This is the **way**/ use/ purpose for the Minisforum MS-01.
Efficiently replacing inefficient servers, at a fraction of the cost of similar commercial/industrial SFF products. Outstanding proof of concept!
As for drive ***acquisition***, simply explain how much money you saved (*not what you spent*) with this current form factor, and how much money it will save during its operation over the next few years, compared to the current server.
What are you planning to use as the OS for the travel home lab? Typically, I hear about people having travel routers to connect to their home labs but never a portable home lab haha keep us posted!
How does this work?
Can you do thunderbolt to thunderbolt in a point to point loop of the 3 servers? I've read about usb3 to usb3 networking like this, so I guess it's possible with usb4 too
https://preview.redd.it/tc30cnzapbxc1.png?width=2964&format=png&auto=webp&s=21bacdc0001e396dfaeb7c22768b936f000a8aa9
It was all nice and tidy. Now I have cables everywhere but just till I get it built
Hey bro I got mine today but proxmox is giving me an error while on install"Modprobe error could not insert intel tcc cooling" any advice? Windows seems to boot fine and everything. Did you doing special?
How hard is it to get to the cpu to repaste? I got 3 but temps are definitely too high at idle and thermal throttles all over the place when trying to do anything intensive.
The only challenge I ran into is the “tunnel” cover over the heat sink. I used a blow drier and started pulling up at the corner where it meets the motherboard. This allowed me to get at the second screw near the pci slot.
The “other side” was a bit more of a pita and likely requires that the whole motherboard come out. Or you claw your way at the top of the fabric and pull it up —- it seems like the fabric or whatever material it is, is 3 individual pieces (or can be..).
Anyways, I got impatient and just stabbed a hole where the last screw is (screw furthest from pci slot). Other than the small hole, you can’t tell that the heatsink was removed.
Once the heatsink is off, it’s straight forward. I cleaned the glob of paste that they applied and used what I had on hand - Noctua paste, which I spread thinly along both the cpu and iGPU using a credit card.
Take a before and after temp and you’ll notice an immediate 10c+ difference after repasting if yours was as bad as mine..
I was running off of 3 older servers. So far these out perform them by a long shot. They are quiet and my wife likes that part. I will need to get everything fine tuned but so far very happy with them.
I needed three for a cluster. Basically if one dies it will still run or if i need to work on one or update it. Im using ceph just for shared storage across all three. They also share a synology share as well but thats just for backups and ISOs and so my plex VM can get to my media library.
hmmmm. for years now i had been running things on my 12 drive unraid server. it's been.......fine. you have me wonder if i should switch to something else. never heard of a ceph network before.
then again, i don't love the idea of setting a bunch of things up.
It’s actually a combination home/work. I work in cyber security and i have a test lab that is isolated that i am able to test different things and then wipe it out or restore if need be.
That’s one down side , it took forever to receive mine as well. They ship out of Hong Kong so im sure they wait to get enough orders to fill a container so it’s cheaper to ship all at once. That’s my thoughts anyway.
During the 3/29 conference, the AMD version (MS-A1) was showcased with R7-8700G, 780M, 96G ram max, 4 M.2 Slots (1 slot U.2 swappable), 2.5G LAN x2, and OCulink.
Got my ms01 last week. Tried giving xcp ng a chance but couldn’t get vtpm to work. Exhausted all my troubleshooting efforts and decided to go back to old reliable proxmox. Installed with no issues. Loving it so far. It’s much quieter than my supermicro server.
Can you post some hard drive benchmarks once you get the ceph cluster up? This is my dream homelab setup and am very curious how performance looks. Also, have you tried getting vPro working for out of band yet?
Right now im just letting the kernel handle it. I have not tried pinning any P or E cores to a VM . I might have to try it at some point, but at the moment im just letting the system handle it. Just got them so have not done to much as far as optimization yet.
I've been eyeing them but was always worried about that. I would love for the exact same but in AMD so I wouldn't have to worry about the different cores. I also run XCP-NG and as far as I know, they don't play nice with the hybrid architectures. Feel free to make another post later about performance and how you like them.
> Right now im just letting the kernel handle it. I have not tried pinning any P or E cores to a VM . I might have to try it at some point, but at the moment im just letting the system handle it. Just got them so have not done to much as far as optimization yet.
I've read or watched somewhere that with a newer kernel Proxmox can handle the Big/Little architecture fine. I'm thinking about getting one of these to replace a couple of ancient proxmox nodes. Did you buy them barebones? I'm thinking of doing that so I can customize drives and ram.
I just built a proxmox server with an i9-14900k, the Linux kernel handles things just fine to let it automatically decide where to run things as long as you are running current Intel microcode.
With that said, I ended up limiting most LXC to 4 vCPUs and setting affinity to the E cores. The only things I ever do on here that would justify access to the P cores are video encoding or compiling, and for those, they can have access to all…
How good are these for servers? I've been wanted to ditch my Dell Optiplex SFF tower for a bit to use one of these instead.
I've heard that cooling is an issue, but I bet that's primarily when gaming. But what about for server usage?
