Healuck HL: New Mini PC Unveiled With Dual 2.5G LAN as well as Dual 10G LAN

[GGforever]

There are a plethora of mini PCs available on Amazon as well as oher reputed retailers. Many of these systems are from brands that are not exactly well known, but sport interesting features that set them apart from the rest. The Healuck HL, also known as the CWWK S7 in UK, is one such mini PC from a Chinese brand that sure does offer a decent selection of features, primarily aimed at networking aficionados. That said, the mini PC is not meant to be a computing powerhouse - a fact that is given away by the entry-level CPU options and affordable pricing that starts at around $300 without RAM and storage.

At the highest-end, the Healuck HL can be equipped with the 15-watt Intel Core 3 N355 CPU, which boasts eight cores and eight threads. The processor is about as powerful as the aging Core i5-10300H CPU, which should be enough to chew through most non-intensive tasks. The system can be equipped with up to 32 GB of DDR5-4800 memory, and dual M.2 2280 slots take care of storage requirements. Where the Healuck HL truly shines, however, is in the networking department. The product boasts dual 2.5 G LAN ports, as well as dual 10G LAN ports. This should allow the system to serve rather well as a budget high-speed NAS of sorts, although capacity will undoubtedly be limited due the lack of more drive bays.




The port selection is decent, including HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4, dual USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, dual USB 2.0 Type-A, as well as an audio jack. As mentioned previously, prices start at around $300 for the Intel N150-powered system without RAM and storage. The Core 3 N355-powered variant with 32 GB memory and 512 GB SSD is substantially more expensive, commanding a price tag of $683. Of course, going by the lack of reviews, it is hard to see how well the system will perform, and any interested buyers are advised to wait for independent reviews.

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[Wirko]

If you stare into the WIFI Holes, the WIFI Holes stare back at you.

 

[AnarchoPrimitiv]

that might not be a bad option for a DIY router

 

[Chaitanya]

that might not be a bad option for a DIY router

Not with those Intel 2.5Gbps NICs.

 

[thestryker6]

CWWK board minipcs tend to be pretty good for router/homelab type use cases. I've used two as pfSense boxes (one ADL-N and one Jasper Lake) and have never had any issues.

I'm not totally sure that I would want ADL-N for a system which was going to actually need 10Gb throughput though. These also seem somewhat expensive, but imported devices sold on amazon tend to be.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Not with those Intel 2.5Gbps NICs.

Why not?

 

[Wirko]

Why not?

Instability, I assume. But even if you use them as 1GbE ports, you've got 2x 10GbE and 2x 1GbE in total, still not bad.

 

[Deslok]

Bit bummed looking at the new N series chips next to the old ones, we're getting another 200mhz over the old(N100 to N150) and 100mhz on the high end (300 to 350) with no faster ram or pcie gain, it's a bump to pcie gen4 and/or more lanes that these really needed for things like NAS use cases rather than a mild clock bump.

 

[thestryker6]

Instability, I assume.

This might still be an issue on Windows, but seeing as I've used them with pfSense at 2.5Gbps the entire time for over 2 years (as my primary router) I can say it's definitely not an issue on FreeBSD.

 

[Deslok]

It has the i226-V not the i225-V which should help most of the issues although users on windows have reported overly aggressive power savings which FreeBSD and Linux would of course be different in regards to.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Instability, I assume.

That's doesn't sound right to me. Intel NICs are among the most stable, reliable and best performing in the industry.

 

[Tigerfox]

that might not be a bad option for a DIY router

I Think that's what it is intended for, otherwise it makes no sense to offer 2x2.5GbE alongside 2x10GbE. The M.2 will be Gen3x1, though, since those NICs eat up all the lanes (2.5GbE one lane each, 10GbE two lanes each if AQC113 or four lanes for both ports if X550, one lane for Wifi).

Bit bummed looking at the new N series chips next to the old ones, we're getting another 200mhz over the old(N100 to N150) and 100mhz on the high end (300 to 350) with no faster ram or pcie gain, it's a bump to pcie gen4 and/or more lanes that these really needed for things like NAS use cases rather than a mild clock bump.

That is so true, it is essentially Alder Lake-N with a new name and 100-200MHz more. What's more, the most interesting SoC for NAS, N97, didn't receive an Update.

I Think NAS-builders should look for mobile intel Pentium/Core Ultra SoCs or AMD Ryzen embedded V3000, both offering 20 Lanes gen4.

 

[Deslok]

That's doesn't sound right to me. Intel NICs are among the most stable, reliable and best performing in the industry.

9/10 times I agree with you but at 2.5 gig of speeds until had a hard time, the first few revisions of the i-225 were notorious for random disconnects. Gigabit 10 gig even speeds as high as 200 gig they're unapproachable but for some reason 2.5 gig was just a mess for them.

 

[Tigerfox]

Gigabit 10 gig even speeds as high as 200 gig they're unapproachable but for some reason 2.5 gig was just a mess for them.

