Results 1 to 14 of 14

Thread: DIY NAS project..

  1. #1
    Account closed at user request
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Elephant watch camp
    Posts
    2,150
    Thanks
    56
    Thanked
    115 times in 103 posts
    • wasabi's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI B85M-G43
      • CPU:
      • i3-4130
      • Memory:
      • 8 gig DDR3 Crucial Rendition 1333 - cheap!
      • Storage:
      • 128 gig Agility 3, 240GB Corsair Force 3
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Zotac GTX 750Ti
      • PSU:
      • Silver Power SP-S460FL
      • Case:
      • Lian Li T60 testbanch
      • Operating System:
      • Win7 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • First F301GD Live
      • Internet:
      • Virgin cable 100 meg

    DIY NAS project..

    I'm considering recycling my old Acer Aspire Revo 3610 (ATOM 330 Dual Core box - see here for a pic). Plan is to make a low power basic NAS box.

    Looking to use something like FreeNAS ideally, but could use another distro or possible even buy a Win7 licenses if pushed. But I'd rather not.

    Main gotcha is connectivity for drives is a single esata cable (plus the one onboard). Really just want/need an single pair of mirrored drives. Performance doesn't have to be stellar so not too worired about the esata throughput, more concerne about how to connect two drives up via one cable and enable raid. Have seen devices such as this which look promising.

    Not sure about how far I can push this though before FreeNAS or linux distros refuse to recognise the drives...
    Last edited by wasabi; 21-11-2013 at 05:29 PM. Reason: typo

  2. #2
    root Member DanceswithUnix's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    In the middle of a core dump
    Posts
    12,978
    Thanks
    778
    Thanked
    1,586 times in 1,341 posts
    • DanceswithUnix's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus X470-PRO
      • CPU:
      • 5900X
      • Memory:
      • 32GB 3200MHz ECC
      • Storage:
      • 2TB Linux, 2TB Games (Win 10)
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Asus Strix RX Vega 56
      • PSU:
      • 650W Corsair TX
      • Case:
      • Antec 300
      • Operating System:
      • Fedora 39 + Win 10 Pro 64 (yuk)
      • Monitor(s):
      • Benq XL2730Z 1440p + Iiyama 27" 1440p
      • Internet:
      • Zen 900Mb/900Mb (CityFibre FttP)

    Re: DIY NAS project..

    With a "sata port multiplier", you can run multiple drives from a single sata port. Not tried it mind, I just went for a mini ITX AMD board with lots of SATA ports on so I can keep everything in a single neat box.

  3. Received thanks from:

    wasabi (21-11-2013)

  4. #3
    Account closed at user request
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Elephant watch camp
    Posts
    2,150
    Thanks
    56
    Thanked
    115 times in 103 posts
    • wasabi's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI B85M-G43
      • CPU:
      • i3-4130
      • Memory:
      • 8 gig DDR3 Crucial Rendition 1333 - cheap!
      • Storage:
      • 128 gig Agility 3, 240GB Corsair Force 3
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Zotac GTX 750Ti
      • PSU:
      • Silver Power SP-S460FL
      • Case:
      • Lian Li T60 testbanch
      • Operating System:
      • Win7 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • First F301GD Live
      • Internet:
      • Virgin cable 100 meg

    Re: DIY NAS project..

    Quote Originally Posted by DanceswithUnix View Post
    With a "sata port multiplier", you can run multiple drives from a single sata port. Not tried it mind, I just went for a mini ITX AMD board with lots of SATA ports on so I can keep everything in a single neat box.
    Thanks - looks promising - might even be able to go for RAID5 with something like this Not worried about looks/neatness - it'll be hidden away headless and out of sight, and the presence of the Revo means it'll be a bodge no matter what.

  5. #4
    Account closed at user request
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Elephant watch camp
    Posts
    2,150
    Thanks
    56
    Thanked
    115 times in 103 posts
    • wasabi's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI B85M-G43
      • CPU:
      • i3-4130
      • Memory:
      • 8 gig DDR3 Crucial Rendition 1333 - cheap!
      • Storage:
      • 128 gig Agility 3, 240GB Corsair Force 3
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Zotac GTX 750Ti
      • PSU:
      • Silver Power SP-S460FL
      • Case:
      • Lian Li T60 testbanch
      • Operating System:
      • Win7 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • First F301GD Live
      • Internet:
      • Virgin cable 100 meg

    Re: DIY NAS project..

