That's an interesting way to think about power consumption -- power per "job", essentially, rather than just power over time. I think that if I was creating a media server that would do live transcoding, then something like a Core i3 would definitely be the better choice. In my case, though, I just want a static server and so pretty much none of the tasks will take appreciable amount of computing. This means that the idle and low-peak levels matter a lot more. On that note, I'm not sure how much I believe some of their power consumption results. They have an Atom 230 based system idling at 33 watts. I've seen *multiple* results of an Atom N270 based system idling at 10 watts (SSD) to 14 watts (2.5" drive). Now the 230 is a slightly different class of Atom and also has a more power hungry chipset... but TWICE the power? I'm dubious. That does make me want to track down some more power consumption figures for the Athlon, though. On 10/5/10 2:29 PM, Stephen wrote: > This is something to consider also the Athlon 2000+ beat the atom > overall in power consumption, and the i3 did amazingly well in power > efficiency > > http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/Atom-Athlon-Efficient,1997-5.html > http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/d510mo-intel-atom,2616.html > > On Tue, Oct 5, 2010 at 9:55 AM, Kurt Granroth > wrote: >> Thanks for the pointers. Those definitely look more "industrial" than >> I'd prefer. If I did roll my own, I'd certainly want to use commodity >> boards. "Call for pricing" translates in my mind to "if you have to >> ask, you can't afford it" :-) >> >> The more I researched this, the more I realized that there are an >> embarrassment of choices! The last I looked (5 or 6 years ago), it was >> relatively difficult to construct a silent and low power system with >> massive compromises. Not so anymore. >> >> Now the question is at what level to settle on. There's the SheevaPlug >> (and similar) that use up about 10 watts but need more storage and can't >> really handle any notable processing. Moving up a notch, you can get a >> N270 Atom mini-itx system that also hovers between 10-15 watts but is a >> bit faster and will typically have a much larger (up to 1 TB) hard >> drive. Then you can move up to an NVIDIA ION system with a dual-core >> Atom and now we're maybe in the 30 watt range but this can handle HD >> output, if necessary. >> >> Decisions, decisions. That's why I was kind of hoping that some local >> folks would have used some of these systems and could comment on how >> well they work for them. >> >> On 10/04/2010 01:42 PM, Kevin Fries wrote: >>> We used to use these great mobos from a company called CongaTec >>> >>> http://www.congatec.us/qa6.html >>> http://www.congatec.us/qcarrier.html >>> >>> This 95x140 motherboard and QSeven module can handle 2 Data drives. >>> >>> I know you said you would prefer not to roll your own, but if you do, >>> this is an awesome setup. >>> >>> Kevin >>> >>>> On Oct 4, 2010 2:27 PM, "Kurt Granroth" >>>> >>> > wrote: >>>> >>>> I'm looking for a NAS that looks roughly like so: >>>> >>>> o Very low power usage (~10 watts or less, ideally) >>>> o Can run squid or similar proxy >>>> o Can serve up files like you'd expect as NAS to do >>>> o Can stream media >>>> o Can run Linux or, at least, is customizable >>>> >>>> Anybody using anything like this already? >>>> >>>> I'm not opposed to rolling my own with mini-itx or the like but I'd >>>> prefer not to. I do wonder if the proxy requirement is more of a >>>> deal-breaker since most NAS units try to stay strictly in the storage >>>> realm. >>>> >>>> One thought is adapting a Pogoplug or Seagate Dockstar or the like. I'm >>>> not yet sure if that'll do all I want, though. >>>> >>>> Any thoughts? >>>> Kurt >>>> --------------------------------------------------- >>>> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us >>>> >>>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >>>> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >>> >>> >>> >>> --------------------------------------------------- >>> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us >>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >>> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >> --------------------------------------------------- >> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us >> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >> > > > --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss