TWICE As Fast with No Space Wasted

Summary

The video reviews the new iolite Core R2 Mini PC, which packs impressive performance into a tiny, portable package. Featuring an 8-core Intel Core i3 processor and up to 4 2.5GbE ports, it provides significantly more power than the previous R1 generation. While expandable storage and RAM are limited, it remains whisper-quiet even under load. Some connectivity like USB-C for power and audio feel unintuitive. But for a mini server or firewall you can easily transport, its combination of performance, efficiency and compact size make the R2 hard to beat.

Takeaways

• 📦 The iol core R2 is a highly compact and portable mini PC, about the size of a Lego figurine, ideal for low power server applications.
• 🚀 Equipped with a new 8-core Intel core I3 N300 processor, it offers a balance of power and energy efficiency, suitable for various tasks despite its small size.
• 🌐 Features four 2.5 gig Ethernet ports, including three Intel i26 V ports and one Realtek RTL 8156 BG port, enhancing its networking capabilities.
• 📁 Comes with an NVMe SSD for storage, with the option to choose different storage capacities at the time of purchase.
• 🔌 Offers unique power options, including a USB-C to DC barrel jack adapter, catering to different power supply preferences.
• 🔊 Includes a combo audio jack in a USB-C port, a design choice that may not suit all users.
• 📶 Has an optional Wi-Fi feature, with the installed Mediatek RZ 608 providing Wi-Fi 6E connectivity.
• 🔧 The system is designed for easy access to the SSD for upgrades or maintenance, but RAM and processor are not user-serviceable.
• 💡 The iol core R2 is relatively quiet during operation, with efficient cooling that manages the power and noise balance well.
• 👍 Ideal for users needing a compact, low-power server for applications like firewalls, virtualization hosts, or travel clusters.

Q & A

What processor is used in the iolite Core R2 mini PC?

The iolite Core R2 mini PC uses an 8-core Intel Core i3-N300 processor.

How much RAM can the iolite Core R2 be configured with?

The iolite Core R2 can be configured with either 8GB or 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM soldered onto the motherboard.

What kind of storage does the iolite Core R2 use?

The iolite Core R2 uses an M.2 2242 NVMe SSD for storage.

How many Ethernet ports does the iolite Core R2 have?

The iolite Core R2 has four 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet ports - three are Intel i226-V ports and one is a Realtek RTL8156-BG USB 3 port.

Can the iolite Core R2 Mini PC support internal Wi-Fi?

Yes, the iolite Core R2 has an M.2 slot for adding an internal Wi-Fi card, which was not possible in the previous R1/R1 Pro models.

How quiet is the iolite Core R2?

The improved cooling system makes the R2 very quiet - even when stressed, the noise level is around 37 dBa.

What display outputs does the iolite Core R2 have?

The iolite Core R2 has HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.4a (via USB-C) display outputs.

Can the iolite Core R2 be powered via USB-C?

Yes, the iolite Core R2 can be powered via USB-C using the included 12V power adapter and USB-C to DC barrel jack cable.

What operating systems or virtualization platforms could you run on the iolite Core R2?

The iolite Core R2 would work well for running operating systems like OPNsense, pfSense, Proxmox, Ubuntu, or hypervisors like VMware ESXi.

How does the iolite Core R2 compare in size to a typical 1L mini PC?

The iolite Core R2 is much smaller than a typical 1 liter mini PC like the Lenovo ThinkCentre Nano - it's about the size of a Lego figurine.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Overview of the new IoL Core R2 Mini PC.

The paragraph introduces the new IoL Core R2 Mini PC, highlighting its small size, low power usage, and abundant features including 8 cores, 4 ethernet ports, NVMe SSD, and optional WiFi. It mentions reviewing previous IoL Core models and wanting to showcase the improvements in the R2.

05:01

👀 Externals and size comparison to other mini PCs.

The paragraph examines the external design, showing USB ports, power button, vents, 2.5GbE ports including a Realtek one, DisplayPort, and USB-C power. It compares the size to the Lenovo Tiny and previous IoL Core, explaining how the small size makes it super portable.

10:02

🔬 Hardware overview and taking apart the device.

The paragraph looks inside the device, showing how to access the SSD and optional WiFi slot. It examines the dual PCB layout and highlights the use of LPDDR5 memory soldered to the board along with the soldered Intel Alder Lake CPU. It notes improved cooling and noise reduction versus the R1.

15:06

📈 CPU performance, power consumption and noise levels.

