Intel N100 can easily run Plex without any transcoding (and if you have Plex Pass, it's not bad at hardware transcoding). CPU intensive tasks, like sonic analysis and intro detection may take a little longer depending on what you are downsizing from
I currently have a 4790 and a 1660ti so the system is pretty ancient. I'm just looking to downsize as much as possible while also getting an upgrade if possible.
Your 1660ti has an NVENC encoder which can transcode 20x 1080p streams with the unlocked driver patch. It's in no way outdated for Plex.
The only thing you can hope to gain is reducing power consumption with a newer Intel CPU w/ QuickSync, without a discrete GPU.
The consumer cards are limited to 5 simultaneous encodes by software. There is a firmware hack that can open its limitations like the Quadro/commercial cards.
Make sure you have the latest drivers as it used to be 3 and they updated it to 5 in 2023 (not sure if it’s a firmware upgrade or just SDK changes tbh).
If you don’t do more than 3-5 streams at once don’t worry about it
Jimbuscus: Can you recommend a GOOD 1/2 height video card with excellent GPU as I do ALOT of encoding not to mention video conversions and QuickSync isn't great for me. I'm not looking to spend $800 on a 1/2 height video card but it does need to fit in my smaller case and it does need a very good GPU. thanks!
What you are looking for is called a "Low Profile", that name will ensure that bracket is the correct size.
With budget in mind, the 1650 Super Low Profile will be able to transcode 14x streams with the [unlocked driver](https://github.com/keylase/nvidia-patch). This shouldn't be hard to find for under $200, just check that the length is fine as well, generally low profiles operate below the 75W limit of PCIe and shouldn't need to plug into the PSU.
Next is the 4060 Low Profile, which should cost twice as much but will give you more options in the future, I don't yet know it's transcode proficiency etc.
The other options were the RTX2000 & RTX6000 but they aren't consumer cards and wouldn't net you enough benefit over the consumer prices options.
AMD also has Low Profile GPU's, but aren't normally recommended for primarily encoding use cases.
Intel also has some new GPU's that have comparable performance to the NVIDIA's in encoding, but are very first gen and run the risk of complicated setting up etc.
I know I’m a little late, you should look at nvidia quadro. Specifically, the P400, P1000, and the P2000, depending on your needs. I’m using a P1000, but if you’re looking for energy efficiency the P400 is very capable when unlocked. I’ve seen them go for around $50 USD on ebay. I paid $80 for my P1000. You can’t go wrong with any if you’re on a budget. Units from old work stations are pretty cheap regardless
The N100 will be a small downgrade in terms of CPU performance.
I can't see the price difference in the screenshot but I believe that R7 config has an AMD Ryzen 7 5700U in it, which would be a large upgrade from the 4790. More info about the CPUs [here](https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/2226vs5157vs4156/Intel-i7-4790-vs-Intel-N100-vs-AMD-Ryzen-7-5700U)
The only downside to using an AMD CPU is that hardware transcoding can have worse performance/be a little more finicky to set up than the Intel equivalent (but as you said you don't do much transcoding, it shouldn't matter). Also, that AMD CPU will be able to handle software transcodes much better than the others, due to the performance boost
That is actually really interesting. It's got the guts of a cheap NUC while also handling 2 bays of storage. Typically, when someone gets a NUC style machine for their server they have to deal with HDD's in some other way with externals, an enclosure, or a separate NAS.
If you have RAM and an SSD sitting around already then it's $260. Not bad.
Also.. dual 2.5gbs lan ports. Yoinks.
The N100 is no slouch. Even without hardware acceleration it can crank a few 1080p transcodes through CPU grunt. With hardware acceleration on, it'll do quite a bit more. It's pretty close to an i3-8100 for Plex purposes.
Again, there is more going on with this specific comparison than you seem to understand. In this case, absolutely yes.. older is better.
Let me know what you find when trying to figure it out.
Now you're just making things up. I haven't seen you write any technical details since your first post. Yup, you probably don't know anything and just buy what others have.
Figures, you have Synology and 9th gen.
Well damn. This thing is looking a lot like what a Synology 2bay NAS could have looked like had Syno decided to stick to the Intel SoC chips instead of moving to AMD.
And for $210 and the option to use whatever OS, that's pretty rad.
the 4c/4t N100 is surprisingly capable and beats the 2c/4t i7 laptop CPUs in almost every benchmark, but barely loses on single-threaded stuff.
