Project TinyMiniMicro: Reviving Small Corporate Desktops

[abq]

View attachment 17141
Saw this last night on Taobao.
This could turn barebone gen 4th from Dell/HP/Lenovo into reliable router if you don't need multi-wan load-balacning.

I have seen several interesting M.2 & mini-pcie NIC adapters for these thin client & 'liter PCs', but usually with realtec chip, $50+ ea, or hard to actually purchase. ...Did you get any idea on total pricing for Intel chip version of this adapter? If reasonable, maybe we can arrange a group buy.

 

[Aluminat]

I have seen several interesting M.2 & mini-pcie NIC adapters for these thin client & 'liter PCs', but usually with realtec chip, $50+ ea, or hard to actually purchase. ...Did you get any idea on total pricing for Intel chip version of this adapter? If reasonable, maybe we can arrange a group buy.

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I'm already order two unit back in 16th Jan but due to COVID-19. It's stuck in local.
And they did have Intel NIC i210-AT. 140CNY ~ $25 ish.

 

[memilanuk]

For the units that come with a Win10 Pro license... is there any way to virtualize that?

Not sure if I've got the correct term... I'd like to run Linux - probably Proxmox - rather than Windows 10, for the base OS. But I don't want that Win10 Pro license to go to waste... I'd like to have it available for a guest VM inside Proxmox. Is P2V (physical to virtual) migration still a 'thing'?

 

[coffeedrinker]

For the units that come with a Win10 Pro license... is there any way to virtualize that?

Not sure if I've got the correct term... I'd like to run Linux - probably Proxmox - rather than Windows 10, for the base OS. But I don't want that Win10 Pro license to go to waste... I'd like to have it available for a guest VM inside Proxmox. Is P2V (physical to virtual) migration still a 'thing'?

I did something similar to what you're asking. When I got my HP Elitedesk 800 Mini it had Windows 10 Pro installed. You can find out the embedded Windows Key by following the instructions found on Microsoft's site. That gave me a key that I later used when creating a Windows 10 VM in Proxmox.

Hope that helps!

 

[memilanuk]

Awesome, thanks! Can't wait for my TMM box to get here

 

[2bitmarksman]

Hey there all,

I've got an idea for a TinyMiniMicro clustering project I plan to construct, but I've got a bit of a conundrum. I'm thinking of getting a Lenovo P330/P340 Tiny and want to know if anyone has tried putting other devices into the PCIe slot and seeing what fits/works and what doesn't. For example, has anyone tried putting in an Intel X540-T2 or Mellanox Connectx-3 10G NIC card?

Basically my idea was to setup a 3-node cluster of these using Proxmox and Cephs clustering to create a hyperconverged cluster. Cephs clustering really wants 10g NICs, and with the MikroTik CRS305-1G-4S+IN it could make for a super compact, 3/4-node hyperconverged cluster. Plus with the 1GB uplink on the MikroTik to something like a Netgate SG-1100, you'd basically have a complete, self-contained package that's both very compact and very low power

 

[zer0sum]

Are the Lenovo Tiny systems the only ones with a pcie slot?
I know of the M720q, M920q, M920x, P330, etc. but are there any others I'm missing?

It would be really cool if there was some sort of comparison table

 

[Parallax]

Are the Lenovo Tiny systems the only ones with a pcie slot?
I know of the M720q, M920q, M920x, P330, etc. but are there any others I'm missing?

It would be really cool if there was some sort of comparison table

I think that's all, except the M910Q also supports a PCIe card.

 

[QLawGic]

Has anyone found a good way to put these in a rack? (Other than just stacking them on a shelf.) I have a bunch of Dell OptiPlex 7040's that I've been using in my home lab. I'm at the point of wanting to start racking my equipment instead of everything being on a table. I'm just wondering if anyone has found a good clean looking rach mount solution for these mini and micro systems.

 

[Marsh]

I used this type of letter Organizer Tray from Amazon.
Amazon have thousand of selections.

https://www.amazon.com/KEEGH-Organizer-Drawer-Office-School/dp/B083PZWGM7/ref=sr_1_46?_encoding=UTF8&c=ts&dchild=1&keywords=Letter+Trays+&+Stacking+Supports&qid=1613169736&s=office-products&sr=1-46&ts_id=1069544

 

[memilanuk]

I used this type of letter Organizer Tray

Any chance of a pic of one loaded up with TMM machines?

 

[Marsh]

This pictures is from circa 2016-2017, probably my third version of cluster.
Later I upgraded to mesh letter tray for better cooling.

I am still looking for more current HP mini cluster pictures.

 

[ullbeking]

For a while I was running a T620+ and then a E3C224D2I+E3-1265Lv3, but I've moved on and my searches led me towards certain Intel NUC models or an Asrock deskmini.

I am running a very similar board, the ASRock Rack E3C236D2I, which I was considering for a NAS but now I'd rather have something else that @PigLover has for sale, if it's still available after I've settled in to my new job.

The Deskmini looks great, but have you seen the Jupiter series?! Check this out!! ASRock Jupiter H310

 

[Aluminat]

I currently have problems to install m2 SATA SSD (PM871b specific) on HP 800 G1 Mini.
BIOS doesn't detected SSD even I reset to default and double check that M2 PCIe x4 configuration option is enabled.
Lurking around HP Community and I got this answer but it's G2 mini model.
It's seem like m2 slot on only support NVMe SSD?
Anyone have more info on this?

 

[Marsh]

It's seem like m2 slot on only support NVMe SSD?

You are correct. G1 does not spport m2 sata drives.

 

[ullbeking]

You are correct. G1 does not spport m2 sata drives.

In comparing G1 and G2 are you referring to the original HP Elitedesk 800 series? I didn't realize that M.2 SATA support has been around so long (TBH I don't know when G2 were released).

 

[Aluminat]

You are correct. G1 does not spport m2 sata drives.

Can you shed light on this? What kind of NVMe SSD this model support?
I mean this is weird. Normarly, if it's support NVMe SSD, it should support m2 SATA SSD as well.

 

[Marsh]

I'll let this link explain the difference M.2 Sata vs M.2 Nvme, form factor , protocol , interface etc..
NVMe vs SATA vs M.2 : What's the difference when it comes to SSDs?

For my HP mini G1 G2 G3, I brought the cheapest M.2 NVME SSD on Ebay.
Samsung 256gb NVME PM981 is what I used. ( paid $15 each for 24 Samsung )

I have used Kingston, Sandisk , Intel nvme in HP mini G1, G2 , G3

Nowadays, on Ebay, M2 NVME is easier and cheaper to find than M2 Sata SSD.

 

[newabc]

Dell optilex 7080 micro has a pcie x8 low profile slot and a card lower than 65watts may work. A guy in China got an i5 10500t, 8gb ram and 256gb ssd for around rmb 2800(usd 400-420) on taobao.com.

 

[Aluminat]

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I'm already order two unit back in 16th Jan but due to COVID-19. It's stuck in local.
And they did have Intel NIC i210-AT. 140CNY ~ $25 ish.

NIC finally arrive today. Fully detected in windows 10