Most of my Non-NUC projects involve having a second wired LAN interface.

You can also find my Monero CPU Miner on this site, which I am now using for F@H.

A work-from-home environment needs to be reliable and secure. Something less expensive than a netgate or Protectli box with built-in WiFi. Given the recent Ubiquiti compromise, I'm not using their USG until further notice.

• Secure and stable - pfSense is a reputable firewall
• Use my cellular LTE data as a second/backup WAN with a built-in wireless adapter - pfSense again does this seamlessly
• Two gigabit interfaces for LAN and WAN so I don't have to use a managed switch and trunking

The ZOTAC mini PC model ZBOX-CI325NANO was used.

• Two gigabit wired interfaces (LAN and WAN)
• Integrated wireless (dual band AC 3165, 3165NGW, 801.11ac)
• Older CPU - Intel Celeron N3160 (quad-core 1.6GHz, up to 2.24GHz) 4 cores 4 threads
• 2.5“ SATA drive and two (2) DDR3L-1600 SO-DIMM RAM slots (16GB MAX)
• Has a fan

Setup

• WAN interface to cable modem
• LAN interface to network switch
• WAN2 wireless interface to Jetpack LTE data modem
• WAN_GROUP uses WAN and WAN2 for internet access, failing over on packet loss or high latency
• Ubiquiti Unifi wireless access points and CloudKey

While I can use a NUC configure and trunked interface to run a VoIP system, I wanted two interfaces: VoIP network and DMZ. The FreePBX platform is perfect for my needs.

The Qotom Mini PC Q220S-S02 came configured as I wanted:

• Intel Core i5 Processor, Dual core 1.7 GHz
• 8GB RAM
• 128GB SSD
• Dual LAN
• Fan ¹⁾, not suitable for desktop use
• Compares favorably to performance of freePBX appliances
• Does not have space to install two drives as RAID 1

This is change of pace from refurbishing NUCs.

• https://diskmakerx.com/download/
• https://everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_mini/specs/mac-mini-core-2-duo-2.4-mid-2010-specs.html
• https://support.apple.com/en-us/111931
• Apple support shows Catalina as being the latest compatible OS for this model; no further updates are available
• 21 Monterrey was also mentioned
• Probably has 1TB HD running at 5400 RPM (very slow, no Fusion drive)
  • Option to change to SSD or add an adapter and NVMe
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVzBQm0jPtc
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlhMCSb21LA
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_CBoeHxjq8

3 devices

• Device 1
  • Lion OS X 10.7
  • CPU:
  • RAM:
  • Disk:
• Device 2
  • Yosemite OS X 10.10
  • CPU:
  • RAM:
  • Disk:
• Device 3
  • MacOS Sierra
  • CPU:
  • RAM:
  • Disk:

Original state:

• Clean
• Non-booting
• Unable to re-image any of them via the recovery utility
• Create a bootable installer for MacOS https://support.apple.com/en-us/101578
  • Download DMG file
  • Write to USB stick using UltraDMG (paid product)
• Shut down or turn off the Mac
• Connect the bootable installer to the Mac
• Turn on the Mac, then immediately press and hold the Option (Alt) key
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usKiV91Pa1E
• Release the Option key when you see a dark screen showing your bootable volumes, including the bootable installer
• Select the bootable installer then click the onscreen arrow (or press Return)

Notes:

• This Mac must be compatible with the macOS that you're installing. If it isn't, it might start up to a circle with a line through it.
• Mac must be able to connect to the internet; bootable installer doesn't download macOS, but it does need an internet connection to get firmware and other information for this Mac model