Intel doesn't even offer a 200GbE NIC until now, only 2x100GbE E810. Only last week did they introduce E830 with full 200GbE, but still on either Gen4x16 or Gen5x8. But at start, only 2x25GbE-NIC will be available.
Meanwhile Nvidia Mellanox hast up to 400GbE(OSFP)@Gen5x16 available, with 800GbE/1.6TbE@Gen6x16 on the horizon. They offer 4x50GbE (SFP56) @Gen4x16, too.

 

[Deslok]

Intel doesn't even offer a 200GbE NIC until now, only 2x100GbE E810. Only last week did they introduce E830 with full 200GbE, but still on either Gen4x16 or Gen5x8. But at start, only 2x25GbE-NIC will be available.
Meanwhile Nvidia Mellanox hast up to 400GbE(OSFP)@Gen5x16 available, with 800GbE/1.6TbE@Gen6x16 on the horizon. They offer 4x50GbE (SFP56) @Gen4x16, too.

Yeah that's on me I was thinking of the 2x100 of the old e810 as a 200 gig network card which is not technically correct(that's what I get for posting before the morning coffee) The rest of my statement does stand however their network cards at the speeds that they offer outside of 2.5 gig are generally second to none, I don't know why they've struggled to keep up with mellanox other than lack of focus.

 

[lexluthermiester]

9/10 times I agree with you but at 2.5 gig of speeds until had a hard time, the first few revisions of the i-225 were notorious for random disconnects. Gigabit 10 gig even speeds as high as 200 gig they're unapproachable but for some reason 2.5 gig was just a mess for them.

Um, no. I'm not even going to bother with how much is wrong with that statement. Just no.

Easy answer, Intel NICs are still top tier. Anyone saying otherwise does not have a good grip on reality.

 

[Deslok]

Um, no. I'm not even going to bother with how much is wrong with that statement. Just no.

Easy answer, Intel NICs are still top tier. Anyone saying otherwise does not have a good grip on reality.

I'm not saying that most of them aren't, but... Yeah even the best make mistakes, it's silly to pretend they don't.
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/i...rnet-issues-but-its-just-a-workaround-for-now

 

[lexluthermiester]

I'm not saying that most of them aren't, but... Yeah even the best make mistakes, it's silly to pretend they don't.
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/i...rnet-issues-but-its-just-a-workaround-for-now

That seems like a bit of nitpicking to me. Problems happen from time to time, no one is immune to that fact. However, the overall quality of a thing can never be diminished by minor issues quickly resolved.

 

[Rover4444]

Aw man I got baited, I thought the N355 was the $300 option. These cheap chips absolutely need more lanes and channels, Intel's lucky AMD doesn't have QSV or AV1 decoding on their low-end chips.

I Think that's what it is intended for, otherwise it makes no sense to offer 2x2.5GbE alongside 2x10GbE. The M.2 will be Gen3x1, though, since those NICs eat up all the lanes (2.5GbE one lane each, 10GbE two lanes each if AQC113 or four lanes for both ports if X550, one lane for Wifi).

That is so true, it is essentially Alder Lake-N with a new name and 100-200MHz more. What's more, the most interesting SoC for NAS, N97, didn't receive an Update.

I Think NAS-builders should look for mobile intel Pentium/Core Ultra SoCs or AMD Ryzen embedded V3000, both offering 20 Lanes gen4.

I'm waiting on AOOSTAR's six bay to finally come out.

 

[Tigerfox]

I'm waiting on AOOSTAR's six bay to finally come out.

On that one, too, the NVMe slots will be Gen3x2 at best. They should have gone with Ryzen 7 6800U/7735U or even better with Ryzen embedded V3000. Ryzen 5825U has 20 Lanes PCIe3.0. 6 are used for 2x2.5GbE and 2x10GbE, atleast another two for 6xSATA via ASM1166, leaving 12 lanes for 6xNVMe. Perhaps they are shared so you can use less drives with higher performance, or the lanes are not divided equally so you have some slots with x4 and others with only x1.

Ryzen 6800U/7735U or embededd V3000 would offer the same amount of lanes Gen4 and DDR5, while embedded series has 2x10GbE MAC integrated, so you can save PCIe lanes by just using a PHY for 10GbE.

 

[Rover4444]

On that one, too, the NVMe slots will be Gen3x2 at best. They should have gone with Ryzen 7 6800U/7735U or even better with Ryzen embedded V3000. Ryzen 5825U has 20 Lanes PCIe3.0. 6 are used for 2x2.5GbE and 2x10GbE, atleast another two for 6xSATA via ASM1166, leaving 12 lanes for 6xNVMe. Perhaps they are shared so you can use less drives with higher performance, or the lanes are not divided equally so you have some slots with x4 and others with only x1.

Ryzen 6800U/7735U or embededd V3000 would offer the same amount of lanes Gen4 and DDR5, while embedded series has 2x10GbE MAC integrated, so you can save PCIe lanes by just using a PHY for 10GbE.

The six bay isn't using the 5825U, it'll be a 7000 series processor based on their last press release.