The paragraph discusses the surprising performance of the 8-core Intel i3-N300 CPU, noting it's over 2x the R1 models. It measures full load power at around 30W with quiet acoustics around 37dBA. It confirms there's enough power for basic routing and firewall needs.

💡 Key learnings about the R2 Mini PC.

The paragraph summarizes key learnings. It likes the i3-N300 performance but wishes for more memory capacity and standard ports. It recommends lower end for basic needs but the N300 for virtualization. It suggests external storage expandability and gives advice against overprovisioning.

Keywords

💡Mini PC

A Mini PC refers to a small form factor desktop computer. It is much smaller than a traditional desktop PC tower, often the size of a book or smaller. The video reviews a specific Mini PC model, the iol core R2, praising it for packing powerful components like multiple Ethernet ports and a new Intel processor into a tiny Lego-sized case.

💡processor

The processor is the central processing unit (CPU) chip that carries out operations and calculations in a computer. The iol core R2 uses a new 8-core Intel Core i3-N300 processor which the video highlights for being low power (7W TDP) but still providing excellent performance due to its high core count.

💡Ethernet

Ethernet refers to wired computer networking technology that connects devices on a local area network (LAN). The iol core R2 Mini PC has four Ethernet ports, allowing you to connect it to multiple networks or devices simultaneously. The video notes this is useful for applications like network firewalls.

💡Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is wireless networking technology that uses radio signals instead of cables to connect devices to a network. The video points out that the R2 has an internal slot for adding a Wi-Fi card, making it more useful as a portable Mini PC compared to past models.

💡RAM

RAM stands for random access memory, which temporarily stores data for fast access by the processor. The iol core R2 uses soldered LPDDR5 RAM chips instead of replaceable SODIMM modules, with options for 8GB or 16GB. The video recommends 16GB for best performance.

💡storage

Storage refers to hardware components like a hard drive or SSD that provide long-term data storage capacity. The R2 has an M.2 SSD but limited options due to its small form factor, so the video suggests adding external storage if more space is needed.

💡virtualization

Virtualization refers to using software to simulate virtual computer systems and resources, allowing you to run multiple operating systems and apps on one physical server. The video says the R2's 8-core processor provides plenty of power for virtualization tasks.

💡low power

Low power refers to components and systems designed to consume less electrical power and run cooler than typical desktop models. The video repeatedly highlights how the iol core R2 uses a low power Intel processor to reduce noise and heat generation.

💡home lab

A home lab is a small server setup used by tech enthusiasts to learn, experiment, and self-host services at home. The video suggests the iol core R2 is a good compact and affordable home lab option versus noisy, power-hungry servers.

💡portable

Portable means easily transported and moved. The video emphasizes how the tiny size of the iol core R2 makes it highly portable for travel, remote work, or anywhere a small but capable PC is needed.

Highlights

This Mini PC has four 2.5 gig ethernet ports, a new 8 core low power processor, and runs just about everything in a small package the size of a Lego figurine

The Intel Core i3-N300 processor has 8 cores and a 7W TDP, providing strong performance while remaining energy efficient

It has an M.2 2242 SSD slot and optional internal Wi-Fi, enhancing the portability and flexibility of the system

The R2 generation adds a copper heatsink and more vents for improved cooling and lower noise compared to the R1

The system benchmarked with over 2x the performance of the previous generation thanks to the newer 8-core architecture

It can easily push a 2.5 Gbps network stream thanks to the abundant CPU resources

The idle power draw is only 7-8W, while heavy load is around 27-30W total system power

The fan noise measures only 35-37 dBa under load, making it extremely quiet

The N300's all E-core design avoids VMware ESXi compatibility issues that can occur with heterogeneous cores

The system is compact enough to create an easy travel cluster with multiple units

Most home lab users waste money and energy buying overpowered servers they barely utilize

The 8-core N300 provides plenty of power for common virtualization usage without noise or excess energy draw

Optional external storage can supplement the internal M.2 SSD to meet higher capacity needs

The R2's size and capability makes it a versatile platform for portable computing projects

Realtek NIC performance lags the Intel i225 ports; use Realtek for management and Intel for VMs/data

