Witch NUC model for Ubuntu 18.04

[GerryBass]

Hi, I'm looking for a NUC Kit running Linux kodachi (base on Ubuntu 18.04) with VMware Workstation Pro and many VMs for CyberSecurity PenTesting Lab.

The NUC will have 64g RAM and 2x SSD of 2TB.

Connected on 2 x 29" 4K Monitor.

What is your recommendation ?

Thanks

[n_scott_pearson · Accepted solution]

There are many NUC models that would be sufficient for this usage model. If the goal is to support two very fast NVMe SSDs, then the list is smaller. There are a few kits that I would recommend:

1. If you want a fully integrated system, I recommend the NUC 11 Enthusiast Series Phantom Canyon (NUC11PHKi7, see here), which is equipped with an 11th gen Core i7-1165G7 CPU, Iris Xe iGFX, 6GB NVIDIA RTX2060 dGFX, two M.2 NVMe SSD sockets and two SODIMM sockets for DDR4-3200.
2. If you want a system which utilizes a separate dGFX card, I recommend two 9th gen NUC Compute Element-based designs. All listed Compute Elements support UHD 630 iGFX, two M.2 NVMe SSD sockets and two SODIMM sockets for DDR4-2666. The two implementations are:

• NUC 9 Extreme Series Ghost Canyon, which combines a 9th gen NUC Compute Element (NUC9i9QNX with Core i9-9980HK (see here) or NUC9i7QNX with Core i7-9750H (see here)) with an Intel chassis* that supports a separate (short) dGFX card and a third M.2 NVMe SSD socket.
• NUC 9 Pro Series Quartz Canyon, which combines a 9th gen vPro-enabled NUC Compute Element (NUC9VXQNX with Xeon E-2286M (see here) or NUC9V7QNX with Core i7-9850H (see here)) with an Intel chassis* that supports a separate (short) dGFX card and a third M.2 NVMe SSD socket.

*Note: There are also chassis from third-parties that support these same Compute Modules.

Hope this helps.

...S

[GerryBass]

Hi Mr. Pearson,

    Thanks a lot for your recommendations. I go with the NUC 11 Enthusiast Series Phantom Canyon.
    Now I'm looking for the other parts. I just want to be sure if those component will fit on it.

       - Corsair Force MP600 1 TB Solid State Drive - M.2 2280 Internal - PCI Express NVMe  (see here)

       - Seagate FireCuda 520 ZP2000GM3A002 2 TB Solid State Drive - M.2 Internal  (see here)

       - Crucial Ballistix 64gb Ddr4 Sdram Memory Module   (see here)

thank you veru much  

[n_scott_pearson]

You have two 32GB SODIMMs, right? Running with only one SODIMM is going to slow the system.

Drives are just fine.

...S

[GerryBass]

All ordered ...   Muchas Gracias Senior 

[powerarmour]

I personally wouldn't recommend the Phantom Canyon for Linux usage due to the Nvidia GPU and the proprietary drivers, a Hades Canyon NUC would be a better bet in that regard with the open source Mesa stack, it's cleaner and just better supported.

Otherwise most recent Intel IGP only NUC's should be fine also such as the Tiger Canyon series.

[GerryBass]

Hi PowerArmor,

There4 is many model , witch one will fit with this hardware list (Memory and Disk)

Crucial Ballistix 64gb Ddr4 Sdram Memory Module - For Notebook - 64 Gb (2 X 32 Gb) - Ddr4-3200/pc4-25600 Ddr4 Sdram - Cl16 - 1.35 V - Unbuffered - 260-pin - Sodimm

Corsair Force MP600 1 TB Solid State Drive - M.2 2280 Internal - PCI Express NVMe (PCI Express NVMe 4.0 x4) - Notebook, Desktop PC, Motherboard Device Supported - 1800 TB TBW - 4950 MB/s Maximum Read Transfer Rate - 256-bit Encryption Standard - 5 Ye

Seagate FireCuda 520 ZP2000GM3A002 2 TB Solid State Drive - M.2 Internal - PCI Express NVMe (PCI Express NVMe 4.0 x4) - 5000 MB/s Maximum Read Transfer Rate

I didn't received the NUC yet because it's backordered. I will try to cancel it and take what you will suggest for my needs.

Thanks a lot Sir.

[powerarmour]

A NUC8i7HVK NUC should work fine with that RAM and those M.2 SSD's, but for the SSD's only at NVMe 3.0 x4 speeds, so if you absolutely need NVMe 4.0 x4 then you'd be better off sticking with a Phantom Canyon.

Remember this is only my opinion, I'm predominantly a Linux user and personally the NUC8i7HVK has been great in that environment and everything 'just works' with a modern kernel/mesa stack (including proper sleep/resume) and you don't need to install a separate binary blob.

Likewise I wouldn't recommend a NUC8i7HVK for Windows usage due to the lack of GPU driver support. 

[n_scott_pearson]

Getting Linux going on PH *is* going to be problematic; I am unsure that anyone has accomplished it as yet (update anyone?).

@powerarmour is correct that there is an option that I missed (or perhaps dismissed out of hand), namely either of the Hades Canyon NUCs (NUC8i7HNK or NUC8i7HVK). These are a generation older, but do have dual M.2 2280 sockets, so can handle the two drives you desire (they are PCIe 3.0, but this is the same for most every system since it's the PCH (chipset) component whose PCIe lanes are typically used to support the M.2 NVMe sockets). As far as I know, there are no issues with the Vega M graphics drivers on Linux.

...S