ONE SERVER to rule them all. That's our dream-a single, centralized PC designed for always-on action, but which won't run up huge electricity bills. It needs to be able to run multiple services simultaneously, from media streaming to cloud sync and backup. It needs to be configured as headless machine, accessible from other devices on your network, and handle more than one connection, so friends and family can benefit from your NAS server.
For the past few years, we've been living the dream with the subject of our September 2022 build. It's as capable now as it was then, but we set ourselves the task of improving it in every way: a more powerful mobo that consumes even fewer watts? Check. Plenty of drive bays to allow us to easily expand storage? Check. Take up as little room as possible? Check. How about capping the price at $600 for the base unit? No problem.
The result? A pint-sized powerhouse that's not tied to proprietary technologies or operating systems, and one that will comfortably outlast even the best that Synology or QNAP has to offer the home market right now. Don't believe us? Turn the page to find out just how to spec, build, and set up your perfect NAS-like server.
OUR PREVIOUS NAS build was centered around Intel's Gemini Lake Refresh range of Pentium Silver processors. ASRock produced a series of miniITX mobos with embedded J-series processors passively cooled by heatsink for silent operation, but quad core and capable of handling all your server needs. But while Intel has updated its low-powered chips over successive generations, these have been restricted firmly to the tiny PC market. It's only with the launch of its Alder Lake-N line in 2023 that new mini-ITX mobos, sporting the latest N100 processor, have made an appearance.
Denne historien er fra April 2024-utgaven av Maximum PC.
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Denne historien er fra April 2024-utgaven av Maximum PC.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
NZXT C1500 Platinum
Top-tier performance and efficiency
Nvidia DLSS vs AMD FSR
Which AI upscaling technique has the edge?
World of Goo 2
Goo-d enough for two
BenQ X300G 4K Short Throw Projector
Priced high, yet punchy
Hyte Thicc Q60
Almost more mobile phone than CPU cooler
Remove stalkerware from your PC
ACCORDING TO KASPERSKY’S LATEST ‘State of Stalkerware’ report, over 40 percent of those surveyed worldwide said they’d experienced stalking or suspected that they were being stalked.
BUILD AN IT SUPPORT HUB
Discover how to use RustDesk to provide remote assistance and control your own devices remotely with Nick Peers
AMD's turn to drop the ball?
WITH INTEL'S RAPTOR LAKE CPUs falling over, the company firing around 15,000 employees, and cancelling its 2024 innovation event, AMD must have been enjoying the view - until its new Ryzen 9000 desktop CPUs rolled out. So, is AMD's CPU a minor stumble or game-changing fumble?
Intel issues fix for Raptor Lake degradation
EARLIER THIS YEAR, I wrote about difficulties I was having with a Core 19-13900K processor (see MPC230 Tech Talk). Little did we realize that we were only seeing the tip of the iceberg. While most complaints have involved the unlocked Core i9 Raptor Lake CPUs, it appears the instability problems build up and potentially impact many Raptor Lake-13th and 14th Gen Core CPUs, with Intel identifying 22 different desktop parts.
AMD Ryzen 7 9700X
The new Zen 5 CPUs are here—time to benchmark!