Transcripts

this Mini PC has four 2 and half gig

ethernet ports a brand new 8 core

processor that is super low power and it

runs just about everything you can

imagine in such a tiny package that it

looks about the scale of a Lego figurine

if you want a tiny low power server this

might be the best option out there so

let's get to it hey guys this is Patrick

from s and this is the iol core R2 it is

absolutely tiny low power and packed

with features now you might be thinking

hey didn't we see this already on St we

did do the previous generation iol core

R1 we did a video and article on that we

also reviewed the iol core R1 Pro and

showed the upgrade kit and we also had

that one in a cameo in another video but

this one is so much different I said no

we got to do another video again and

that's what we're going to do today

inside this is an Intel core I3 N300

processor which is super low power but

it also has eight cores to go along with

the eight cores we have four 2 and half

gig ethernet ports we have an nvme SSD

we have Wi-Fi in this one although

that's an option and it's all in this

little tiny itty bitty package and

before we get to the hardware overview I

just want to say thank you to all the s

YouTube members you're going to see some

stuff on the new set which was made

possible by those that subscribe so if

you can help we'll definitely do that

down below and I do want to point out

that the iol core team did send this

unit but they do not get to review this

they don't even get to know if we're

going to do a video or not they just

send the unit and we get to produce

whatever the heck we want out of it but

I do think these systems are super cool

so when I heard it was available I said

yes let's go do one with that let's get

to the

hardware okay so taking a look at the

outside of the unit there are definitely

some things that are very similar to the

R1 Pro but there are also some things

that are very different and I'm not 100%

sure if I like them better or not let's

start out with the front of the system

and you're going to see that we have two

USB ports and a little power button just

like we did in the previous generation

now something I just want to point out

real quick is that when you take the

system apart if you do decide to take

the system apart the little power button

just falls out so you got to be a little

bit careful when you do that now moving

to the other side you're going to see

that we have just our label and this is

very similar to the R1 Pro label but not

necessarily the same as the R1 this is

an area that's been upgraded you'll also

see that we have a giant vent on the

bottom and we're going to get to that

when we get to the inside of the system

now flipping this around you're going to

see that we have two USB typc port

looking things and the first one is a

USB 3 Port but it's also a display port

type 1.4a now the other side is

something that's very different in this

generation versus the previous

generation so you're going to see that

we have a combo audio jack that's in a

USBC Port interesting but on the

previous generation we had a TF slot

which is basically a Micro SD card slot

so maybe if you're using this as a

desktop then maybe that makes sense but

I'm not really 100% sure that a lot of

folks are going to use an audio or combo

audio jack out of a USBC Port okay now

flipping this around we get to the part

that I think everybody wants to see we

get three 2.5 GB ethernet ports now

these are all Intel i26 V ports which is

pretty standard but this generation

there's something that's a little bit

different that is the fourth 2 and a

half gig ethernet port which is a

realtech port so it's not an Intel port

and that real Tech Port isn't just like

a standard RTL 8125 or something like

that instead it's an RTL 8156 BG which

means that it's actually a USB 3 Nick

that's embedded in a system to get the

fourth Nick now of course having four

Network ports is awesome if you're going

to run this as a firewall if you're

going to run pfSense OPN sents something

like that that's always great also

you're going to use it as a

virtualization host like for proxmoxve

or V where or something like that I

think that's also pretty useful just

having more Nicks but for a lot of folks

one or two Nicks is going to be fine and

so I don't know how I feel about adding

a fourth Nick using USB right now there

definitely are some other features on

the back of the system we get an HDMI 2

Port so that's always kind of nice if

you want to run like a 4K display off of

this you totally can but the other thing

that you can do is you can power this

via USBC but there's definitely a catch

so kind of first off this is the power

adapter which is the USBC it's a 12volt

adapter and I know a lot of folks are

going to say like okay cool that you

have a 12volt adapter but I'd rather go

and you know use my own power adapter

instead of this little power adapter

that's totally fine um but this cable

comes with the system now this is a USBC

to just kind of like a DC Barrel Jack so

if you want to use a more standard type

of power supply then you would plug this

into the USBC port and now you have your

adapter I guess that's an okay solution

I just think that a lot of folks are

going to want either a kind of standard

USB PD solution or they're going to want

a um you know just a standard power jack

DCM Jack right and before we wrap up our

external overview I want to just show

you guys how small this is and why it's

important right this is something that

you can throw in your backpack if you

are traveling or something like that

it's not going to take up a whole lot of

space like this is a project tiny mini

