If you're willing to spend a little time, you can setup openwrt on a higher end consumer router. I think you can find something that fits your basic requirements. If you need a little more kick every once in a while, but not always, add a p3 with wol. Keep in mind your Mac mini, ideas, etc. still needs the gigabit switch, which is built into those routers. <div class="gmail_quote">On Jun 18, 2012 10:59 AM, "Eduardo" <<a href="mailto:eduardo@cesconetto.com">eduardo@cesconetto.com</a>> wrote: <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"> Good point Charles, I am just not sure an Atom custom build would give as much bang for the bang. I was pricing one to build a firewall/media server/2nd desktop and could not keep under $400, when I trie to get closer to the Mini specs all went to hell, build price skyrocketed... You can get an used Mini for around 400 on eBay.. Sent from my iPhone On Jun 18, 2012, at 9:33 AM, Charles Ulrich <<a href="mailto:charles@bityard.net">charles@bityard.net</a>> wrote: > On 2012-06-18 8:23, Tom Schouten wrote: >> Hi List, >> >> Recently I've been doing some math and found out that running a 100W >> machine 24/7 at my parent's back home cost me about 150 Euros/year >> (Belgian electricity is quite expensive, about 20 Eurocents/kWh more >> than double of what it is here). The 100W was measured with power >> meter over period of 24h so is probably quite accurate. Includes PC, >> GB ethernet switch + wireless router. > > [snip] > > Given all the tasks the current machine is performing, I assume a cheap ARM device, like a PogoPlug or whatever, is out of the question. > > There were some suggestions for a Mac Mini @ 85W, but it's easy to do better both in terms of efficiency and price if you're willing to build the machine. > > My home server runs a 64-bit dual-core Intel Atom motherboard. With two spinning disks, it pulls between 43 and 45W under load. The disks account for a lot of that, obviously. If you had a single 2.5" disk, I'd expect you could get under 30W no problem. > > Similar motherboards seem to sell for between $70 and $150. Add around $100 if you want a small form-factor case and power supply. They typically come with the CPU, but not memory. You do have to be a little careful because the quality of these can vary widely. Mine, for example, refuses to boot from certain hard disks. But like anything else, you have to do your research. > > Charles > _______________________________________________ > linux-user mailing list > <a href="mailto:linux-user@egr.msu.edu">linux-user@egr.msu.edu</a> > <a href="http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user" target="_blank">http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user</a> _______________________________________________ linux-user mailing list <a href="mailto:linux-user@egr.msu.edu">linux-user@egr.msu.edu</a> <a href="http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user" target="_blank">http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user</a> </blockquote></div>