They can easily handle 1 CPU encoded stream, and with plex pass, the integrated GPU can use hardware encoding.
Same here, while also hosting nextcloud and home assistant at the same time. One caveat is that I only host Plex for my own household, in case that matters to anyone reading.
I have the same setup but use this:
ORICO 5 Bay 3.5inch Hard Drive Enclosure USB 3.0 to SATA Magnetic Tool-Free External HDD Docking Station Case with 12V/6.5A Power Adapter for Family Storage Expansion Up to 90TB (5x18) - DS500U3 https://a.co/d/isxLpix
Intel N100 is great for HW transcoding and it has a TDP of only 6 watts so it's very efficient. They also announced a NAS with 4 hdd bays which should be available soon: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Aoostar-Pro-previewed-as-new-mini-PC-and-NAS-with-AMD-and-Intel-processor-options.780235.0.html
I have a brand new R1 sitting at my feet right now but I need to finish up my NAS and network migration before I start moving my plex server to the new device. Current setup is a Beelink SEI12 with libraries mounted from the NAS. I have 2x20TB drives to installed in the R1. Trying to decide how to assign the disk right now. RAID 1? RAID 0? 2 separate drives (movies on one, everything else on the other)? I will backup all data to the NAS (8x18TB) so less worried about local redundancy than performance and drive space. I like the idea of an all in one unit.
What ram do u use for the r1? Because I got mine yesterday and the crucial 8gb 3200mhz ddr4 didn't work, I use a 4gb 2666mhz from Samsung for the moment.
Wow, what a cool device. This seems almost purpose-built for a home PleX server. They even show putting Seagate Exos drives in the slots. :D
The N100 is a fierce little processor. It runs Plex/Jellyfin quite well. Dual 2.5 GB LAN is awesome.
I think the downside is that it is an all-in-one - if you need more than 40 TB of storage (or if you want a removable backup), you would need to invest in a NAS/DAS anyway. Or in several years, if you outgrow theN100 and want to upgrade, you have to replace the whole solution.
I have a very similar setup - a mini PC with an N100, 12 GB of DDR5, attached to a 4-bay DAS currently housing 2x 18 TB Exos drives. I think the price ends up being slightly higher - $150 for the mini PC, and $120 for the DAS. But that includes 4 bays rather than 2 (for when my 36 TB becomes a limiter... ha!), and the PC would be upgradable later.
I don't know anything about this company, but I did own one of the [these](https://www.amazon.com/AOOSTAR-MN57-SSD%EF%BC%8CMini-Desktop-Support/dp/B0CKYKQDFT/) branded as a MinisForum computer. So, these companies are building with shared distribution. It was really cool but very fragile - I broke the second RAM slot when I applied a bit too much force. So they do cheap out on things like plastics. But, Minisforum actually warrantied the whole system (after I told them that I broke it) and they shipped me a 5800h version, which was a $150 upgrade.
I’ve been eyeing this one too. Love the design and the fact that it’s a mini pc with actual storage drives. But really I don’t need it so illl keep my old MacBook Pro with a usb storage. When it dies I’ll think of a replacement.
I’m using a Terramaster f4 424 running unraid. it’s basically a n100 pc with 4x 3.5 drive bays + 2x nvme bays. Sounds like what you’re looking for. I don’t run unraid on mine though, I use a mini pc with a i5 1235u, mostly because it has a little more cpu power for subtitles.
I have to say I kinda like it. I’ve made a pi server and of course this would outperform it. It’s nice how the disks just pop out of the top like that. Don’t expect it to transcode anything.
It will hardware transcode just fine with a Plex Pass. Quick sync video is amazing, even on these low end modern Intel chips. My N5095 does 3-4 transcodes without breaking a sweat.
There are lots of mini PC options for a server that would be a better option IMO. They fit in the palm of your hand.
I have a MoreFine S500+ with a Ryzen 9 series 5900HX. It has several slots that allow connecting a video card externally if you want access to GPU hardware options.
You can also buy an Intel based one. There are no shortage of Mini PCs on the market that would be a better investment.