micro one liter node from Lenovo and you

can kind of see this thing is uh this

thing is way way bigger than the iol

core R2 right the other thing though is

if you are going to use multiple units

we'll use this R1 Pro is kind of our

second unit right like this is a cluster

that is super small so you can imagine

that if you wanted to have have like

three of these units and you want to

have like maybe a small switch or

something like that you could go and

create a pretty cool little travel

cluster so there are a lot of folks that

do things like sales there are faes and

stuff like that or people that have to

go and like set things up remotely and

they just need a little mini cluster um

you know this is a pretty powerful

solution right you can get a bunch of

ports a bunch of network ports a bunch

of nodes and stuff like that all in a

very tight package and I think that's

one of the reasons that you would buy

something like the R2 is just to be able

to travel with it and go on the road and

by the way this is a cool Haso switch

that we're going to have a review of

soon with 4 2 and2 gig ethernet ports it

also has an SFP Plus Port and it has a

10g based T Port there are management

options Poe options all kinds of stuff

like that and we're going to have a

review of this pretty soon still I think

it's probably worth getting inside the

unit so we can see how this thing is

made okay so getting inside the system

if you just want to get to the SSD let's

start with that because I think that's

kind of the easiest so what you have

here is you have four pegs that go into

this top and and then you can pull the

top off like this now something that the

iol core folks did between like the R1

and R1 pro version is they started

adding and making this uh this top piece

like a little heat sink so you see a

little thermal pad here and that's

really to cool the SSD now getting to

the SSD you can see we have the SSD here

and this is a m.2 2242 so a 42 mm SSD it

does not take a full 80 mm SSD cuz that

just wouldn't fit in the system now of

course with this you can do a couple

things like one you can get these

systems as a bare bone so you don't have

to get an SSD with it there's 256 gig

512 I think they also have a one tbte

and they used to have at least or they

may have in the future a 2 tab option as

well the big thing however with m.2 2242

drives is that you're not going to get

like the best performance because

usually you're going to see that these

are single package drives so you're

going to have like dless drives you're

just not going to get a ton of

performance and so that's just something

to keep in mind that if you do need like

a ton of storage performance these are

nvme drives but they're not necessarily

going to be like the fastest nvme drives

just because of the form factor okay now

underneath the SSD we get something new

for this generation which is a Wi-Fi

slot you just couldn't put a internal

Wi-Fi card in the previous generation R1

and R1 pros and so now you have the

option to do that and I really like the

fact that you can just because I think

it makes a portable box more useful if

you have Wi-Fi as an option now

installed in here we have a mediatech RZ

608 which is a pretty like kind of

mediocre Wi-Fi 6E solution for being

honest but something that adding Wi-Fi

in here introduces is that you need the

antenna cable and you also need to go

put the antenna somewhere which

complicates ever so slightly putting

back together the system or I guess also

taking it apart but overall the chassis

comes apart pretty easily and then what

you see is that we have our sandwich of

two different pcbs now the top PCB

controls things like our three Nicks and

you can see that those Nicks are on the

little board here now aside from your

Nick connectivity you also have things

like your USB ports and also the nvme or

the pcie lanes that go to the nvme

drives and Wi-Fi and all that kind of

stuff that that's all on this top PCB

it's kind of become like the io PCB or

something like that right now as part of

the sandwich you have two ribbon cables

that go between the top and bottom now

the bottom one that's where a lot of the

magic happens because that has our

processor it also has our memory it has

things like our power input and one

thing I think they changed a little bit

in this generation is how they connect

those cables these things are now have

little uh like covers so they're more

securely in there and I think that

that's really good I just kind of like

the design better in this generation now

taking a look at that bottom PCB

something I want to point out is the

fact that this system is a little bit

different from a lot of the other mini

PCS that we look at and the reason for

that is that the ram is not on an sodm

because an sodm basically wouldn't fit

in this form factor at least wouldn't

fit easily instead we get lpddr memory

on the system itself so the memory is LP

ddr5 and you have to pick at the time of

ordering if you want 8 GB or 16 GB I

kind of wish that you know there was a

higher end option but these are like

kind of the alra l n series processors

so we got to kind of remember that but

the memory is a fixed to the little

motherboard here so you just get stuck

with whatever you order so if you do

think you might need 16 GB I would say

just get it even if you got like the

lower-end processor I just generally

would tell people to get the 16 GB

version and on that processor note you

can see that we have our Alder Lake end

processor which in this system is an

Intel core I3 N300 now that is a super

awesome processor we're going to get to

the performance in a second but you get

a total of eight cores now there is an

