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This is lovely, and it handles three of the largest problems with using SBCs for NAS: 1) Stability due to power delivery. Having dedicated, local power deliver

This is lovely, and it handles three of the largest problems with using SBCs for NAS: 1) Stability due to power delivery. Having dedicated, local power delivery can make a HUGE difference with SBCs. 2) Reliability of SD card media. Spinning rust, or even real SSDs, are worlds more reliable than SD cards. If an SD card is used just for booting, then it'll last forever. 3) Overall reliability of stored data. Having two drives in a proper mirror is definitely desirable. It matches my criteria for my own colocated 1U Raspberry Pi server. Mine has additional criteria: I have another Pi for OOB serial and remote reset, an ethernet switch so I don't have to pay extra for a separate drop, and USB-3 to SATA adapters with UASP because the Pi 4 supports USB-3 (> 200MB/sec per drive, simultaneously). https://twitter.com/AnachronistJohn/status/1551599800453308417 https://twitter.com/AnachronistJohn/status/15515998004533084...

ilyt 4y ago
> It matches my criteria for my own colocated 1U Raspberry Pi server. Mine has additional criteria: I have another Pi for OOB serial and remote reset, an ethernet switch so I don't have to pay extra for a separate drop, and USB-3 to SATA adapters with UASP because the Pi 4 supports USB-3 (> 200MB/sec per drive, simultaneously). That doesn't seem worth it compared to just buying some old used server, especially if you going to get separate pi just for oob. Hell, currently on ovh/kimsufi $6/mo gives you 2c/4t atom with 1TB of disk and 4GB of RAM I pay ~10 eur for colocated 2c/4t atom with 2TB
- johnklos 4y ago
  It's not worth it to you, but it's worth it to me. See, I know that my hardware is secure. I don't have to worry about bullsh*t closed-stack IPMI / iLO that requires a specific JVM from a decade ago. My server takes less power than "some old used server", which means I pay less money, anyway. Also, my server is my own hardware that I own. Is your €10 a month "2c/4t atom" your own hardware, or is it a "dedicated server" that is controlled and managed by OVH / Kimsufi? If the latter, then how do you know it's secure? You don't. You have to trust OVH / Kimsufi. Real, owned hardware is not comparable to "dedicated servers" when it comes to security. What's fine for you isn't fine for me. I actually care about who has direct access to the systems I run.
  - cuu508 4y ago
    Regarding the rented hardware, is your main complaint the remote management features? In terms of physical security, I don't think there would be much difference between rented and owned hardware.
    - johnklos 4y ago
      If I rent hardware, I have no real way of knowing whether remote management is accessible by other people, nor whether it has been secured properly. At least with hardware I own, I know every part of it has been configured by me and by nobody else. Of course rented hardware, where the customer has full control of a whole system, is preferable to any sort of "dedicated server", but IPMI / iLO is, quite literally, a hardware back door. Yes, the biggest issue is the remote management.
      - EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 4y ago
        What's the problem? I backup all my data to a Hetzner storage box, but I encrypt everything on my side before sending. They can peek at my files all day long.
        johnklos 4y ago
        I'm not just backing up my data. I'm colocating a whole server that does lots of different things, some which I'd like to keep private and safe.
        turtleyacht 4y ago
        Do you have anything detecting if the hardware has been tampered with? 2U servers are really noisy, but colocating is expensive. I thought a server made out of Pi's would make it more affordable to keep at home, if anything. It's a wonderful arrangement you have there. I'm embarrassed to say my idea of a cluster is a handful of netbooks.
gorgoiler 4y ago
You’d probably want ECC memory in a NAS host, as well as IO and CPU performance that can handle an overnight zpool scrub for whatever amount of important data you have (baby photos yes; Sailor Moon archive no.) If your NAS also handles offsite backups and you’re using something like borg or rsync then that too is going to require quite a lot of compute to be able to checksum entire filesystems. Are there SBCs that have these features? I would be surprised (but delighted) if there were any.
- Tijdreiziger 4y ago
  Most off-the-shelf NAS boxes do not have ECC.
  - gorgoiler 4y ago
    I should have added that if you do want a NAS host with ECC then the HPE ProLiant Gen10 is a good platform. Instead of drive caddies you screw little bosses into your drive and they slot right into the front bays. Not hot swappable though. The advantage of hot swapping is that, in a data centre, your ops team doesn’t have to coordinate with your server admin team so that the host is powered off at the exact same time as the operator comes past your rack with a trolley of new disks. Hot swappable means new disks can be added without having to synchronise the host being shut down. If you’re doing this at home it’s easier to coordinate your admin (you) running sudo poweroff right before site operations (also you) comes around with a new drive.
candiodari 4y ago
You go through the trouble of redundant power and serial but refuse to spring for a second ethernet port? Strange.
- johnklos 4y ago
  There's nothing strange about that. Why pay $10 a month extra for something that can be eliminated with $20 worth of hardware?