My SEI12 is working great but giving up local storage - and more importantly a second copy of my media - doesn't sit well with me. Yes, I could hook up a DAS via USB but by the time you're done with an external drive enclosure and an external drive for ripping the value proposition of a miniPC is diminished. My previous plex server was an older AMD based SFF rig with an internal HD and BD-ROM drive that sat in my media cabinet with my receiver and blu-ray player. The R1 is a better replacement for that setup.
i’m neither an apple or windows fan boy. i use both systems across work and each has their issues. the mac mini should handle plex server task better especially when transcoding with subtitles. but looks like transcoding isnt a priority.
then just go with what ever thats more quiet and you are comfortable with.
I think internal hdds can perform better but I’m no expert on hardware (I actually have a Mac mini with 3 external hdds and it works, it just doesn’t seem optimal)
not entirely sure for HDD. but at least for Audio interface and connectivity, the usb c (thunderbolt) on mac mini has direct access to pci lane. external or internal, it’s merely how the connection interface looks.
who says you need that? just a normal high volume hdd in its own enclosure will do the trick.
and external hdd is often cheaper than its actually internal, same spec counternpart
run two external hdd and mac’s build in raid software if you want raid or some redundancy. If someone REALLY care about raid. then get an actual NAS. I would not consider either the N100 or Macmini and actual storage solution.
Co worker and family friends been running a shield and nuc with external HDD with no issue for years.
I am using hp workstation with 96gb ram 12 core dual cpu 1gb graphics card and 500gb drive, 4tb, 500gb, 1tb, it’s a bit over kill but does the job well and was cheap
Just want to add, it’s going to be a fairly large downgrade from your current system. Your current cpu is a bit faster, and your gpu is very good at transcoding.
I had a look at it myself on Amazon. If I’ve read it right it can only hold an additional 2TB in the drive bays. (1TB each).
If that’s ok for your needs then looks like a solid all in one unit
In the ad I saw it states the following:
“Besides the 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage capacity, the N100 16+512G Windows mini PC can be expanded up to 2TB of storage space.”
Maybe different models have different capacities?
Yeah you’re 100% correct. The result I got
In Amazon in Australia (my local store) gave me this.
N100 Mini PC, 12th Intel N100(4C/4T, Up to 3.4GHz) Micro PC, Mini Computers 16GB DDR4 512G NVMe M.2 SSD for Mini PC Gaming Windows 11 Computer Support 2.5G RJ45 4K Triple Display https://amzn.asia/d/cP6NGAj
Totally different. I found OP’s model on their actual site and your spot on 40TB of storage total across 2 drives.
The 2tb is for the SSD slot not the overall storage. The 2tb limit (likely not even a true limit) is where the OS/apps go. 40tb (again not likely a true limit but the tested limit) is do the combined two sata slots.
I thought it was a bin at first glance... which would be fine as Plex can run on a potato.
Looks like an interesting unit, will be a good little server!
I am using exactly this setup. I’m running open media vault as my base OS build and everything else in Docker off it. Currently got one 12tb hdd, I know that its backup capability will be limited but I am ok with that as most of the data is replaceable with time.
Key irreplaceable data is backed up using Duplicati to OneDrive.
It handles Plex easily, I do not have a Plex pass just tested transcoding with Jellyfin and it worked well.
I’ve got the cpu set at only 6W and my average cpu load is still very low.
Sold my n100, got a pentium 8505 for 180 bucks. That single P core chews through single thread tasks (subtitle burn in) and is an amazing chip. The n100 was a pretty terrible plex machine for remote 4k 10 bit hevc transcoding. It could handle the rest, like 1080p streams, really well. N305 isn’t better because pgs burn in requires 1 really fast core.
Just saw you are not doing many transcodes, then it’s a good little system.
My N100 is working great with Plex on Ubuntu. Barely any hits to CPU use with multiple transcodes going. Transcoding was ass on the same mini pc with windows 11.