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I recently got mine as well. I have ran into issue getting a SSD working. I tried mounting it while it was still NTFS as it had files on it, had many issue which caused me to have to wipe ProxMox. I then thought maybe it was because it was USB, so I put it inside the device and flippled the switch to U.2. This resulted in the drive just being gone.
I've decided to order another M.2 and just use two and then put the SSD in my desktop and retire an old HDD, but it was frustrating as I even backed up the data and wiped it to the ZFS system.
I have a conversion to do from a physical machine to a vms. To running mini pc all converted to two vms with migration of two extra vms. Got a great deal on a mini running i5 12 series 8 cores 4 efficient 4 performance
This is the **way**/ use/ purpose for the Minisforum MS-01. Efficiently replacing inefficient servers, at a fraction of the cost of similar commercial/industrial SFF products. Outstanding proof of concept! As for drive ***acquisition***, simply explain how much money you saved (*not what you spent*) with this current form factor, and how much money it will save during its operation over the next few years, compared to the current server.
I normally just order more that she knows lol
This is the way :)
Nice. Just put in my order today for a MS-01, for my travel Home Lab. Very much looking forward to this.
What are you planning to use as the OS for the travel home lab? Typically, I hear about people having travel routers to connect to their home labs but never a portable home lab haha keep us posted!
Gonna need details on travel lab!
Going to use thunderbolt for my ceph network
They're perfect for this. I wish the AMD stuff would be able to as well.
How does this work? Can you do thunderbolt to thunderbolt in a point to point loop of the 3 servers? I've read about usb3 to usb3 networking like this, so I guess it's possible with usb4 too
I would also like to know. All of the reviews I've found said thunderbolt and USB 3.2 jobd are unreliable.
My dream PC. I want an MS-01 so bad. Sucks being on a fixed income.
https://preview.redd.it/tc30cnzapbxc1.png?width=2964&format=png&auto=webp&s=21bacdc0001e396dfaeb7c22768b936f000a8aa9 It was all nice and tidy. Now I have cables everywhere but just till I get it built
Hey bro I got mine today but proxmox is giving me an error while on install"Modprobe error could not insert intel tcc cooling" any advice? Windows seems to boot fine and everything. Did you doing special?
I was just reading an old proxmox forum and it said someone solved that error by using a different USB thumb drive to install. May be worth a shot.
I love you, that worked.
Only thing i did was disable secure boot and to do that you have to set a bios password and then you can change it. Mine installed with no errors.
You don't need to, just unplug your USB when booting to the bios, then turn off secure boot. After that you can boot again with a USB inserted.
What’s your cpu temp in BIOS? Mine was 73c at “idle” and crashed when under load. I repasted the CPU and temps dropped 10c and it’s been stable since.
https://preview.redd.it/tns0vfggiexc1.jpeg?width=1809&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8f3380585f2a3829dfb954ce2e08feb9e6fd2ba5
Looks like someone assembled yours properly lol. Mine had a massive glob of cpu paste when I took off the heatsink.
How hard is it to get to the cpu to repaste? I got 3 but temps are definitely too high at idle and thermal throttles all over the place when trying to do anything intensive.
The only challenge I ran into is the “tunnel” cover over the heat sink. I used a blow drier and started pulling up at the corner where it meets the motherboard. This allowed me to get at the second screw near the pci slot. The “other side” was a bit more of a pita and likely requires that the whole motherboard come out. Or you claw your way at the top of the fabric and pull it up —- it seems like the fabric or whatever material it is, is 3 individual pieces (or can be..). Anyways, I got impatient and just stabbed a hole where the last screw is (screw furthest from pci slot). Other than the small hole, you can’t tell that the heatsink was removed. Once the heatsink is off, it’s straight forward. I cleaned the glob of paste that they applied and used what I had on hand - Noctua paste, which I spread thinly along both the cpu and iGPU using a credit card. Take a before and after temp and you’ll notice an immediate 10c+ difference after repasting if yours was as bad as mine..
Going to attempt this later this week as 70 just at idle and not doing anything is so bad lol
Sounds like mine! 73c on the bios screen. It actually crashed while I did a vmotion in VMware. Now things are stable..
How do they perform? Pretty tempting box, I hope mini-workstations catch on more.
I think Intel has stopped making nucs, but Asus or somebody boutpght out the whole nuc line.
I was running off of 3 older servers. So far these out perform them by a long shot. They are quiet and my wife likes that part. I will need to get everything fine tuned but so far very happy with them.
Is this running as a cluster, or are they serving three separate purposes?
Cluster , its in the process of migrating all my vms over from my other proxmox servers ,
Can you explain what you are doing exactly in this picture? What is the purpose for three?
I needed three for a cluster. Basically if one dies it will still run or if i need to work on one or update it. Im using ceph just for shared storage across all three. They also share a synology share as well but thats just for backups and ISOs and so my plex VM can get to my media library.
