Is it possible to run SamaPOS4 on Intel NUCs as a server? They are small and cheap, and I can install SSD’s to make things faster. I plan to connect an Android tablet via RDP to access the headless server.
Memory
1 DDR3L SODIMM
1.35V, 1333/1600 MHz (down clocked to 1066 MHz), 8GB maximum
Graphics
Intel® HD Graphics (up to 756MHz)
1 x HDMI* 1.4a
Audio
Up to 7.1 surround audio via HDMI interface
Back panel headphone/microphone jack
Peripheral connectivity
1 x USB 3.0 port on the front panel
2 x USB 2.0 ports on the back panel
Front panel consumer IR sensor
Storage
Internal support for 2.5¨ HDD or SSD
Networking
10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet port
Intel® Wireless-N 7260BN pre-installed, including wireless antennas
(IEEE 802.11bgn, Bluetooth* 4.0, Intel® Wireless Display built-in)
Enclosure
Silver aluminum ring with diamond cut around black top
Dimensions: 116.6mm x 112mm x 51.5mm
Power adapter 12V, 36W wall-mount AC adapter
Multi-country plugs (IEC types A/C/G/I)
Additional features
Intel® Visual BIOS
Intel® Visual Boot Manager Windows 8.1 and 8 Logo
Compatible with Linux*
VESA mount bracket (75x75mm and 100x100mm compatible)
Half-length PCIe* mini-card slot (used by pre-installed wireless card)
Low-acoustics active cooling design
Kensington lock support 3-year advanced warranty replacement
It would run on it for sure. What your asking does not really have a direct answer because yes it would run on it. Would it run smoothly is subjective. It all depends on load and demand your going to put it through as a server. The processor I would think is kinda underwhelming for a database server so is the ram
Another thing to think about is… your limiting the scalable power of a server by going with something like that. If your looking for small form factor maybe consider a small rack and startring with some of the 1u rack mount servers. Prices are competitive and you have tremendous scalability. Can easily fit the rack in a closet or office. I don’t know your business or your growth plans but if you grew at a decent rate something like that would not scale very well.
Ah, yes, I forgot to mention what I was planning to use it for.
It’s for a small standalone cafe, with sitdown,takeaway and delivery options.
10 - 15 items on the menu
1 or 2 RDP terminals (max) using an Android tablet
Peak load: 30-60 orders an hour (max)
I would think this wouldn’t stress the NUC box, and there are options for NUC’s with i3 and higher. But since this is a small cafe and the first one that I’m opening, I’m trying to keep costs down. I just needed to know whether the software would run, and it looks like it will. Which is great news.
ps: the price of that NUC is about $150. WIthout RAM and SSD.
Another option you might think about. Some of the smaller atom based windows 8.1 tablets are around $100 and run full win 8.1 you could install native Samba on those and get much more responsive feel vs using RDP.
If that tablet runs SambaPOS, then I wont need another device to RDP into it. I’m using tablets just so that I can train the staff manning the counter faster. I’m happy with just one terminal.
I just need to be able to connect a USB printer to it.
Amazon says that it costs $183. Cheap.
Great. Now my only concern is whether the hardware is good enough.
The person selling that on Amazon is selling a lot of other cheap chinese stuff. Will check out more reviews. Or else just bite the bullet and go for it.
Thats why I said there are other brands just as cheap. Well known brands like lenovo and dell. Just be sure its windows 8.1 not windows 8.1rt Typically if it has an intel ATOM cpu it will have full windows 8.1 However the hardware specs on that tablet would be just fine. Might want to keep an SD card in it for more storage. I would be more concerned with build quality from a company like that.
Another really good tablet… This is the model I will be using for my mobile sales. Comes with a great pen and micro SD slot and USB 2.0. And like the others it runs full windows 8.1 so you can install Samba directly on it.
Now I still recommend the server back end though. These technically can run the database but you would get a much smoother experience if the database was ran from a server backend on your local network.
with 4 GB ram and a 64GB SSD. Windows 8.1 starts quickly, SambaPOS takes about 5 seconds to start, but once it’s started it’s snappy. We do around 60 tickets per day, but they tend to be concentrated around the same time, and we don’t have an issue with performance. We’re also using an IPad connected to the same machine.
We’ve been running this config for about 3 months now, no lag or issues so far. For this kind of application, I think CPU is less important than IO, for database reads and writes. The SSD fitted in NUC performs well here too.
If you are planning to install windows server OS on NUC I’ll strongly recommend to check for windows server support. I can’t remember which model it was but we tried installing Windows 2008 and it couldn’t find required device drivers. We solved it by extracting drivers from other sources and editing inf files.
Just to add for info i i’m using Digital Signage unit Aopen DE965_Pro (based on Intel Core 2 Due, 4GB memory and 2.5 HDD) configured with Windows 7, acting as main system. For second systems we are using a Intel NUC unit , works great. have been running this configuration for over 5 month, no issues.
