. They'd be more useful and more valuable by a long shot with 1 so-dimm slot; but they have soldered and now pretty dang cheap for us to play with. :)
 

ramblinreck47

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This looks like an excellent pfsense/opnsense box at an excellent price. Thank you for the link! With the i3 cpu, I'm expecting it to route openvpn at over 600-700mbit on my gig line (that's as fast as I'm getting with an i3-6300t)... that is if this unit has intel nics. At $200, it beats the pants off this alibaba celeron unit that I just picked up at $175 which also uses realtek.

Keep in mind the 4gb soldered is limiting for use cases beyond iot/firewall.

But, maybe the perfect pfsense box if you only need 2 nics?
From what @gizzard posted, it looks like they’re both Realtek which is disappointing. I know you could technically use them for pfsense but Intel is more ideal.
 

WANg

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Totally agree. I think the soldered ram thing is why they are clearing out at $200 now. They'd be more useful and more valuable by a long shot with 1 so-dimm slot; but they have soldered and now pretty dang cheap for us to play with. :)
Yeah, but by the same token, if all you need is 2 NICs and around the same level of firepower, you can just pick up a used HP t640 thin client (which has a Ryzen embedded R1505 with dual SODIMM slots, an M.2 and a Realtek 8111C) for ~160 USD or so. Add a gigabit fiber NIC (AT29M2-SC001) for an extra 15 bucks on eBay and you'll have something just as performant on pfsense, slightly cheaper and a little more future-proof.
 
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BlueFox

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I don't think there are only 2 left. Lenovo is limiting it to 2 units per customer (same as the US listing).
 
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PigLover

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Would be very nice if it had socketed memory - or at least 8gb installed. But as is there are dozens of tasks it is well suited to and the $200 price point is attractive. For example, 4gb is plenty for pfSense (for 90+% of users anyway). Or it could run Home Assistant with much more umph than on an rpi.

It appears that it might be able to take power from the USB-C. I suspect that because they make an "IOBOX" with two more ethernet, a serial port and a few GPIO ports. The IOBOX connects via the USB-C and can be used to power the m90n - so it must be able to take power via USB-C.
 

dreamsin

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It might have something to do with the intended application.
I would guess soldered ram could be interpreted as a more reliable solution.
 

WANg

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