[GLLUG] Small Form Factor PC

[Andy Smith]

Hello,

On Mon, Aug 04, 2014 at 08:34:52AM +0100, michael norman wrote:
> On 04/08/14 06:20, Paul Hewlett wrote:
> >I also have a shuttle PC but would not recommend it as the wired
> >Ethernet drivers for Linux are problematic.
> 
> Don't understand this, I have a shuttle pc running Linux Mint 17 and
> openSUSE 12.3.  I have never had any problem with etherenet.  It has
> always "just worked"  What do you mean by "wired Ethernet Drivers of
> Linux" ?

Indeed; I've used two different models of Shuttle PC as desktops for
the last 6 years and just bought another one as an upgrade. Never
had a problem with the wired Ethernet. I mean, it's not awesome
Ethernet hardware—it's just Realtek tat—but it works at typical
gigabit speeds in every version of Debian and Ubuntu I've tried.

The upgrade I just went to has onboard Intel graphics that are
faster than the old Nvidia card I had in the previous one, and with
SSDs I can't actually tell if it's running or not over the other
humming in my office.

The newer models also have miniPCI port on the motherboard and a
cutout on the rear case designed for wifi card/antenna if you need
to put it somewhere you can't get network cabling to.

I'm so impressed with how quiet it is that I'm also considering one
for media purposes in the lounge, so yes I would recommend it.

A lot of people recommend the NUC also, so they're obviously doing
something right, but I have no personal experience of that yet.

If you can I'd try to keep storage away from the place you're
playing the media as mass storage inevitably means multiple spinning
spindles and that means noise (the actual noise I can hear in this
office now is from 10 SATA disks).

At home I've found the HP Microservers great for this, if you can
get one with the cashback deal.

Cheers,
Andy

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