A Great Budget Homelab Server: The Kamrui AK2 Plus Mini PC

The Kamrui AK2 Plus mini PC has an Intel N100 processor (4 cores and 4 threads) that only has a 6 watt TDP, so it sips power even when running full speed.
The AK2 Plus also has 16GB of single-channel RAM. I'd like to have seen two 8GB sticks for the dual-channel speeds.
There is a 500GB NVMe SSD in the device with a place to easily add a 2.5" drive with only a phillips screwdriver.
You get 4 USB ports. Two USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0.
There are 2 HDMI 2.0 ports on the back to support a dual monitor display.
The Kamrui AK2 Plus isn't meant for gaming or CAD or anything like that. It's meant to be a mini PC for daily computing needs like social media and other online applications.
Because of the low-powered processor in it, it would also make a great entry-level homelab device to get you started!!
You can buy one on Amazon here: dbte.ch/kamruiak2plus (affiliate link)
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State Date: 2023-8-24 09:00PDT
End Date: 2023-9-24 23:59PDT
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[@craigprocter1232]

why does everyone comment they would prefer dual channel ram when the chipset doesnt support it?

[@DBTechYT]

Dual channel setup is faster. DDR stands for Dual Data Rate

[@craigprocter1232]

@@DBTechYT yes we know that.. the same as we know that the N100 chipset ONLY supports single channel RAM access (Which I already said). What it says to me is that the people (and it's not just you, lots of this has happened with N100 reviews) reviewing the items haven't done their due diligence research to find out about the item they're reviewing is actually capable of.

[@awesomearizona-dino]

Hi, glad your doing better , and making vids for us.

[@wolvie8468]

I picked up a N95 version of this machine and agree it's a great budget machine. David is spot on with his review.

[@Altair123]

This type of videos are really nice, i didnt knew Kamrui looks really good mini pc for homelab

[@msj420]

The reason for 1 RAM slot is because N100 only supports 1 memory channel. It's a good alternative to 1L PCs, however used 1L PCs can be found at almost half price for equivalent performance (i5-6500 or i5-7500t) and support 2 memory channels. Thanks for review.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Picking up a trio of these boxes (specifically the ~$170 config) would be a great way to experiment with high availability in either Proxmox itself, kubernetes, Docker Swarm, or anything that supports HA and not have to sink a TON of money into the lab. Granted you could do most of it with a decent Proxmox server and multiple VM's or LXC containers but having the hardware on hand has just a few more options and could even help visualize it. I think a base ubuntu install rather than proxmox would be optimal but with 16gb youve certainly got enough to do Proxmox and a VM or two depending on what you're trying to do.

[@INUID]

The whole new N-Series CPUs only have Single-Channel, so even with two SO-DIMM Slots you don't get Dual-Channel. ;)

[@WPGinfo]

In this case the 'bang for buck' seems better balanced. This config will allow for experimenting with home servers; The low energy use and the quiet operation are also mayor advantages. If all that doesn't float your boat, it would do well enough as a SOHO / family PC to do the basics.

[@ronm6585]

Thanks David.

[@g3-is-me]

Proxmox would be my thought. My used Wyse thin client was $30. Adding 16GB of ram was cheap, $15?. 480GB SSD was $30. And a 128GB USB stick to use as a boot drive was $15. I think I'd need to be at a pain point before I moved to something like this. I also have some question as to longevity. My last experience with a box like this was a little over a year of life and then it became a paperweight.

[@msedv5424]

Using 3 of them as ProxHa Cluster is perfect. Is there a X1 NVME LAN SSD used ?

[@abhishekchatterjee88]

Hello David, Great to see you back behind the camera Thank you for sharing feedback on the mini pc though it still comes up as a midrange but considering its availability in India, it still reaches to about 500 USD , in which price range a Chromebook or a low spec affordable pc or at half the cost we can get a refurbished mini pc. Personally I have my desktop pc from 2007 which has seen so far 2 motherboards , a 1 tb hdd, 12 gb DDR3 and 128 GB usb drive to run the OS. And it works great for all my homelab work. My personal intent is to get a raspberry pi 4 8gb and turn it into a headless portable pc. Also I am looking at framework boards launch in India which can be coupled with cooler master case and a usb c display, a 65 W usb c charger and a usb c hub to make it into a portable and upgradable pc... Would love to hear your thoughts on framework boards and PC. have a great week ahead.

[@7MBoosted]

I think the alder lake based celerons only support single channel ram for some reason. I think I heard that somewhere. I think they also support ddr5 as well as ddr4. With what I think I have heard about ddr5 is that single channel ddr5 can basically function as dual channel with a specific type of setup. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[@Bajicoy]

Where is the temperature analysis? Does it thermal throttle?

[@thisfeaturewontlastlong]

Just popped open my AK2 and I couldn't help but notice a USB-C female next to the drive bay. Doesn't seem to allow the end user to interface with the OS so I'm wondering what this is for and why it's underneath the cover...

[@daveedaem]

Did you manage to access the bios in the end? You never did go back and try again.