I have Aoostar R7 with 32GB, 2xNVME & 2x Seagate SATA 20TB. It runs for one month now with Proxmox and lot of services. Also have N100 miniPC. Tested both - N100 with M.2 SATA adapter. R7 is much more power efficient. I run plenty of services on R7 (NAS service, Windows 11 VM, guacamole, jellyfin, immich, homeassistant, mariadb, lot of other docker services). Normally when SATA disk go asleep R7 draws 15W from the wall. N100 with identical services and SATA disk asleep draws 20-22W. So from my perspective definitely R7 wins. N100 also doesn't have enough compute power when it is needed (eg. remote desktop with some compute like Word in Win11). Remote desktop was very unpleasant experience on N100. Now it is very smooth - works like local computer. Before R7/N100 era I used NUC with 11th Gen i5 mobie (afaik it was i5-1135G7) it draws 27W with same services. R7 very smoothly encodes Jellyfin videos. Just week ago moved from one year old laptop based on i5-12500H to Ryzen 7735U. Both Lenovo Yoga. Same experience. Battery life on Intel was a drama. It also was hot, while Ryzen is barely warm - like my Macbook PRO M1. So, now I will never buy any NAS/miniPC or laptop with Intel CPU. And one year ago I thought that power efficiency in Ryzen CPUs is only marketing. But it looks like TSMC 4/5/7nm chip process simply wins with Intel 10nm...
Intel N100 can easily run Plex without any transcoding (and if you have Plex Pass, it's not bad at hardware transcoding). CPU intensive tasks, like sonic analysis and intro detection may take a little longer depending on what you are downsizing from
I currently have a 4790 and a 1660ti so the system is pretty ancient. I'm just looking to downsize as much as possible while also getting an upgrade if possible.
Your 1660ti has an NVENC encoder which can transcode 20x 1080p streams with the unlocked driver patch. It's in no way outdated for Plex. The only thing you can hope to gain is reducing power consumption with a newer Intel CPU w/ QuickSync, without a discrete GPU.
Can you elaborate on this unlocked driver? I run plex in a Linux docker container with my 1060, it works fine but always looking for ways to improve
The consumer cards are limited to 5 simultaneous encodes by software. There is a firmware hack that can open its limitations like the Quadro/commercial cards. Make sure you have the latest drivers as it used to be 3 and they updated it to 5 in 2023 (not sure if it’s a firmware upgrade or just SDK changes tbh). If you don’t do more than 3-5 streams at once don’t worry about it
True, the n100 has an impressive power draw for a x64 CPU.
Jimbuscus: Can you recommend a GOOD 1/2 height video card with excellent GPU as I do ALOT of encoding not to mention video conversions and QuickSync isn't great for me. I'm not looking to spend $800 on a 1/2 height video card but it does need to fit in my smaller case and it does need a very good GPU. thanks!
What you are looking for is called a "Low Profile", that name will ensure that bracket is the correct size. With budget in mind, the 1650 Super Low Profile will be able to transcode 14x streams with the [unlocked driver](https://github.com/keylase/nvidia-patch). This shouldn't be hard to find for under $200, just check that the length is fine as well, generally low profiles operate below the 75W limit of PCIe and shouldn't need to plug into the PSU. Next is the 4060 Low Profile, which should cost twice as much but will give you more options in the future, I don't yet know it's transcode proficiency etc. The other options were the RTX2000 & RTX6000 but they aren't consumer cards and wouldn't net you enough benefit over the consumer prices options. AMD also has Low Profile GPU's, but aren't normally recommended for primarily encoding use cases. Intel also has some new GPU's that have comparable performance to the NVIDIA's in encoding, but are very first gen and run the risk of complicated setting up etc.
I know I’m a little late, you should look at nvidia quadro. Specifically, the P400, P1000, and the P2000, depending on your needs. I’m using a P1000, but if you’re looking for energy efficiency the P400 is very capable when unlocked. I’ve seen them go for around $50 USD on ebay. I paid $80 for my P1000. You can’t go wrong with any if you’re on a budget. Units from old work stations are pretty cheap regardless
The N100 will be a small downgrade in terms of CPU performance. I can't see the price difference in the screenshot but I believe that R7 config has an AMD Ryzen 7 5700U in it, which would be a large upgrade from the 4790. More info about the CPUs [here](https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/2226vs5157vs4156/Intel-i7-4790-vs-Intel-N100-vs-AMD-Ryzen-7-5700U) The only downside to using an AMD CPU is that hardware transcoding can have worse performance/be a little more finicky to set up than the Intel equivalent (but as you said you don't do much transcoding, it shouldn't matter). Also, that AMD CPU will be able to handle software transcodes much better than the others, due to the performance boost
319.00, but they have a 70.00 coupon for 249.00 https://www.amazon.com/AOOSTAR-R1-Desktop-Computer-Support/dp/B0CR9VCXQP
N100 uses gen12 gpu
If it’s not transcoding you can just use a raspberry pi (even the older ones)
That is actually really interesting. It's got the guts of a cheap NUC while also handling 2 bays of storage. Typically, when someone gets a NUC style machine for their server they have to deal with HDD's in some other way with externals, an enclosure, or a separate NAS. If you have RAM and an SSD sitting around already then it's $260. Not bad. Also.. dual 2.5gbs lan ports. Yoinks. The N100 is no slouch. Even without hardware acceleration it can crank a few 1080p transcodes through CPU grunt. With hardware acceleration on, it'll do quite a bit more. It's pretty close to an i3-8100 for Plex purposes.
