Need new( or ) used hardware, must be SFF or mini

jmagill

n3wb
Nov 15, 2015
16
12
I use Blue Iris at home and for my bosses shop. It runs on a windows computer at the shop. Mine runs on a windows VM at home on Unraid.

We are putting in a new computer in the Shop for Blue Iris and it looks like I will need to put it in the same enclosure the network switch and router and incoming fiber connections for the entire building are in.

It is only about 5 to 6 inches deep. This will only run 4 to 6 cameras. It will be mostly headless but I have a small monitor I can hook up when really needed.

So recommendations on the smallest set up I can use and run headless most of the time would be very welcome.
 
How much storage space are you looking to have? If you need a 3.5" HDD then an SFF (small form factor) refurb like looney linked would be a good choice if it will fit within your space constraints.

Otherwise you can get smaller mini PCs at decent prices but they are not big enough for a 3.5" HDD and I would not recommend recording to an external or NAS drive.
Most mini PCs in the ballpark of 4-5 inches square will only take an M.2 2280 SSD and sometimes also a 2.5" SATA SSD. There may not be enough space inside for some of the bigger 2.5" HDDs, for example I tried to put a 4 TB 2.5" HDD into a little minisforum machine but the HDD was too thick.
 
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Thanks.

I was tempted to get one of the small new SFF computers but went with a refurbished Dell Optiflex and added a larger SSD for storage. The old computer the system is on now has 2 tb of storage and it is enough,