SPCR

This looks interesting for an always-on server.

Super Micro X7SLA
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS7206125225.html

Gigabit ethernet, 4 SATA ports, PCI and PCIe ports.
Available in single or dual core versions.

This other article implies that the board consumes only 4w (or 8w for dual core):
http://www.internetnews.com/hardware/print.php/3819606
"The X7SLA-L has a four-watt power draw while the X7SLA-H draws just eight watts."

I think that must be a mistake though, considering the GMA 950 chipset and compared to the power draw of existing Atom mini-itx boards with the same CPU and chipset.

Also it's industrial so probably very expensive and hard to get hold of.

If the numbers are right and I could actually buy it, it would be just what I'm looking for a mythtv backend.

Edit: Added URLs now post count high enough

It obviously uses regular desktop RAM and nothing else.
Here's the product link.

Mats wrote:It obviously uses regular desktop RAM and nothing else.
Here's the product link.

Thanks for the link.

What do you mean "and nothing else"? That it cannot use SODIMM memory?

justyn wrote:What do you mean "and nothing else"? That it cannot use SODIMM memory?

I was just looking at the pic and all I saw was regular RAM slots, not SODIMM like the text says. Download the manual from my link if you want to be totally sure.

Mats wrote:I was just looking at the pic and all I saw was regular RAM slots, not SODIMM like the text says. Download the manual from my link if you want to be totally sure.

Oh yes I see what you mean. The linuxdevices article says SODIMM yet it is clearly DIMM in the specs, photo and manual. Must be a mistake.

That is actually a vary interesting Atom motherboard. One of the very few 1) with more than one memory slot (and the only one I know of capable of Dual Channel operation), 2) bigger than mini-ITX, 3) with more than one PCIe slot, and 4) the only one with the ICH7R southbridge, meaning onboard RAID capabilities from the get-go.

As for power consumption, sorry, it's more likely to be around 30-50W (idle/load), just like every other Atom+945GC combo out there. The 4/8W TDP that article refers to pertains only to the CPU, the chipset is around 22W on top of that...

If you want Atom with low power consumption, right now you can only get Ion-based systems (around 35W load, if I recall correctly), or Intel's 945GSE-based Atom board, though you're limited to 32-bit OSes and a single-core CPU, because it uses the N270 processor, instead of the 230/330. This one can actually be powered off a 24W 12V brick...

Cheers.

Miguel

justyn wrote:"The X7SLA-L has a four-watt power draw while the X7SLA-H draws just eight watts."

I think that must be a mistake though, considering the GMA 950 chipset and compared to the power draw of existing Atom mini-itx boards with the same CPU and chipset.

You are right on. It sounds like someone saw the processor figures for the Atom 230 and 330 chips and thought they were the whole board. The D945GSEJT, which uses the mobile 945GSE chipset idles at around 9-11W (125VAC input watts) with no peripherals.
I have not checked, but I assume that this board is a 945GC chipset, and is therefore a_TERRIBLE_ waste of power when paired with the atom. You might as well build one of the <30W AMD 760G chipset machines people have been discussing, because this thing likely idles at 24W+.

Sadly I do not know of any Atom chipset combinations which both provide sufficient SATA ports and low power requirements to make a stellar server. Don't get me wrong, I am running a D945GSEJT happily to record my TV, but without RAID + ECC it is not much of a reliable server. :(

The Zotac NM10-DTX might be of interest. It's a Pineview Atom board with 6 SATA ports and RAID. I can't post links but there are interesting articles at linuxtech dot net and techpowerup dot com