ilyt 4y ago

> It matches my criteria for my own colocated 1U Raspberry Pi server. Mine has additional criteria: I have another Pi for OOB serial and remote reset, an ethernet switch so I don't have to pay extra for a separate drop, and USB-3 to SATA adapters with UASP because the Pi 4 supports USB-3 (> 200MB/sec per drive, simultaneously). That doesn't seem worth it compared to just buying some old used server, especially if you going to get separate pi just for oob. Hell, currently on ovh/kimsufi $6/mo gives you 2c/4t atom with 1TB of disk and 4GB of RAM I pay ~10 eur for colocated 2c/4t atom with 2TB

johnklos 4y ago
It's not worth it to you, but it's worth it to me. See, I know that my hardware is secure. I don't have to worry about bullsh*t closed-stack IPMI / iLO that requires a specific JVM from a decade ago. My server takes less power than "some old used server", which means I pay less money, anyway. Also, my server is my own hardware that I own. Is your €10 a month "2c/4t atom" your own hardware, or is it a "dedicated server" that is controlled and managed by OVH / Kimsufi? If the latter, then how do you know it's secure? You don't. You have to trust OVH / Kimsufi. Real, owned hardware is not comparable to "dedicated servers" when it comes to security. What's fine for you isn't fine for me. I actually care about who has direct access to the systems I run.
- cuu508 4y ago
  Regarding the rented hardware, is your main complaint the remote management features? In terms of physical security, I don't think there would be much difference between rented and owned hardware.
  - johnklos 4y ago
    If I rent hardware, I have no real way of knowing whether remote management is accessible by other people, nor whether it has been secured properly. At least with hardware I own, I know every part of it has been configured by me and by nobody else. Of course rented hardware, where the customer has full control of a whole system, is preferable to any sort of "dedicated server", but IPMI / iLO is, quite literally, a hardware back door. Yes, the biggest issue is the remote management.
    - EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 4y ago
      What's the problem? I backup all my data to a Hetzner storage box, but I encrypt everything on my side before sending. They can peek at my files all day long.
      - johnklos 4y ago
        I'm not just backing up my data. I'm colocating a whole server that does lots of different things, some which I'd like to keep private and safe.
        turtleyacht 4y ago
        Do you have anything detecting if the hardware has been tampered with? 2U servers are really noisy, but colocating is expensive. I thought a server made out of Pi's would make it more affordable to keep at home, if anything. It's a wonderful arrangement you have there. I'm embarrassed to say my idea of a cluster is a handful of netbooks.

gorgoiler 4y ago

You’d probably want ECC memory in a NAS host, as well as IO and CPU performance that can handle an overnight zpool scrub for whatever amount of important data you have (baby photos yes; Sailor Moon archive no.) If your NAS also handles offsite backups and you’re using something like borg or rsync then that too is going to require quite a lot of compute to be able to checksum entire filesystems. Are there SBCs that have these features? I would be surprised (but delighted) if there were any.

Tijdreiziger 4y ago
Most off-the-shelf NAS boxes do not have ECC.
- gorgoiler 4y ago
  I should have added that if you do want a NAS host with ECC then the HPE ProLiant Gen10 is a good platform. Instead of drive caddies you screw little bosses into your drive and they slot right into the front bays. Not hot swappable though. The advantage of hot swapping is that, in a data centre, your ops team doesn’t have to coordinate with your server admin team so that the host is powered off at the exact same time as the operator comes past your rack with a trolley of new disks. Hot swappable means new disks can be added without having to synchronise the host being shut down. If you’re doing this at home it’s easier to coordinate your admin (you) running sudo poweroff right before site operations (also you) comes around with a new drive.

candiodari 4y ago

You go through the trouble of redundant power and serial but refuse to spring for a second ethernet port? Strange.

johnklos 4y ago
There's nothing strange about that. Why pay $10 a month extra for something that can be eliminated with $20 worth of hardware?