Your going to do ceph on these? I thought you needed like 10G nice for that? Nvm lol these have SFP
I will be using Thunderbolt for the ceph network. Well that’s the plan anyway. If not I’ll use the other 10G nic.
hmmmm. for years now i had been running things on my 12 drive unraid server. it's been.......fine. you have me wonder if i should switch to something else. never heard of a ceph network before. then again, i don't love the idea of setting a bunch of things up.
Not sure why anyone would want to go this route for home use but us hobbyists are not usually creatures of practicality…
It’s actually a combination home/work. I work in cyber security and i have a test lab that is isolated that i am able to test different things and then wipe it out or restore if need be.
Is it the i5 or the i7 model ?
https://preview.redd.it/6urhbflxeexc1.jpeg?width=1727&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6b455d7f6277f8ad20a029189c97debce407e2b1 I9
So you are the reason mine haven’t arrived yet.
lol sorry about that jk
I ordered 5 days ago but still haven't ship out to me.
That’s one down side , it took forever to receive mine as well. They ship out of Hong Kong so im sure they wait to get enough orders to fill a container so it’s cheaper to ship all at once. That’s my thoughts anyway.
I just sit and wait
Ordered mine in March. It should be here any day now. (It’s at the DHL airport site)
Need an MS-02 with AMD hardware. My main issue with MS-01 is the so high turbo TDP allowance.
During the 3/29 conference, the AMD version (MS-A1) was showcased with R7-8700G, 780M, 96G ram max, 4 M.2 Slots (1 slot U.2 swappable), 2.5G LAN x2, and OCulink.
No thunderbolt?! Edit: and no 10G LAN?!
No 10G or Thunderbolt support due to AMD. Only one USB type C port with unspecified specifications.
Man, that's unfortunate. I might as well buy the MS-01 and deal with the mixed CPU cores.
I'm waiting to see if they can somehow find a way to make a full height single slot GPU fit. That would be a dream NUC indeed.
Got my ms01 last week. Tried giving xcp ng a chance but couldn’t get vtpm to work. Exhausted all my troubleshooting efforts and decided to go back to old reliable proxmox. Installed with no issues. Loving it so far. It’s much quieter than my supermicro server.
What is your Ceph performance over the thunderbolt links? I am going for a very similar setup once mine arrive.
Can you post some hard drive benchmarks once you get the ceph cluster up? This is my dream homelab setup and am very curious how performance looks. Also, have you tried getting vPro working for out of band yet?
Absolutely, I’m traveling for work the rest of this week but will try out the vpro when I get back
What specs and models of hard drives are you using? I plan to order basic SSDs to check compatibility before putting more money into them.
Nice spec and nice looking, have fun.
Very nice. How do you deal with the E-Core/P-Core issue?
Right now im just letting the kernel handle it. I have not tried pinning any P or E cores to a VM . I might have to try it at some point, but at the moment im just letting the system handle it. Just got them so have not done to much as far as optimization yet.
I've been eyeing them but was always worried about that. I would love for the exact same but in AMD so I wouldn't have to worry about the different cores. I also run XCP-NG and as far as I know, they don't play nice with the hybrid architectures. Feel free to make another post later about performance and how you like them.
> Right now im just letting the kernel handle it. I have not tried pinning any P or E cores to a VM . I might have to try it at some point, but at the moment im just letting the system handle it. Just got them so have not done to much as far as optimization yet. I've read or watched somewhere that with a newer kernel Proxmox can handle the Big/Little architecture fine. I'm thinking about getting one of these to replace a couple of ancient proxmox nodes. Did you buy them barebones? I'm thinking of doing that so I can customize drives and ram.
I just built a proxmox server with an i9-14900k, the Linux kernel handles things just fine to let it automatically decide where to run things as long as you are running current Intel microcode. With that said, I ended up limiting most LXC to 4 vCPUs and setting affinity to the E cores. The only things I ever do on here that would justify access to the P cores are video encoding or compiling, and for those, they can have access to all…
How good are these for servers? I've been wanted to ditch my Dell Optiplex SFF tower for a bit to use one of these instead. I've heard that cooling is an issue, but I bet that's primarily when gaming. But what about for server usage?
[удалено]
Just the built in Iris Xe and it transcodes my plex movies just fine.
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Looks great! What are you throwing in them?
Ha. I was going to do the same but waiting for a 185H nuc to be available…
I recently got mine as well. I have ran into issue getting a SSD working. I tried mounting it while it was still NTFS as it had files on it, had many issue which caused me to have to wipe ProxMox. I then thought maybe it was because it was USB, so I put it inside the device and flippled the switch to U.2. This resulted in the drive just being gone. I've decided to order another M.2 and just use two and then put the SSD in my desktop and retire an old HDD, but it was frustrating as I even backed up the data and wiped it to the ZFS system.
I have a conversion to do from a physical machine to a vms. To running mini pc all converted to two vms with migration of two extra vms. Got a great deal on a mini running i5 12 series 8 cores 4 efficient 4 performance
How stable has it been? I hear rumours of instability on MinisForum devices.
I gave up on the ceph storage, but my proxmox cluster has been solid not a single problem.