4 ms·
I actually did just this. There are two main ways I considered: 1. Buy a 4-bay USB enclosure. 2. Put a HBA in a Thunderbolt 3 -> PCIe enclosure, put the SATA
by Youden 7y ago
I actually did just this.
There are two main ways I considered:
1. Buy a 4-bay USB enclosure.
2. Put a HBA in a Thunderbolt 3 -> PCIe enclosure, put the SATA disks in a standard PC case with a SAS port expander, connect the SATA disks to the port expander with A SATA breakout cable and connect the newly created DAS to the HBA with a standard SAS cable.
I ended up going the first way. I bought two of them that have USB 3.1 Gen 2 UASP interfaces and filled them with shucked 12TB disks. They're attached to the NUC using regular A->C USB 3.1 Gen 2 cables while the Thunderbolt port is connected to a Thunderbolt -> 10GbE adapter. It works surprisingly well as the backup server it's intended to be, the main issue being that under very high I/O loads, the USB interfaces completely die for some reason I've been unable to ascertain and can't be recovered without rebooting.
I believe the second option would have been much more stable but also bulkier and more expensive.
There's also a third option: install an M2 to PCIe riser in the NUC and connect a HBA to the NUC directly. using a process like this [0]. This is a bit too frankenstein for me.
However I want to emphasise very strongly that I don't recommend doing this. There are tons of much better options around. HP's MicroServer line in particular is definitely worth thinking about but also you can stack ODROID HC2s if you're interested in Ceph or GlusterFS and there are plenty of small PC cases that can hold 4 3.5" drives and a motherboard.
[0]: https://ganon.club/index.php/2019/04/04/getting-10gbps-on-a-skull-canyon-nuc-without-thunderbolt-3-ngff-to-pcie-x4-riser/ https://ganon.club/index.php/2019/04/04/getting-10gbps-on-a-...
- vbezhenar 7y agoThanks! I'm using HP Microserver right now, but for various reasons I'm thinking to get something else. They released 10 Plus version, so I'm comparing alternatives. Your second variant definitely sounds very interesting as it should be possible to upgrade NUC independently. I wonder if USB or Thunderbolt connections are considered reliable for 24/7 use.
- Youden 7y ago> I wonder if USB or Thunderbolt connections are considered reliable for 24/7 use. I think Thunderbolt should be fine since it's essentially PCIe. USB so far has been okay as long as you don't push it too hard. When the throughput gets too high it dies.
- scottlamb 7y ago> there are plenty of small PC cases that can hold 4 3.5" drives and a motherboard. Can you recommend one? In a quick newegg search [1], I see the Fractal Design Node 304 for $90 + whatever a PSU costs. Anything cheaper? I also see a 3-bay COOLER MASTER Elite 110 for $50. I've been writing NVR software [2] and am trying to put together hardware recommendations for a small, inexpensive machine. * The ultra low budget option is a Raspberry Pi + a 2-bay USB SATA dock. It works surprisingly well most of the time, but cheap USB-attached storage is a little sketchy. I've had corruption a couple times and suspect the dock. * I'd like something a step or two up that has the drives in the main case. The Helios64 looks attractive but I'd like to see what comparable x86_64-based options there are. The MicroServer you mentioned looks interesting also - not as pretty as the Helios64, not hot-swappable, a little pricier, but a lot more powerful. edit: this page [3] lists some nice cases also. More bays than I'm looking for but nice anyway. [1] https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?N=100007583%20600030561%20600030562%20600545970%20600030563&Order=PRICE https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?N=100007583%20600030561%20600030... [2] https://github.com/scottlamb/moonfire-nvr https://github.com/scottlamb/moonfire-nvr [3] https://butterwhat.com/2019/06/16/brians-top-three-diy-nas-cases-as-of-2019.html https://butterwhat.com/2019/06/16/brians-top-three-diy-nas-c...
- ink_13 7y agoI've had a Fractal Design Node 304 for the last five years and it's been terrific. I put a Corsair PSU in it that only turns on its fan under load, so it runs silently just about all the time. I kept it under my TV for a while and it was completely inaudible while looking like it belonged there, and then after I moved it went into a corner of the bedroom (for wired access to the router) where it's been similarly unnoticeable.
- Youden 7y agoThe "canonical" options are the Fractal Design Node 304 and the Silverstone DS380B. If you're willing to go bigger and want more drives, take a look at this thread [0]. [0]: https://forums.serverbuilds.net/t/guide-nas-killer-4-0-fast-quiet-power-efficient-and-flexible-starting-at-125/667 https://forums.serverbuilds.net/t/guide-nas-killer-4-0-fast-...
- puzzlingcaptcha 7y agoHmm, I'd try something like http://www.iocrest.com/en/product_details594.html http://www.iocrest.com/en/product_details594.html + eSATA to external enclosure (probably custom 3d printed). These adapters are based on Marvell chips from what I remember and are quite reliable but tend to get warm. https://www.marvell.com/content/dam/marvell/en/public-collateral/storage/marvell-storage-88se92xx-product-brief-2012-04.pdf https://www.marvell.com/content/dam/marvell/en/public-collat...