    Update just in case anyone else tries this. According to this page the Revo doesn't support port multipliers. Think I might follow the suggestion of using a mini pcie sata card instead.

  6. #5
    Senior Member Bonebreaker777's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Herts, UK
    Posts
    2,035
    Thanks
    55
    Thanked
    203 times in 186 posts
    • Bonebreaker777's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI H97I AC
      • CPU:
      • Xeon 1225 v3 + Freezer 11 L
      • Memory:
      • 2 x 4GB 1600Mhz 1T-8-8-8-20 1.35V Crucial BallistiX Tactical VLP
      • Storage:
      • 128GB CRUCIAL MX100///XPEnology server + 3 x WD Purple 3TB
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Intel HD 4600
      • PSU:
      • be quiet! L8 300W PSU BN220
      • Case:
      • Cooler Master Elite 120
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 Pro 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • Samsung SyncMaster 226BW
      • Internet:
      • Virgin 100Mb

    Re: DIY NAS project..

    Hehe, I wouldn't have thought that even those exist > Mini PCIe to SATA

  7. #6
    Not a good person scaryjim's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Gateshead
    Posts
    15,196
    Thanks
    1,231
    Thanked
    2,291 times in 1,874 posts
    • scaryjim's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Dell Inspiron
      • CPU:
      • Core i5 8250U
      • Memory:
      • 2x 4GB DDR4 2666
      • Storage:
      • 128GB M.2 SSD + 1TB HDD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Radeon R5 230
      • PSU:
      • Battery/Dell brick
      • Case:
      • Dell Inspiron 5570
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10
      • Monitor(s):
      • 15" 1080p laptop panel

    Re: DIY NAS project..

    Impressive things, aren't they

    It looks like if you want RAID, you'll need to pay a bit more - the startech one for £35 looks pretty good (it's in stock at ebuyer).

    You know, these kinds of threads always end up with me finding something unreasonably cool to lust after: I'm quite impressed with this startech sata card:
    http://www.ebuyer.com/501705-4-port-...ink-pexsat34rh

    It comes with software SSD caching, using *up to 3 SSDs* to cache off your large HDD. That's pretty damn impressive, IMNSHO! Although distinctly off topic for this thread, of course - sorry!

  8. #7
    The late but legendary peterb - Onward and Upward peterb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Looking down & checking on swearing
    Posts
    19,378
    Thanks
    2,892
    Thanked
    3,403 times in 2,693 posts

    Re: DIY NAS project..

    Did you mean something more like this?

    http://www.misco.co.uk/productinfo/p...FSbHtAod3hwArg

    I guess the built in RAID is only with a Windows driver, but if you are planning on using a Linux distro, MDADM should give you a complete software RAID 1 solution with the card used as a plain SATA interface.
    (\__/)
    (='.'=)
    (")_(")

    Been helped or just 'Like' a post? Use the Thanks button!
    My broadband speed - 750 Meganibbles/minute

  9. #8
    Account closed at user request
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Elephant watch camp
    Posts
    2,150
    Thanks
    56
    Thanked
    115 times in 103 posts
    • wasabi's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI B85M-G43
      • CPU:
      • i3-4130
      • Memory:
      • 8 gig DDR3 Crucial Rendition 1333 - cheap!
      • Storage:
      • 128 gig Agility 3, 240GB Corsair Force 3
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Zotac GTX 750Ti
      • PSU:
      • Silver Power SP-S460FL
      • Case:
      • Lian Li T60 testbanch
      • Operating System:
      • Win7 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • First F301GD Live
      • Internet:
      • Virgin cable 100 meg

    Re: DIY NAS project..

    Quote Originally Posted by peterb View Post
    Did you mean something more like this?

    http://www.misco.co.uk/productinfo/p...FSbHtAod3hwArg

    I guess the built in RAID is only with a Windows driver, but if you are planning on using a Linux distro, MDADM should give you a complete software RAID 1 solution with the card used as a plain SATA interface.
    Yeah - although I found one on ebay using the same chipset that has vertical SATA connectors. Wondering whether it might be better to go for a similar card with USB3 instead though...

  10. #9
    The late but legendary peterb - Onward and Upward peterb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Looking down & checking on swearing
    Posts
    19,378
    Thanks
    2,892
    Thanked
    3,403 times in 2,693 posts

    Re: DIY NAS project..