option to get an end 95 instead of

getting an N300 and you lose half your

core count which that kind of stinks but

on the other hand the system tends to be

about $100 less when you configure it

with the n95 versus the N300 so I think

a lot of folks you know if you're going

to look at the system you're like oh

it's too expensive I don't need eight

cords or something like that I'm just

trying to replace the Raspberry Pi then

what you really want to do is get the

n95 version and just save that extra

$100 now one of my big complaints with

the original R1 was that it was a little

bit noisy and the R1 Pro added a copper

heat sink a kind of better fan and that

cooling solution helped a lot with the

noise so on the R2 it seems like we have

a similar copper solution we have a lot

more vents around the system and that

allows the system to be cooler but also

at a lower noise level so I really like

the fact that they did that on this

generation now before we close this up I

just want to point out that because you

can't really service the ram that's a

something you have to pick when you

order the system and also you can't

service the processor because it's also

soldered on well your only real option

is to change out the SSD and maybe add a

Wi-Fi card you do need a screw to be

able to secure your SSD and your Wi-Fi

card and all that kind of stuff but to

get inside the system it is actually

toolless which is kind of nice and

something that I wouldn't have expected

in a system like this but I'm really

glad that that's the design okay with

that let's get to the

performance now the performance of this

is something I was not expecting inside

you have an Intel core I3 N300 which is

an a core eight thread processor so you

don't get hyperthreading or anything

like that but it's still an eight core

processor what's more is that even for

that eight core processor the TDP on

this is only 7 Watts Which is less than

one watt per core of TDP which is kind

of awesome now of course that's just for

the CPU it doesn't include any of the

you know memory or NYX or anything like

that so the overall system power

consumption we'll show you that in a sec

but um you know overall the the CPU just

doesn't have it's just not that high

power of a device and when we tested

this little system the cooling on it is

actually pretty good and as a result the

system performed pretty darn well it

performed pretty close to the old

n305 unit that we reviewed previously

and I was kind of shocked frankly with

how well this thing performed now the

previous generation had the older quad

core processors but the new a core

processor well there are two things like

first the architecture is newer so you

get more performance per core your

single thread performance goes up but

you also go from four cores to eight

cores and you get a lot more performance

just by having more newer cores and so

the overall performance is like more

than 2x what you had in the previous

generation now we're not going to go

into all of the quicks sync video

performance and all that kind of stuff

but this does have an integrated GPU so

if you do want to run it as a desktop

you could do that you can run Windows on

it and all that kind of stuff but also

if you want to use quicksync or

something for transcoding this has that

as an acceleration option because there

is a little igpu in this and just so

we're clear if you're just going to go

run like a pretty simple firewall or a

simple just kind of like Gat device or

something like that then you know using

two of these ports as a you know two and

a half gig networking absolutely no

problem you have plenty of CPU

horsepower to go push like a two 2 and

half gigabit feed like through one Nick

and out the other easy peasy the only

thing that's a little bit weird is that

the 2 and 1/2 gig real Tech Nick you

know you're not going to get the same

level of performance out of that as you

do the Intel i26 and that's kind of a

bummer now one thing I will tell you

though is that you can use that to your

advantage in some ways like for example

if you're going to run a operating

system and have a hypervisor like prox

or you're can run a buntu where you have

like a hypervisor one thing I would

definitely do is think about using this

real Technic as kind of like a

management Nick and then using the i26

vs as your kind of data ones for all

your VMS and containers and all that

kind of stuff but if you just want to

run a simple OPN sense PF sense firewall

you know you got plenty of performance

to go do you know one in one out 2 and

half gbit per second no problem but you

probably want to know more about the

power noise so let's get to that

next

okay so let's talk about the power

consumption here on the new set for the

icool core R2 now you're going to see

that the package power consumption is

somewhere in that maybe less than a half

a watt range this is a very low power

processor you're going to see this in a

second now of course this is idle in

proxmox V but the idle power consumption

at the low- ended idle is about 72 watts

and just so you know the new studi is

about a 34 and a half DBA noise floor

and when we have this thing running at

idle I I frankly can't hear it from this

distance and we have the sound meter up

the 342 goes up to maybe about 35 so it

is a very quiet system there is a fan

running if I put my ear right up to it

you can definitely hear it but at this

distance absolutely not okay so

something I thought would be fun is we

are now running stress NG on the system

you can see that the power consumption

is significantly higher but it's not

crazy numbers by any means okay so this

thing has now been running flat out 100%

