When you need a cheap and simple system to run a remote probe for PRTG Network Monitor there are a neat option: Buy a €169 Mini-PC that comes with a Windows 10 Home license! Setting up a Probe takes only minutes and with the latest PRTG version it is almost completely automated. Over the weekend I did exactly this at home in my living room and filmed it.
As you can see: I waited for Windows to set itself up MOST of the time.
The actual PRTG probe installation is almost completely automated. After the end of this video I installed TeamViewer freeware edition to access the computer from afar, unplugged all cables except power and Ethernet and placed the Mini PC in my basement (no fan, no harddisk = no noise!).
During the following night Windows installed the latest updates from Microsoft. From now on Windows will update itself, and PRTG will update the probe. I expect not to log into this computer for a long time!
All-in-all: The mini PC was quite impressive! Now I have a second, dedicated probe at home for my POD using less than 24 watts (!).
I am now running 400 sensors and the probe process uses only 4% cpu (4 cores) and 35 MB RAM. So there is some room left to grow.
PS: If you like how we think about IT and networks, check out our software PRTG Network Monitor which monitors uptime, usage and performance of networks.
Dirk Paessler's Personal Blog 
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