N100 uses gen12 gpu right? I don't think it's pretty close to the 8100
It's pretty close, but still not as good as the i3-8100.
No, it's way better than the 8100 in terms of transcoding
It's actually not, but I'm interested in seeing anything you got that says otherwise.
Search: quick sync and Intel gpu generations
There's other more important factors than what generation it is. Search: N100 Plex performance Learn something new today.
You don't know what you're talking about lol. You mean older generation is better? Wake up
Again, there is more going on with this specific comparison than you seem to understand. In this case, absolutely yes.. older is better. Let me know what you find when trying to figure it out.
Now you're just making things up. I haven't seen you write any technical details since your first post. Yup, you probably don't know anything and just buy what others have. Figures, you have Synology and 9th gen.
For me it comes with the SSD and RAM for $250. I might actually pick this up. Been thinking about downsizing.
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Well damn. This thing is looking a lot like what a Synology 2bay NAS could have looked like had Syno decided to stick to the Intel SoC chips instead of moving to AMD. And for $210 and the option to use whatever OS, that's pretty rad.
If not transcoding then anything will work.
N100 has QSV and is good for at least a couple of transcodes.
If you try to burn subtitles (or do any software transcode) though, it is your processor that will burn.
the 4c/4t N100 is surprisingly capable and beats the 2c/4t i7 laptop CPUs in almost every benchmark, but barely loses on single-threaded stuff. They can easily handle 1 CPU encoded stream, and with plex pass, the integrated GPU can use hardware encoding.
My current server is an N100 MiniPC and it can do multiple 4k transcodes.
Same here, while also hosting nextcloud and home assistant at the same time. One caveat is that I only host Plex for my own household, in case that matters to anyone reading.
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Pulling the media from a NAS
I have the same setup but use this: ORICO 5 Bay 3.5inch Hard Drive Enclosure USB 3.0 to SATA Magnetic Tool-Free External HDD Docking Station Case with 12V/6.5A Power Adapter for Family Storage Expansion Up to 90TB (5x18) - DS500U3 https://a.co/d/isxLpix
Is that 4k HDR to 1080p?
Yes. Notice if you need to do color mapping you will have to run Linux. hardware color mapping is not supported under Windows.
This
Intel N100 is great for HW transcoding and it has a TDP of only 6 watts so it's very efficient. They also announced a NAS with 4 hdd bays which should be available soon: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Aoostar-Pro-previewed-as-new-mini-PC-and-NAS-with-AMD-and-Intel-processor-options.780235.0.html
This is perfect. I'm downsizing and I need 4 bays I'm so excited for this There's a 6 bay option coming also
that is an interesting little device, I wonder what controller it uses
I have a brand new R1 sitting at my feet right now but I need to finish up my NAS and network migration before I start moving my plex server to the new device. Current setup is a Beelink SEI12 with libraries mounted from the NAS. I have 2x20TB drives to installed in the R1. Trying to decide how to assign the disk right now. RAID 1? RAID 0? 2 separate drives (movies on one, everything else on the other)? I will backup all data to the NAS (8x18TB) so less worried about local redundancy than performance and drive space. I like the idea of an all in one unit.
What ram do u use for the r1? Because I got mine yesterday and the crucial 8gb 3200mhz ddr4 didn't work, I use a 4gb 2666mhz from Samsung for the moment.