    Using a SATA to USB caddy or other interface? I'had mixed results with USB3/SATA caddies, and why introduce another interface (unless you want USB3 for something else)?

    You could have the two RAID drives on the SATA card configured as RAID1, and then have the OS on a third disk on the existing port - so you are completely isolating data from the OS. If the OS drive fails, you don't have to worry about data integrity - if a data disk fails, you just replace it and rebuild the array.
    (\__/)
    (='.'=)
    (")_(")

    Been helped or just 'Like' a post? Use the Thanks button!
    My broadband speed - 750 Meganibbles/minute

  11. #10
    Account closed at user request
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Elephant watch camp
    Posts
    2,150
    Thanks
    56
    Thanked
    115 times in 103 posts
    • wasabi's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI B85M-G43
      • CPU:
      • i3-4130
      • Memory:
      • 8 gig DDR3 Crucial Rendition 1333 - cheap!
      • Storage:
      • 128 gig Agility 3, 240GB Corsair Force 3
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Zotac GTX 750Ti
      • PSU:
      • Silver Power SP-S460FL
      • Case:
      • Lian Li T60 testbanch
      • Operating System:
      • Win7 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • First F301GD Live
      • Internet:
      • Virgin cable 100 meg

    Re: DIY NAS project..


  12. #11
    Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Posts
    115
    Thanks
    8
    Thanked
    18 times in 14 posts

    Re: DIY NAS project..

    I just downloaded a new version of FreeNAS the other day. I'm wondering how it'll run off of a USB3 boot. I looked at this in order to keep the available SATA ports free for actual storage drives.

    Anyone booting from USB? In theory it should compare to a SATA-II but I'm interested to know if it's a waste of time to pursue.

  13. #12
    Registered+
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Posts
    21
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    2 times in 2 posts

    Re: DIY NAS project..

    Quote Originally Posted by badsyntax View Post
    I just downloaded a new version of FreeNAS the other day. I'm wondering how it'll run off of a USB3 boot. I looked at this in order to keep the available SATA ports free for actual storage drives.

    Anyone booting from USB? In theory it should compare to a SATA-II but I'm interested to know if it's a waste of time to pursue.
    It will run fine off a USB drive. Once FreeNAS has loaded it operates in RAM if I remember correctly.

    Another story would be activity logging and other read/write activities which are performed while OS running (for example if you have MySQL plugin+MySQL installed).

  14. #13
    Registered+
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Posts
    20
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts

    Re: DIY NAS project..

    There is also xpenology.com, which is based on the software synology use for their NAS's.

    I'm temped to put it on my proliant microserver n40l, but ideally i'd like something that is a bit lower in power consumption. My n40l and two drives uses ~27w on idle.

  15. #14
    Treasure Hunter extraordinaire herulach's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Bolton
    Posts
    5,618
    Thanks
    18
    Thanked
    172 times in 159 posts
    • herulach's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI Z97 MPower
      • CPU:
      • i7 4790K
      • Memory:
      • 8GB Vengeance LP
      • Storage:
      • 1TB WD Blue + 250GB 840 EVo
      • Graphics card(s):
      • 2* Palit GTX 970 Jetstream
      • PSU:
      • EVGA Supernova G2 850W
      • Case:
      • CM HAF Stacker 935, 2*360 Rad WC Loop w/EK blocks.
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 8.1
      • Monitor(s):
      • Crossover 290HD & LG L1980Q
      • Internet:
      • 120mb Virgin Media

    Re: DIY NAS project..

    Quote Originally Posted by bennyo View Post
    There is also xpenology.com, which is based on the software synology use for their NAS's.

    I'm temped to put it on my proliant microserver n40l, but ideally i'd like something that is a bit lower in power consumption. My n40l and two drives uses ~27w on idle.
    Somewhere between 10 and 15 W of that will be drives (WD Green 2TB is rated at 5.5W idle, Barracuda 2TB is 8W, I assume others are in that ballpark). So say 15W for the system itself. The new baytrail celerons are rated at a 10W tdp, the Turion in the N40L is 15. Its not unreasonable to assume that the ancilliary stuff is similar efficiency, maybe a bit better because its an SoC. So realistically you're looking at cutting power consumption from your current 27W to say 20W (15 for drives, 5 for the rest). At british gas standard tariff that will save you just short of £6/year in electricity. Use the hardware you have, buying new for such a small saving is pointless.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •