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by mbreese 1882 days ago
Why not a 1U Supermicro server? They have options that are short depth or with Atom processors. If you just want a 4 disk 1U server, those would be a good option.

Or is it a question of budget? If that’s the case, what about a used server (like those from UNIXSurplus)?

Or is it a question of power? If that’s the case, then... I don’t quite know in that case.
2 comments
neilv 1882 days ago
For other popular, affordable used short-depth 1U servers that you can get with 4 external 3.5" drive bays, there's the Dell R210 II, R220, and maybe R230.

Without getting into questions of possible security implications/perceptions of where servers are designed and manufactured... I do like the simplicity of some of the Supermicro options. I currently have a short-depth 1U Atom-based one, which runs passively-cooled except for the PSU fan, which I've replaced with a soldered-in practically silent Noctua. I intentionally got a mobo without a crazy BMC with IPMI, but I still don't assume the hardware is very trustworthy. It might still be more trustworthy than a popular consumer board.

(BTW, if you're looking at any quiet/cool-running server that uses an Intel Atom C2xxx or some other Atom models, make sure that either it isn't a lemon one, or it has a mitigation. [1][2]

[1] https://www.servethehome.com/intel-atom-c2000-avr54-bug-stri... [2] https://www.eevblog.com/forum/microcontrollers/intel-atom-c2...

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zmix 1881 days ago
ASRock also has some SFF server boards with IPMI and ECC, if I remember correctly, also with onboard CPU and fanless in some cases.
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neilv 1881 days ago
Thanks, that's good to keep in mind. ECC is great, though I personally don't want IPMI. (The only IPMI implementation I looked at so far appeared likely chock full of vulnerabilities, and it was sharing a NIC. There was a jumper that ostensibly disabled the BMC, but didn't appear to disable it fully.)
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azdle 1882 days ago
I mean power and price are a factor, but I haven't seen a hot-swap drive 1U system that that's not big and noisy. I guess part of the problem is that my rack is right next to my desk (noise) and can only support 24" of depth (I'm real drunk and somehow forgot deeper 1U hot-swap servers exist).
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