The MW-100-NAS mini-ITX motherboard is powered by an Intel Processor N100 Alder Lake-N CPU and seems especially suited for NAS (networked-attached storage) applications with six SATA connectors, two M.2 Key-M sockets for NVMe drivers, one 10GbE port, and two 2.5GbE RJ45 jacks.
The motherboard supports up to 32GB DDR5 memory, features HDMI and DisplayPort video output ports, a COM port header, and plenty of external and internal USB interfaces. It takes power from a standard ATX connector.
NW-N100-NAS motherboard specifications:
- SoC – Intel Processor N100 quad-core Alder Lake-N processor @ up to 3.4 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel HD graphics @ up to 750 MHz; TDP: 6W
- System Memory – Up to 32GB DDR5-4800 via SO-DIMM socket
- Storage
- 2x M.2 sockets for NVMe SSDs onboard
- 6x SATA connectors
- MicroSD card slot
- Video Output – 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
- Networking
- 2x 2.5GbE RJ45 ports via Intel i226-V controllers
- 1x 10GbE RJ45 port using Marvell AQC113C controller
- USB
- 1x USB 3.0 port, 1x USB Type-C port, 2x USB 2.0 ports
- 2x USB 2.0 via internal header, 2x internal USB 2.0 Type-A ports
- Serial – COM port header
- Misc
- Front panel header
- TPM header
- LAN LED header
- System fan connector
- CPU fan connector
- Watchdog timer
- Power Supply
- 24-pin ATX connector
- 4-pin ATX connector
- Dimensions – 17 x 17 cm (Mini-ITX form factor)
- Weight – N/A
The specifications also list the Intel Core i3-N305 octa-core CPU as an option, but it’s not for sale yet. Vendors offer it as a barebone model, or with up to 32GB DDR5 memory and up to a 2TB NVMe SSD, but we are not told anything about software support. Provided all drivers are there, Windows 11, Linux and BSD distribution should all work on the motherboard.
It’s not the first time we have written about Intel N100 hardware for NAS applications, and if you don’t feel like DIYing your own NAS, the Zimacube 6+1-bay NAS is another option that should work out of the box, but it does not include a 10GbE interface. A system built around the MW-100-NAS mini-ITX motherboard could end up being cheaper as the barebone model is sold for about $130 and up on AliExpress from several vendors such as Topton, Kingnovy, and SZBOX.
Via Liliputing
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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It’s indeed quite affordable, especially if you compare it to Rock 5 ITX which requires an add-on card for 10GbE (~$90) and extra connectivity for a second M.2 for OS storage since the 8GB eMMC is a little bit just by todays standards. However Rock5 is fanless and very likely consumes less in idle. But maybe the N100 can run fanless if its top frequency is reduced in the BIOS.
I guess it depends on the BIOS, but the N100 can obviously run fanless, and is already in a number of fanless products. It has a 6W “TDP” (turbo TDP not specified by Intel, obviously we know it can use a lot more power with better cooling). So does the N200 and N300 is at 7W.
> the N100 … has a 6W “TDP”
…at “Base Frequency” which is specced at laughable 800 MHz but 1000 MHz for N200. The N300’s 7W “TDP rating” is again only valid at 800 MHz.
So all these stupid numbers really tell is N300 being more energy efficient than N200 which is more energy efficient than N100 w/o telling anything about real consumption at the clockspeeds these things usually run at.
Apparently 10GbE got quite a bit cheaper, at least I was surprised to see AQC113C on the board, then I was even more surprised to see AQC113C card prices on AliExpress. Fanless operation is likely not too viable with most of the heatsink being covered, and there may be further issues with heat generation. Followed the at this point quite large thread on ServeTheHome about N100/N95 boards, and experiences varied heavily, but it was generally common to see high idle power consumption, and stability issues. The later was occasionally remedied by disabling power saving features, making the former even worse.… Read more »
For me, AQC113C remains in the 80-90EUR price tag, like its predecessor AQC107, the difference being that AQC113 heats a bit less. However I agree that having it on board is much cheaper. Overall anyway 10GbE over RJ45 will continue to consume quite a bit of power due to the inefficient coding which requires analog processing at high speeds in order to pass on low-frequency cables.
Why do they always put so many sata these days? They are pretty much obsolete unless running some sort of plex server which is almost obsolete as well.
because high capacity SSD aren’t available yet and are horribly expensive. Mechanical drives are cheaper, last longer and will be widely available for quite some time. Your comment shows your naivety and/or your ability to look at other people’s needs / wants.
Not Plex, Jellyfin. SATA makes tons of sense, you aren’t going to buy tens of terabytes worth of SSD for the kind of use case this is for. You *might* be able to saturate the 10G link with a 6 drive RAID5 or RAID6. And you can always sacrifice one of the M.2 slots for a cache drive.
I don’t get what you would see as a use case that *wouldn’t* use SATA drives. Except router/firewall, but you can get those done cheaper.