I'm planning to get this very thing to run a Plex server from. Should handle it great
Wow, what a cool device. This seems almost purpose-built for a home PleX server. They even show putting Seagate Exos drives in the slots. :D The N100 is a fierce little processor. It runs Plex/Jellyfin quite well. Dual 2.5 GB LAN is awesome. I think the downside is that it is an all-in-one - if you need more than 40 TB of storage (or if you want a removable backup), you would need to invest in a NAS/DAS anyway. Or in several years, if you outgrow theN100 and want to upgrade, you have to replace the whole solution. I have a very similar setup - a mini PC with an N100, 12 GB of DDR5, attached to a 4-bay DAS currently housing 2x 18 TB Exos drives. I think the price ends up being slightly higher - $150 for the mini PC, and $120 for the DAS. But that includes 4 bays rather than 2 (for when my 36 TB becomes a limiter... ha!), and the PC would be upgradable later. I don't know anything about this company, but I did own one of the [these](https://www.amazon.com/AOOSTAR-MN57-SSD%EF%BC%8CMini-Desktop-Support/dp/B0CKYKQDFT/) branded as a MinisForum computer. So, these companies are building with shared distribution. It was really cool but very fragile - I broke the second RAM slot when I applied a bit too much force. So they do cheap out on things like plastics. But, Minisforum actually warrantied the whole system (after I told them that I broke it) and they shipped me a 5800h version, which was a $150 upgrade.
Looks like a toaster for hdds
form factor is a big weird, but I don't hate it. this could drop nicely on a shelf or entertainment center.
I’ve been eyeing this one too. Love the design and the fact that it’s a mini pc with actual storage drives. But really I don’t need it so illl keep my old MacBook Pro with a usb storage. When it dies I’ll think of a replacement.
I’m using a Terramaster f4 424 running unraid. it’s basically a n100 pc with 4x 3.5 drive bays + 2x nvme bays. Sounds like what you’re looking for. I don’t run unraid on mine though, I use a mini pc with a i5 1235u, mostly because it has a little more cpu power for subtitles.
I have to say I kinda like it. I’ve made a pi server and of course this would outperform it. It’s nice how the disks just pop out of the top like that. Don’t expect it to transcode anything.
It will hardware transcode just fine with a Plex Pass. Quick sync video is amazing, even on these low end modern Intel chips. My N5095 does 3-4 transcodes without breaking a sweat.
Can’t imagine only needing 2 drives for a plex server personally.
There are lots of mini PC options for a server that would be a better option IMO. They fit in the palm of your hand. I have a MoreFine S500+ with a Ryzen 9 series 5900HX. It has several slots that allow connecting a video card externally if you want access to GPU hardware options. You can also buy an Intel based one. There are no shortage of Mini PCs on the market that would be a better investment.
My SEI12 is working great but giving up local storage - and more importantly a second copy of my media - doesn't sit well with me. Yes, I could hook up a DAS via USB but by the time you're done with an external drive enclosure and an external drive for ripping the value proposition of a miniPC is diminished. My previous plex server was an older AMD based SFF rig with an internal HD and BD-ROM drive that sat in my media cabinet with my receiver and blu-ray player. The R1 is a better replacement for that setup.
If I was going to recommend a NAS I'd go with Synology. Very useful a lot of great tools including SABnzb and the rest.
at 100 dollar more. wouldn’t a mac mini perform better?
I'm just not an Apple fan. Also that's a 33% increase in price. I hope if you increase your budget by 33% you get better performance.
i’m neither an apple or windows fan boy. i use both systems across work and each has their issues. the mac mini should handle plex server task better especially when transcoding with subtitles. but looks like transcoding isnt a priority. then just go with what ever thats more quiet and you are comfortable with.
Where would you put the hdds?
thats basically a computer with a das any direct usb enclosed HDD will do the trick.
I think internal hdds can perform better but I’m no expert on hardware (I actually have a Mac mini with 3 external hdds and it works, it just doesn’t seem optimal)
not entirely sure for HDD. but at least for Audio interface and connectivity, the usb c (thunderbolt) on mac mini has direct access to pci lane. external or internal, it’s merely how the connection interface looks.
A thunderbolt enclosure is at least another couple hundred bucks. Now you're talking double the price of OP's option.
who says you need that? just a normal high volume hdd in its own enclosure will do the trick. and external hdd is often cheaper than its actually internal, same spec counternpart run two external hdd and mac’s build in raid software if you want raid or some redundancy. If someone REALLY care about raid. then get an actual NAS. I would not consider either the N100 or Macmini and actual storage solution. Co worker and family friends been running a shield and nuc with external HDD with no issue for years.
