4 ms·

I really wish there was a small NAS case that didn't look like a massive box. The QNAP/Synology 4 bay low power form factor is just killer for fitting into smal

by rhexs 5y ago

I really wish there was a small NAS case that didn't look like a massive box. The QNAP/Synology 4 bay low power form factor is just killer for fitting into small spaces, but if I could put a core i5 in one of those with some flash to get some more VMs going and run linux or some BSD distro, that'd be incredible. Smallest one I've found is https://www.u-nas.com/xcart/cart.php?target=product&product_id=17636 https://www.u-nas.com/xcart/cart.php?target=product&product_..., but not quite as compact as I'd hope. As I can't find DIY hardware like that, Synology looks to have a slightly more mature vulnerability response program than QNAP -- apparently they have a bounty? I've heard about less Synology flaws, so hopefully they're a slightly better choice on the software side.

aDfbrtVt 5y ago
I use one of these chassis [1], the form factor is great. Be mindful that some of the bracing blocks the pcie slot on some motherboards. [1] https://m.aliexpress.com/item/33038670915.html?spm=a2g0n.productlist.0.0.2f5d2239ttdnxK&browser_id=ac490f3a93854f28b901656d3c9a6790&aff_trace_key=&aff_platform=msite&m_page_id=1791fbd09fd5760c988818c25cc100a0b56712db9d&gclid=&_imgsrc_=ae01.alicdn.com%2Fkf%2FHTB1fBjjcwKG3KVjSZFLq6yMvXXaW.jpg_640x640Q90.jpg https://m.aliexpress.com/item/33038670915.html?spm=a2g0n.pro...
tremon 5y ago
I have this one at home: https://www.mini-itx.com/~NAS6 https://www.mini-itx.com/~NAS6 . It measures roughly 20x20x30 cm and can fit a standard mini-itx motherboard. Not as small as a dedicated ARM box, but the smallest I could find. Fitting the PSU is very fiddly though, there is hardly any space between the PSU and the HDD backplane.
- paol 5y ago
  Would you mind giving a quick review of the acoustic characteristics of the case? I'm looking to move away from a QNAP box, and one of the driving reasons is the horrible "hard-plastic hard-mount everything" design that couldn't amplify hard drive noise any more if they'd done it on purpose.
  - tremon 5y ago
    Hard-drive seek noise is not something you will avoid with this case. I can't comment on the stock fan configuration, because I replaced the PSU with a Corsair SF-450 and the fan with an Akasa 15mm PWM fan. The airflow is relatively ok, the exhaust fan is directly opposite (and pretty much centered on) the harddrive cage, and the backplane is organized in a 3x2 configuration so it leaves some room for air to pass between the drives. The motherboard is flat on the bottom of the case, so doesn't impede the airflow, but also doesn't benefit much from it. If you need lots of CPU power, an active fan on the cpu cooler is recommended. The drive cage itself and the trays are metal with hard-plastic rails, similar to QNAP, but the build quality is surprisingly solid. There's no audible resonance from the case due to the spinning drives. The case feet are padded with soft foam, vibrations don't travel from the case to the shelf it's resting on. I expect it will take a year for the foam to compress, but it's a nice touch. Other than that, yes, seek noise is pronounced. It's not something that bothers me because it's not in the living room, but I wouldn't want to put it next to my HTPC set. My main criticism is the chosen positon and form factor of the power supply: it's mounted at the same height as the drive cage and projects inwards, leaving almost no room for the hard disk connectors (angled molex connectors for HDD power are a must!). They should have used a Flex-ATX form factor instead of SFX, and mounted it length-wise across the case's back plane. I have half a mind to get a Dremel and do that myself, but the other half is winning out for now.
eightails 5y ago
A lot of people seem to use refurbished enterprise sff machines (optiplex micro, thinkcentre m, etc) for vms and similar, if your storage needs are more modest. I've also seen some run WD externals from them via the stock usb enclosures, although I'm not sure if running raid or the like on usb devices is a good idea.
jaidan 5y ago
The HP Gen10Plus Microserver might do what you're after [0]. I've been running the Gen 7 since January 2013 with Ubuntu 16.04 then 20.04. It's travelled between New Zealand, Australia and South Korea multiple times. The Russian BIOS enabled hotplug and took the speed restriction off the CD-ROM SATA port. I run a Sandisk SSD (purchased 2014) in the Cd rom bay and 3x 8GB WD Red (CMR) drives. The fourth bay I use for transferring or backing up other drives. I used Mdadm for software RAID as the "hardware RAID" needed special drivers and it was too hard at the time. I haven't played with the Gen10Plus yet but it'll probably be the direction I head instead of a NAS. They come with Xeon processors and 4 ethernet ports! [0] https://buy.hpe.com/au/en/servers/proliant-microserver/proliant-microserver/proliant-microserver/hpe-proliant-microserver-gen10-plus/p/1012241014 https://buy.hpe.com/au/en/servers/proliant-microserver/proli...
- rhexs 5y ago
  Wow, almost a perfect solution. Unfortunately, it doesn't support quicksync if you swap to a CPU that supports it. :(
vangelis 5y ago
U-Nas (https://www.u-nas.com/ https://www.u-nas.com/) makes compact NAS cases with bays. They sometimes have servers in stock too.

