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[My Little AntiPowerhouse] - [M350] - [Tiny Mediaserver]

MrSuperb
By MrSuperb
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UdC2oeV.jpg

My Little AntiPowerhouse

a M350 build

This Build actually isn't that new after all. I have had the case and the motherboard for about 5 years now.

It has acted (together with 2x500GB HDDs in RAID-1) as NAS in my parents house, which could be managed through SSH by me (by that time living about 200km away). About 3 years later it has been replaced by a 2TB Apple Time Capsule and since been sitting in my shelf. The 500GB HDDs have been reused in my desktop build.

I always wanted a NAS for myself (mainly to store some movies and TV shows) and planed various HTPC and NAS builds. Though I didn't want to throw my M350 case and the sweet Intel motherboard away, and so I decided to order a 2TB 2.5" HDD and put it in there. 2TB might sound little, but honestly I only watch most TV shows and movies once or max. twice before throwing them away, though it should suffice for now.

I have bought a new 2014 Samsung Smart TV, which luckily has an integrated Plex App. This build will have Ubuntu Server and Plex Media Server installed on and act as data provider for the TV.

Parts:

CASE: M350

PSU: external generic 60 Watt

CPU: Intel Atom N270 - 1.6 GHz Single Core

Ram:Hynix 1GB DDR2 SO-DIMM

Mainboard: Intel D945GSEJT

GPU: Intel GMA 950

SSD: OCZ Rally 2 - 8GB Flash Drive

SSD: SanDisk Ultra 32GB Flash Drive

HDD: 1x Samsung 2TB 2.5" HDD

HDD: 1x Samsung 500GB 2.5" HDD

CPU Cooler: Passive Intel Heatsink

Possible (Near) Future Upgrades:

SSD: 1

The massive M350 case:

P26Gcd1.jpg

Powered by Intel Atom:

evQcWKW.jpg

The beautiful designed Intel D945GSEJT motherboard:

cUTFcBW.jpg

Many connectivity options:

YO6BtzB.jpg

The massive 8GB 'SSD':

apKYpgy.jpg

1GB of ultra-fast 667Mhz DDR2 Ram:

Fn2CIJD.jpg

The mighty powerful Intel Atom N270 and GMA 950:

KXb9L6M.jpg

HDD Mount:

868B2XW.jpg

Mini-Desktop: NCASE M1 Build Log
Mini-Server: M350 Build Log

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2.5" HDDs with 2TB capacity are quite rare. Even rarer are those with 9mm height.

In fact there is exactly one, the Samsung Spinpoint M9T 2TB.

Altough this now can be bought seperatly, it is cheaper to buy the drive installed in an external USB enclosure.

That is what I have ordered a Seagate Backup Plus Portable 2013 2TB:

GcoG506.jpg

which hopefully includes a Samsung M9T:

VAkzX4K.jpg

Mini-Desktop: NCASE M1 Build Log
Mini-Server: M350 Build Log

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For those wondering, the power consumption of this build is extremly low.

Here some data from the SCPR review (LINK):
8QgkU5F.png

 

It only pulls 18 Watt with the GPU and the CPU at full load!

This is perfect for 24/7 operation.

Mini-Desktop: NCASE M1 Build Log
Mini-Server: M350 Build Log

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So the Seagate HDD arrived yesterday and I basicaly finished the build.

 

Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TB:

XIzzsuJ.jpg

 

Quick iPhone (5S) size comparison:

77jurhj.jpg

It is so tiny.

 

Opening the external enclosure was actually quite easy:

IgOjFmb.jpg

 

No screws at all:

q1Fcfmg.jpg

 

That SATA-to-USB3.0 bridge is tiny:

Cz96I90.jpg

 

Same Capacity, different physical size (3.5" WD Green 2TB vs 2.5" Samsung 2TB)

enNG0RR.jpg

 

Two Harddrives installed in the M350 case:

eeqkZgT.jpg

ready for Ubuntu installation

Mini-Desktop: NCASE M1 Build Log
Mini-Server: M350 Build Log

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cool!

My Main Build: NZXT S340 - NZXT Kraken X31 - Crucial MX100 256GB - i5 4460 - Gigabyte Z97P D3 - Kingston HyperX Red 8GB - MSI Nvidia GTX 780 3GB - Corsair LL & HD RGB Fans, Corsair Lighting Node Pro. 