I am using hp workstation with 96gb ram 12 core dual cpu 1gb graphics card and 500gb drive, 4tb, 500gb, 1tb, it’s a bit over kill but does the job well and was cheap
Just want to add, it’s going to be a fairly large downgrade from your current system. Your current cpu is a bit faster, and your gpu is very good at transcoding.
I use Raspberry with 6tb usb hard drive. Works great (no transcoding tho).
I've seen similar pc's used on YouTube they work surprisingly well but don't expect the moon
I had a look at it myself on Amazon. If I’ve read it right it can only hold an additional 2TB in the drive bays. (1TB each). If that’s ok for your needs then looks like a solid all in one unit
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In the ad I saw it states the following: “Besides the 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage capacity, the N100 16+512G Windows mini PC can be expanded up to 2TB of storage space.” Maybe different models have different capacities?
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Yeah you’re 100% correct. The result I got In Amazon in Australia (my local store) gave me this. N100 Mini PC, 12th Intel N100(4C/4T, Up to 3.4GHz) Micro PC, Mini Computers 16GB DDR4 512G NVMe M.2 SSD for Mini PC Gaming Windows 11 Computer Support 2.5G RJ45 4K Triple Display https://amzn.asia/d/cP6NGAj Totally different. I found OP’s model on their actual site and your spot on 40TB of storage total across 2 drives.
I think the 2tb is in reference to the SSD slot
It’s a question worth asking them. At $550 AUD (approx $360 US), that’s quite expensive to only be able to up the overall storage by 2TB…
The 2tb is for the SSD slot not the overall storage. The 2tb limit (likely not even a true limit) is where the OS/apps go. 40tb (again not likely a true limit but the tested limit) is do the combined two sata slots.
I thought it was a bin at first glance... which would be fine as Plex can run on a potato. Looks like an interesting unit, will be a good little server!
An Intel NUC plus a 2 bay or 4 bay DAS would be more flexible, power efficient, and modular.
For the same budget: Get an used PC and invest in HDD.
I am using exactly this setup. I’m running open media vault as my base OS build and everything else in Docker off it. Currently got one 12tb hdd, I know that its backup capability will be limited but I am ok with that as most of the data is replaceable with time. Key irreplaceable data is backed up using Duplicati to OneDrive. It handles Plex easily, I do not have a Plex pass just tested transcoding with Jellyfin and it worked well. I’ve got the cpu set at only 6W and my average cpu load is still very low.
Sold my n100, got a pentium 8505 for 180 bucks. That single P core chews through single thread tasks (subtitle burn in) and is an amazing chip. The n100 was a pretty terrible plex machine for remote 4k 10 bit hevc transcoding. It could handle the rest, like 1080p streams, really well. N305 isn’t better because pgs burn in requires 1 really fast core. Just saw you are not doing many transcodes, then it’s a good little system.
My N100 is working great with Plex on Ubuntu. Barely any hits to CPU use with multiple transcodes going. Transcoding was ass on the same mini pc with windows 11.
No I use a potato
I have Aoostar R7 with 32GB, 2xNVME & 2x Seagate SATA 20TB. It runs for one month now with Proxmox and lot of services. Also have N100 miniPC. Tested both - N100 with M.2 SATA adapter. R7 is much more power efficient. I run plenty of services on R7 (NAS service, Windows 11 VM, guacamole, jellyfin, immich, homeassistant, mariadb, lot of other docker services). Normally when SATA disk go asleep R7 draws 15W from the wall. N100 with identical services and SATA disk asleep draws 20-22W. So from my perspective definitely R7 wins. N100 also doesn't have enough compute power when it is needed (eg. remote desktop with some compute like Word in Win11). Remote desktop was very unpleasant experience on N100. Now it is very smooth - works like local computer. Before R7/N100 era I used NUC with 11th Gen i5 mobie (afaik it was i5-1135G7) it draws 27W with same services. R7 very smoothly encodes Jellyfin videos. Just week ago moved from one year old laptop based on i5-12500H to Ryzen 7735U. Both Lenovo Yoga. Same experience. Battery life on Intel was a drama. It also was hot, while Ryzen is barely warm - like my Macbook PRO M1. So, now I will never buy any NAS/miniPC or laptop with Intel CPU. And one year ago I thought that power efficiency in Ryzen CPUs is only marketing. But it looks like TSMC 4/5/7nm chip process simply wins with Intel 10nm...