for around two minutes now and frankly a

couple things have changed first off

you're going to see that the package

power consumption is now in that like

seven to seven and a half watt range

you're going to see the total power

consumption of the system is now

somewhere in the 27 to 30 watt range in

proxmox v and then the other big thing

that you're going to just notice is the

noise or lack thereof I can kind of hear

a fan right now and it's running at

about 37 is DBA maybe a little less than

that this is a super quiet system and I

think that's really due to the core I3

N300 and not having a higher TDP CPU but

at the same time you can see we have a

course here so this is pretty darn

amazing for such a low power system with

that let's get to our key Lessons

Learned now with all of these videos I

like to have a key Lessons Learned

because if we get these systems and we

reviewed tons of them we should have at

least something that we learn from the

system and I can tell you the number one

one that I have with this system is that

I love this processor the Intel like n95

that's an option in this is good it's

four qus if you just need something

that's less expensive then frankly I

would save the $100 and I would not get

the core I3 N300 that's in here however

if you do want performance then the N300

is just flipping awesome having a lot of

cores without hyperthreading makes it

pretty easy to go do virtualization and

have a very easy system this also uses

all EC cor so you don't run into the

heterogeneous core issue that you have

with like VMware esxi and like modern

Intel processors where you have like

different you know p and ecor this is

all ecor so you don't run into to that

issue at all now while I love the fact

that the Intel core I3 n 305 is very

fast and it's a low power processor the

system is very quiet there are a couple

things that I'm not a huge fan of like

the fact that you can only get up to 16

GB of memory that 16 GB by the way is a

spec maximum for this processor so it

isn't like you know if you went to like

32 gigs you would be out of spec and I

can understand why if you had a ceron

ram you would not go and say like you

know hey let's go let's go test and try

doing 30 2 GB and unsupported

configuration cuz that just wouldn't

make sense but on the other hand that

also means that you have 2 GB per core

maximum and if you get only the 8 gbt

with this processor then you have 8 gbes

of memory and you have eight cores or 1

gab per core a lot of systems that we're

seeing these days you know people are

looking at like 4 gbt of core and so it

just feels like the ratio is a little

bit off however if you do want to

maintain 4 GB per core well then you

just get the n95 and you have four cores

16 GB memory and your set now we have

been looking at a lot of Mini PC

recently and something that I just freak

out in comments when I see is that

people are always like I need way more

performance I need like a Zeon E5 or a

skyl Xeon or something like that I need

24 cores in my home lab frankly most of

the people that do that they get these

like big servers they use a ton of power

they have to figure out how to cool them

they spend tons of money on fans or they

just run a loud server something like

that and then they run these things at

CP utilization that's like 1% 2%

something like that it's just atrocious

to go and use a giant CPU burn all that

power and just not really use it right

so I think for a lot of folks if you

want a home lab node that's not like a

workstation or a laptop and you just

want to have like a little Home Server

this is pretty darn awesome it gives you

all the capabilities of having a server

add a low power low noise and I just

think that that's an awesome combination

and you get plenty of Nicks so if you

want to do something like you know you

want to use two Nicks for your firewall

and you want to have that going and then

you also want to have another Nick for

like your VMS and you want to have

another one for managing the hypervisor

you can do that on a little platform

like this which is always nice to do to

me though I'm not a huge fan of this

real Technic I also don't like the fact

that everything is looks like a USBC

port on it like the audio the power

input all that kind of stuff I would

rather just have you know the plain

ports because I think that makes it

easier for just everything and while I

know that there are adapter cables I

don't necessarily want to use them for

everything now I think a lot of folks

are going to see this and they're say

hey I need more storage it's just not

enough storage for me and if you have a

little node like this something you can

do is you could go get one of these like

little external raid boxes or jbods this

is this from qap we have not done the

photos for the St main sight review yet

so uh the plastic is still on there so

we can this is a definitely a

fingerprint Magnet or whatever and you

know you get something like this you can

put two hard drives in here we have I

think like uh two Western Digital like

20 terab drives in here and so you get

40 terabytes that you can hook up to a

little system like this and it's a

relatively compact solution so I know

there are folks that are going to want

storage and that's probably how I would

solve that problem but overall I have to

say if you just need a little tiny node

that you can bring with you anywhere I I

don't know what is much better than the

iol core R2 at this point the R1 Pro is

awesome but on the other hand the R2

with eight cores is much better and the

fact that you can put wify in it is

super useful in a portable platform and

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