Computers, storage, and networking

Mini PCs

Three of these run this site's own agent fleet, continuously, and the memory has never been the constraint. That is the opposite of the usual advice, which assumes models run locally; when the agents call APIs the model never touches your memory. Silent, and small enough to live in a room you work in. The internal disk cannot be upgraded, so 512GB is worth taking over 256GB.

Internal SSDs

The sensible alternative to the 990 PRO for enclosure use. Both are PCIe Gen4 TLC drives quoting around 7,400 MB/s internally, and behind a USB4 bridge that difference disappears entirely. The gap that survives is warranty and endurance, so compare those rather than the headline speed. Not tested here yet.

Storage Enclosures

Enclosure only, 40Gb/s USB4, in a solid aluminium body that is the heat sink. That last part is the reason to care: an NVMe drive in a small sealed box throttles under sustained writes, and sustained writes are exactly what an agent fleet produces overnight. Not tested here yet.

Internal SSDs

A fast PCIe 4.0 drive to put inside an enclosure. Worth knowing before you pay for the speed: the 7,450 MB/s on the box is what it does on an internal slot, and a USB4 enclosure caps well below that. Buy this for endurance and reliability, not for a number you will never see externally. Not tested here yet.

Portable SSDs

A finished drive rather than a drive and a box: nothing to assemble, nothing to get wrong. The price is the interface. USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 tops out near 2,000 MB/s against USB4's 40Gb/s, and Macs have historically been awkward with Gen 2x2. For a machine that mostly needs somewhere to put things, that ceiling rarely matters. Not tested here yet.

Storage Enclosures

40Gbps USB4, takes a 2230 to 2280 drive up to 8TB, and is built to sit under a Mac mini. The reason to own one is arithmetic: Apple charges a large premium per storage tier and the internal drive cannot be changed later. Not tested here yet.

Networking

Five gigabit ports, unmanaged, fanless, metal. Unglamorous and correct for getting three machines off Wi-Fi and onto cable. Fanless matters if the machines share a room you work in. Not tested here yet.