[@Airbag888]

For a home lab, strict minimum for me would be 2x 2.5Gbe (ideally 10Gbe sfp+) and 2 sata storage (ideally 3.5") with 1 or 2 nvme for cache. Then 4-8 cores would do with everything hopefully sipping under 15W idle

[@twinssword]

Haha, is this a dream? No way this hardware is available (especially sfp+ out of the box) . If it is, its going to be more expensive and far out of this price range. Wendell from level one tech did a video recently with a usb 4/thundebolt enabled mini pc with 3 nodes.

[@Airbag888]

@@twinssword well you know that's how it starts.. you dream it, you talk about it, you share that vision, people talk about it and manufacturers take notice. I backed the storaxa product that almost does that but with 10-T instead of SFP+... we'll see

[@marshallzeablejr.1642]

Your videos are so helpful. Please consider making a video on how to run a Minecraft Server on a Raspberry pi using Portainer.

[@trexgamer73]

Thanks

[@ivanov_ch]

Does this support HDR video through HDMI port?

[@rodneycrosslin4405]

Like I said in the previous video....I use this for Retro gaming on Batocera

[@backtothebarrios1891]

Nice review. Will this handle live streaming in FB via OBS? Thanks

[@DBTechYT]

I think it should if you utilize the Quick Sync Video features of the CPU in your encoding as well as being conscious of your OBS stream settings

[@M9_Prime]

I got the 1TB version (it was $309 after tax Canadian, or around $225 USD) to replace my old dying desktop PC. I just use it to store videos and stream KZbin. It will probably be better then a decent gaming PC from 10+ years ago that’s running a 2 core 4 thread AMD Athalon… and an old Radeon Card.

[@tom_w67]

it would make a great docker server just add a 1tb ssd and for simplicity would be debian with casa os and run with it. and would be cheaper than any other solution out there.and as far as the pc is concerned the N100 is nothing more than an updated celeron/atom CPU and based on the CPU sku from intel it only is a 4 core 4 thread single channel memory cpu only but it only has the power usage of a night light so it would be great for a docker bare metal server.

[@BuysaveSA]

Why does it say N100 800mhz?

[@moshroom69]

i want to buy one of this but i have a question if any one could answer i'll be grateful. I want to use it as a better opcion of the smart tvs. i dont like the apps o the current TVs , like having to log out of one to use another. I rather like to have every one open in diferent windows in one browser so i can pause hbo, and go to a diferent window an continue watching something else in paramount ad that sort of things. so can this handle this tasks easy and in 4k ???

[@DBTechYT]

If you're just trying to watch movies on your TV with this in 4k it should be more than sufficient.

[@mkefiro]

Is it actually fanless?

[@troubauk]

Does it overheat? DO you get hot spots on the case?

[@DBTechYT]

I've never had an issue with overheating

[@rossfayers8849]

Can you add more than a 2Tb SSD to this? I have an 8tb and it would work well as a Plex server.

[@DBTechYT]

I think you should be fine. I haven't tested it, but I can't imagine there bein an issue

[@rossfayers8849]

@@DBTechYT sorry to be cheeky but would you mind testing? I just bought a GK3V and the bios was locked to non uefi drives so I returned. Just wondering if this was a normal bios.

[@DBTechYT]

I don't have any extra 8TB drives laying around to test this with.

[@Lunolux]

nice video, i rather buy those kind of miniPc than the umbrel device those miniPC cost sometime less than 200$ and are great for many projet

[@KitsRomero]

are you still teaching nextcloud to users? im interested to become patreon.

[@hsha4666]

is it possible to modify this to be dual-channel, instead of single?

[@DBTechYT]

Unfortunately no

[@davidniquot6423]

The CPU is single channel .. !

[@3110TT]

Question. Can this run virtual reality?

[@DBTechYT]

I mean. That's like asking "can a truck haul a load of dirt?" The answer is "yeah, probably, but it's going to depend on what you're expectations are." I don't do anything with VR, so you'd have to look up the spec requirements for what you want to do and see if this meets them.

[@froid_san]

I'd would be nice if the camera is not too close to the item you are showing, unless you are focusing on a specific portion and more lighting might be needed, or a bright environment You could checkout 'explaining computers' unboxing and product review as reference. Always, nice video I'm always intrigued on mini pc and SBC because of their low power consumption.

[@DBTechYT]

The overhead camera setup is still new for me and I'm still learning a bit. It'll get better as time goes on

[@bmurphy88]

Anyone here get very slow Wifi Lan Speeds on this thing?

[@humanvideosponge4529]

What I'm using it for is paying the minimum price possible to get Windows 11. I'm not going to reward Microsoft and their collaborators for making my old PC obsolete and spending thousands on a new one every time they do this. This little PC is limited but will likely meet and exceed 99% of my needs (since I'm not a gamer and don't care about gaming one bit). It's cheap enough to throw it away in 3 years when Microsoft decides to pull some kind of an obnoxious stunt like they always do. I built my last computer to last and it probably has at least 10 good years left in it but MS wants to say it's now useless garbage so I won't be spending one penny more than I have to on hardware from now on.