That’s fair, but nearly any modern CPU at least 32gb of RAM and a current GPU with 16gb is plenty. No need for a 4k system when a 1k-1.5k will do it.

If you’re willing to Frankenstein things some of the used AI/ML/mining cards can be a decent value.

I disagree Gemma 4 easily runs inside of a 16g GPU and is really pretty fast.

Blocked by my ISP. So I have it all blocked.

So I have both Rackmount Server and Mini PC’s running in my lab, and it really comes down to what do you want/need.

Mini PC PRO:

• small size
• quiet operation
• low power, low heat
• limited remote management option with vPro

Mini PC CON:

• limited storage options
• limited ram
• lower thread/core counts at lower TDP (often 35w)
• limited expansion or no expansion

Rackmount Server PRO:

• offer expansion
• offer redundant power
• lots of RAM
• lots of cores/threads
• lots of PCIe
• lots of networking
• IPMI (remote management)

Rackmount Server CON:

• lots of noise
• lots of heat
• lots of power use
• takes up way more space

https://www.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-ms-a2

I think the little Minisforum MS series offer the perfect balance of mini PC with server like options. They give you 4 built in network ports 2x 10g and 2x 2.5g which is perfect for most applications IMO, they are available in both AMD and Intel flavors. With the one open PCIe slot you can add an external SAS card and then just use a SAS enclosure for disks. I currently have USB HD’s plugged into my mini PCs and its not great, they dont get enough cooling, and I live in fear because they are on cheap wallwart power supplies. It is working and for the most part has been.

My Rack configuration has been stripped down massively and now its just a single 2RU and Dell 1RU that is a low spec storage server only. The 2RU has an AMD 3900x w/ 64gb and 16gb MI25 card so I can tinker with AI, the Dell is just an i3-8gen with 32g and 4x 12tb drives.

The Lenovo’s are both i5-8gen with 32gb, same with the Dell mini PC, the Minisforum is an MS-A1 before they had the MS-A2 with better networking and PCIe. The Lenovo’s do have upgraded networking so I can have 4 network ports per box, 2x 10gb, 1x 2.5, 1x1g.

I generally dont like to because if you have kids, especially boys, it will stain and turn yellow.

I use systemd it’s fine and requires very little extra thought.

Plenty of Russian propaganda too. Every “conservative” community or server is essentially acting in Putin’s favor.

https://www.printables.com/model/413074-m720qm920p-baffle-for-cx312b-pro-connect-x-3-card

The wall mount rack is a used ACP Netshelter. I was able to find it on Craigslist a few years ago. The rackmount face plates are custom 3d printed but unfinished as I abandoned the project due to life.

I may, it was a massive work in progress that I never finished because life decided to beat the crap out of me for the last 3 years. I was trying to build a modular system that was 19" and 10" rack compatible and would have storage options as well. In this case its 2x Seagate external drives, and a WD external drive plugged in via USB3 and setup in a CEPH cluster.

Yes thats the MS-A1 which is a great little box but not as flexible as the MS-01. It lacks the PCIe slot, and only has 2x 2.5g Ethernet ports.

You probably wont find the MS-01 used since its not like the Lenovo’s with their mass market deployment as office PCs.

As for price, https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256810143174659.html? I was looking at the barebones since the prices on DDR5 and NVME’s are nuts right now. I have spare NVME drives so all I would need is RAM and I can find it cheaper than the resellers who mark it up when they install it for you.

I have 2 of them with older 6 core CPUs and 32gb each. I also added a 10g SFP card in the PCIe slot so they would have a bit more umph.

For 380 each I would not bother, and I would look at the Minisforum MS-01 as it has built in dual 10g SFPs and dual 2.5g RJ45’s plus a PCIe slot.

https://minisforumpc.eu/products/ms-01?_pos=1&_psq=MS&_ss=e&_v=1.0

at ~80 euro’s more you get more CPU, faster ram if you can find it, more storage, and more networking.

eh, I used to use slackware, then moved to gentoo, and then to manjaro, arch based but low maint = less tweaking time more game time.

pacman -Syu
chown
chmod

I run teams and Outlook using versions in electron wrappers. For one drive I have to use the web interface to get to the shared storage because our folks don’t know how to set it up and I don’t care enough to figure it out for them.

I have one application that I really need to use that I still can’t get working in Linux but I’m still trying.

Hey, sorry for the delay, I am glad to hear that @curbstickle@anarchist.nexus had Wireless Workbench running on wine because Proprietary software like that will be the biggest hangup.

For Qlab, how are you using it?

As for limitations, the biggest one will be stuff that is “industry standard” but was only ever developed for Mac & windows. Most stuff should run fine under wine or have an OSS/FOSS alternative worth using but specific tools that are by the MFG could be a problem.

https://flathub.org/en/apps/org.linuxshowplayer.LinuxShowPlayer Linux Show Player may be a good option to replace Qlab, but I have not used it personally.

If these systems are going to be deployed and used by other techs its not a bad idea to look at an immutable distro like Bazzite might be a good fit.

https://bazzite.gg/

One aspect of Linux that is different from windows is you get to select your desktop environment, IE window, menu, default applications, ect. The two big ones are KDE (a highly customizable windows like interface) and Gnome ( a more Mac like interface but still customizable). There are dozens of other window managers but I would focus on those two since they will be good starting points.

Ooo rocm support!

O i know that’s the joke.

Don’t you know how to calendar things?

25y pro, 10y with Ross in live events and now with a small integrator.

What programs do you need to run?