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Plex Media Server is up and running.

260 Movies ready to stream to my Samsung TV :)

The Seagate 2.5" enclosure has been repurposed.

There now is an older Western Digital Scorpio Blue drive with 500GB inside :)

Mini-Desktop: NCASE M1 Build Log
Mini-Server: M350 Build Log

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Nice very low power PC. Were you shocked when you found a Samsung drive in a Seagate enclosure?

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Nice very low power PC. Were you shocked when you found a Samsung drive in a Seagate enclosure?

Haha, you see it is neither really a Samsung nor a Seagate drive ... It's says Spinpoint and Momentus on it ... on could say it is a hybrid ;)

Mini-Desktop: NCASE M1 Build Log
Mini-Server: M350 Build Log

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I didn't know Seagate and Samsung were in any way associated.

I cannot be held responsible for any bad advice given.

I've no idea why the world is afraid of 3D-printed guns when clearly 3D-printed crossbows would be more practical for now.

My rig: The StealthRay. Plans for a newer, better version of its mufflers are already being made.

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I didn't know Seagate and Samsung were in any way associated.

Seagate bought Samsungs HDD division back in 2011

Mini-Desktop: NCASE M1 Build Log
Mini-Server: M350 Build Log

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  • 2 weeks later...
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Haha, you see it is neither really a Samsung nor a Seagate drive ... It's says Spinpoint and Momentus on it ... on could say it is a hybrid ;)

You got me to buy that seagate backup plus for my game library $90 for the blue one :D

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Hello, fellow N270 brother.

Main rig on profile

VAULT - File Server

Spoiler

Intel Core i5 11400 w/ Shadow Rock LP, 2x16GB SP GAMING 3200MHz CL16, ASUS PRIME Z590-A, 2x LSI 9211-8i, Fractal Define 7, 256GB Team MP33, 3x 6TB WD Red Pro (general storage), 3x 1TB Seagate Barracuda (dumping ground), 3x 8TB WD White-Label (Plex) (all 3 arrays in their respective Windows Parity storage spaces), Corsair RM750x, Windows 11 Education

Sleeper HP Pavilion A6137C

Spoiler

Intel Core i7 6700K @ 4.4GHz, 4x8GB G.SKILL Ares 1800MHz CL10, ASUS Z170M-E D3, 128GB Team MP33, 1TB Seagate Barracuda, 320GB Samsung Spinpoint (for video capture), MSI GTX 970 100ME, EVGA 650G1, Windows 10 Pro

Mac Mini (Late 2020)

Spoiler

Apple M1, 8GB RAM, 256GB, macOS Sonoma

Consoles: Softmodded 1.4 Xbox w/ 500GB HDD, Xbox 360 Elite 120GB Falcon, XB1X w/2TB MX500, Xbox Series X, PS1 1001, PS2 Slim 70000 w/ FreeMcBoot, PS4 Pro 7015B 1TB (retired), PS5 Digital, Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo Wii RVL-001 (black)

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I am really happy with the performance. I get about 70-80 MByte/s of read/write speed over GBit Ethernet.

 

Also direct playback of 3D 1080p (i.e. 2x1080p) with my Samsung TV in Plex works flawlessly.

Mini-Desktop: NCASE M1 Build Log
Mini-Server: M350 Build Log

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Plex Media Server is up and running.

260 Movies ready to stream to my Samsung TV :)

The Seagate 2.5" enclosure has been repurposed.

There now is an older Western Digital Scorpio Blue drive with 500GB inside :)

 

I'm planning on doing something similar. Were those DVD's you ripped? I'm trying to figure out how many movies I could fit on 6TB (2x 3TB) drives for Bluray rips with no compression. Cool build man!

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I'm planning on doing something similar. Were those DVD's you ripped? I'm trying to figure out how many movies I could fit on 6TB (2x 3TB) drives for Bluray rips with no compression. Cool build man!

 

Well those are compressed DVD and BR Rips, but I won't disclose the source of them  (... of course I own all the DVDs/BRs ;))

 

An uncompressed BR has about 20-50GB of data (?)