by rhexs 5y ago

aDfbrtVt 5y ago

I use one of these chassis [1], the form factor is great. Be mindful that some of the bracing blocks the pcie slot on some motherboards. [1] https://m.aliexpress.com/item/33038670915.html?spm=a2g0n.productlist.0.0.2f5d2239ttdnxK&browser_id=ac490f3a93854f28b901656d3c9a6790&aff_trace_key=&aff_platform=msite&m_page_id=1791fbd09fd5760c988818c25cc100a0b56712db9d&gclid=&_imgsrc_=ae01.alicdn.com%2Fkf%2FHTB1fBjjcwKG3KVjSZFLq6yMvXXaW.jpg_640x640Q90.jpg https://m.aliexpress.com/item/33038670915.html?spm=a2g0n.pro...

tremon 5y ago

I have this one at home: https://www.mini-itx.com/~NAS6 https://www.mini-itx.com/~NAS6 . It measures roughly 20x20x30 cm and can fit a standard mini-itx motherboard. Not as small as a dedicated ARM box, but the smallest I could find. Fitting the PSU is very fiddly though, there is hardly any space between the PSU and the HDD backplane.

paol 5y ago
Would you mind giving a quick review of the acoustic characteristics of the case? I'm looking to move away from a QNAP box, and one of the driving reasons is the horrible "hard-plastic hard-mount everything" design that couldn't amplify hard drive noise any more if they'd done it on purpose.
- tremon 5y ago
  Hard-drive seek noise is not something you will avoid with this case. I can't comment on the stock fan configuration, because I replaced the PSU with a Corsair SF-450 and the fan with an Akasa 15mm PWM fan. The airflow is relatively ok, the exhaust fan is directly opposite (and pretty much centered on) the harddrive cage, and the backplane is organized in a 3x2 configuration so it leaves some room for air to pass between the drives. The motherboard is flat on the bottom of the case, so doesn't impede the airflow, but also doesn't benefit much from it. If you need lots of CPU power, an active fan on the cpu cooler is recommended. The drive cage itself and the trays are metal with hard-plastic rails, similar to QNAP, but the build quality is surprisingly solid. There's no audible resonance from the case due to the spinning drives. The case feet are padded with soft foam, vibrations don't travel from the case to the shelf it's resting on. I expect it will take a year for the foam to compress, but it's a nice touch. Other than that, yes, seek noise is pronounced. It's not something that bothers me because it's not in the living room, but I wouldn't want to put it next to my HTPC set. My main criticism is the chosen positon and form factor of the power supply: it's mounted at the same height as the drive cage and projects inwards, leaving almost no room for the hard disk connectors (angled molex connectors for HDD power are a must!). They should have used a Flex-ATX form factor instead of SFX, and mounted it length-wise across the case's back plane. I have half a mind to get a Dremel and do that myself, but the other half is winning out for now.

eightails 5y ago

A lot of people seem to use refurbished enterprise sff machines (optiplex micro, thinkcentre m, etc) for vms and similar, if your storage needs are more modest. I've also seen some run WD externals from them via the stock usb enclosures, although I'm not sure if running raid or the like on usb devices is a good idea.

jaidan 5y ago

The HP Gen10Plus Microserver might do what you're after [0]. I've been running the Gen 7 since January 2013 with Ubuntu 16.04 then 20.04. It's travelled between New Zealand, Australia and South Korea multiple times. The Russian BIOS enabled hotplug and took the speed restriction off the CD-ROM SATA port. I run a Sandisk SSD (purchased 2014) in the Cd rom bay and 3x 8GB WD Red (CMR) drives. The fourth bay I use for transferring or backing up other drives. I used Mdadm for software RAID as the "hardware RAID" needed special drivers and it was too hard at the time. I haven't played with the Gen10Plus yet but it'll probably be the direction I head instead of a NAS. They come with Xeon processors and 4 ethernet ports! [0] https://buy.hpe.com/au/en/servers/proliant-microserver/proliant-microserver/proliant-microserver/hpe-proliant-microserver-gen10-plus/p/1012241014 https://buy.hpe.com/au/en/servers/proliant-microserver/proli...

rhexs 5y ago
Wow, almost a perfect solution. Unfortunately, it doesn't support quicksync if you swap to a CPU that supports it. :(

vangelis 5y ago

U-Nas (https://www.u-nas.com/ https://www.u-nas.com/) makes compact NAS cases with bays. They sometimes have servers in stock too.