That would mean about 120-300 movies on a 6TB drive.

Mini-Desktop: NCASE M1 Build Log
Mini-Server: M350 Build Log

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You could have bought barebone PC's.

 

I have had most of the hardware for over 5 years now ?!

Also how many barebone PCs are as low powered as this and have space for 2x2.5" drives?

_____________

 

If I would have to buy a low-power motherboard for a build like this today, I probably would get this one form ASRock:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Q1900DC-ITX/

 

Q1900DC-ITX%28L3%29.jpg

Mini-Desktop: NCASE M1 Build Log
Mini-Server: M350 Build Log

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I have had most of the hardware for over 5 years now ?!

Also how many barebone PCs are as low powered as this and have space for 2x2.5" drives?

_____________

If I would have to buy a low-power motherboard for a build like this today, I probably would get this one form ASRock:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Q1900DC-ITX/

Q1900DC-ITX%28L3%29.jpg

There might be.I have seen gigabytes barebone pc.With atleast better processor than atom and also features kind of good gpus and storage space.Some of them are very small that they fit in your palm I guess.
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There might be.I have seen gigabytes barebone pc.With atleast better processor than atom and also features kind of good gpus and storage space.Some of them are very small that they fit in your palm I guess.

 

Again, this is 5 years old. Also most chipsets alone draw more power at idle than the whole server under full load!

 

This Atom system running 24/7 costs about 30€ a year in electricty.

A haswell i3 system running 24/7 with the same load (mostly ideling) would cost about 90€ a year in electricity.

Mini-Desktop: NCASE M1 Build Log
Mini-Server: M350 Build Log

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Again, this is 5 years old. Also most chipsets alone draw more power at idle than the whole server under full load!

This Atom system running 24/7 costs about 30€ a year in electricty.

A haswell i3 system running 24/7 with the same load (mostly ideling) would cost about 90€ a year in electricity.

I was just suggesting.Btw you have made a good build.
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Again, this is 5 years old. Also most chipsets alone draw more power at idle than the whole server under full load!

 

This Atom system running 24/7 costs about 30€ a year in electricty.

A haswell i3 system running 24/7 with the same load (mostly ideling) would cost about 90€ a year in electricity.

 

I would have totally gone with an Atom as well but my problem is I need Plex to transcode and burn in subs so an atom wouldn't do. Now I'll have to go with a power hungry Xeon. :o I liked this build my man.

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I would have totally gone with an Atom as well but my problem is I need Plex to transcode and burn in subs so an atom wouldn't do. Now I'll have to go with a power hungry Xeon. :o I liked this build my man.

 

Well more modern Atoms should be fine for transcoding as well.

 

If I would throw in a Broadcom Crystal HD miniPCIe card (or something similar) for about 20-30$, than this build should handle transcoding of most files as well. edit: though it seems like Plex Media Server doesn't currently support hardware transcoding

Mini-Desktop: NCASE M1 Build Log
Mini-Server: M350 Build Log

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Well more modern Atoms should be fine for transcoding as well.

If I would throw in a Broadcom Crystal HD miniPCIe card (or something similar) for about 20-30$, than this build should handle transcoding of most files as well. edit: though it seems like Plex Media Server doesn't currently support hardware transcoding

I don't think even the Haswell Atoms could handle 3 simanltaneous 1080P transcodes at the same time. It would be nice if it supported hardware transcoding though, I agree.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Nice build man.

  ﷲ   Muslim Member  ﷲ

KennyS and ScreaM are my role models in CSGO.

CPU: i3-4130 Motherboard: Gigabyte H81M-S2PH RAM: 8GB Kingston hyperx fury HDD: WD caviar black 1TB GPU: MSI 750TI twin frozr II Case: Aerocool Xpredator X3 PSU: Corsair RM650

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  • 4 months later...
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So it seems like the file system got corrupted (I suspect the 'SSD' died).
Can't SSH in anymore. Can't really check what is wrong though, as I have no monitor with VGA input anymore, nor to I have a DVI to HDMI cable on hand. :(

Ordered a new hdmi-dvi cable and a new 'SSD'.

50720_1397739131_g.jpg

Mini-Desktop: NCASE M1 Build Log
Mini-Server: M350 Build Log

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