wiki/new_nas_build_2023.md

NAS upgrade

Old NAS was that Supermicro embedded Intel Atom board that randomly has the cap fail and won't boot anymore. Still working, but the disk array is getting slow for the torture I put it through with beets to organize my music. Works fine for everything else (jellyfin movies, navidrome (subsonic) music, forgejo git, and other random services). I also want to move this in to a small music/desktop rack to save space and finally organize the cable mess. The current build is 3.5" metal drives so that won't fit in any useful case. Let's redo this with flash and see if we can keep things in a reasonable size and price combination (Icy Dock looks so nice, but makes the wallet cry).

Things that are probably going in the build

Motherboard

This is the secondary item driving the build. If we can fit in mATX (instead of full ATX) we have more case flexibility. Can we get all our options with mATX though? Traditionally I went for mITX motherboards however I want mATX this time around as the footprint isn't substantially larger and changes little in rackmount case options while I gain access to 2-3 PCIE x16 slots as opposed to 1 PCIE x16 on mITX. Of interest is some AMD mATX motherboards bring 3 PCIE x16 slots to the table now.

• https://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=ROMED8U-2T

  • mATX, 10GBE, 3x PCIE 4.0, 8 DIMMs ECC ($540)
  • Only Intel 10GBE controllers?
  • https://www.newegg.com/asrock-rack-romed8u-2t-support-amd-epyc-7003-and-7002-series-processors-a-bios-update-is-required/p/N82E16813140074

• https://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=ROMED8-2T/BCM

  • ATX, 10GBE, 7x PCIE 4.0, 8 DIMMs
  • Intel/BCM variants

CPU

Probably AMD. Arm with Ampere would be cool, but motherboard support isn't really here yet. Maybe next year. Ampere is probably better suited for a build server than a NAS though.

• https://www.amd.com/en/products/specifications/processors

• https://en.wikichip.org/wiki/amd/microarchitectures/zen_2#All_Zen_2_Chips

• https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?N=100008494%20601306856%20601318605%20600048874%20601342356%208000%20600048545%20600048544%20600252262&Order=1

  • 7252 8/16 @ 120W ($380)
    • https://www.newegg.com/amd-epyc-7252-socket-sp3/p/N82E16819113642?Item=N82E16819113642&SoldByNewegg=1
  • 7262 8/16 @ 155W ($560)
  • 7272 12/24 @ 120W ($630)
    • https://www.newegg.com/amd-epyc-7272-socket-sp3/p/N82E16819113641?Item=N82E16819113641&SoldByNewegg=1
  • Everything else is $900+

Drive carriers and HBAs

M2 NVME drives are really cheap right now for some reason. Could update to SATA flash, but if we can put together a NVME-capable system without a premium, why not take that huge speed bump? They're also way smaller as we want a bunch to make a raid. Kioxia 16-32TB drives are attractive, but there is a premium for their density rather than a discount and they're incredibly hard to source. Also, if one fails, you're out the full $1.500 instead of replacing a single $200 M2.

• https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/multi-nvme-m-2-u-2-adapters-that-do-not-require-bifurcation.31172/
  • PCIE 4.0 x16 -> 2 x4 M2
  • PCIE 4.0 x16 -> 4 x4 M2
  • Proper PCIE controller bridge M2 carrier cards.
  • Don't need PCIE bifurcation support.
  • Minor latency hit. We're not buying Optanes so it doesn't matter.
• https://www.microcenter.com/product/618566/asus-hyper-m2-x16-gen-4-card
  • https://www.asus.com/us/motherboards-components/motherboards/accessories/hyper-m-2-x16-gen-4-card/techspec/
  • PCIE 4.0 x16 -> 4 x4 M2 ($90)
  • VERY LONG!!! (27cm)
  • Might be a full height card? Seems to be 3U tall?
  • PCIE bridge card. Uses southbridge bifurcation.
  • Don't get the old PCIE 3.0 version.
• https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1779997-REG/sabrent_ec_p4bf_4_drive_nvme_m_2_ssd.html/overview
  • PCIE 4.0 x16 -> 4 x4 M2 ($100)
  • Shorter, but also full height?
  • PCIE bridge card. Uses southbridge bifurcation.
• https://www.newegg.com/p/14G-00RG-00009
  • PCIE 4.0 x16 -> 4 x4 M2 ($40)
  • 2U, slot length, swappable brackets for both PCIE heights.
  • No fans, needs heatsink and active cooling.
  • Perfect option?
  • PCIE bridge card. Uses southbridge bifurcation.

Drives

• https://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?Ntk=all&sortby=match&N=4294945779+4294818519+670+4294810863&myStore=true
  • 4TB ($225)

Case/chassis

I've got a Fractal Node 304 currently which fits 6x 3.5" drives. Excluding some short-depth 2U cases that is the smallest volume case for such a build. Moving to 2.5" SSDs or M2s opens up a lot of interesting 1U and 2U case options. If you have access to the tools to both 3D print and work acrylic you can make some very interesting and very small custom cases.

I'm going with a rackable case to combat cable mess. Unfortunately when you add "rack" or "server" to your components, it comes with a huge markup, so finding parts with the feature matrix you need combined with a normal price becomes a challenge. Also note that that even at any price point, some features are simply hard to find. The goal is medium or short-depth, 27" depth cases are just excessively long. Even with a full ATX board 21-24" is much more reasonable for non-datacenter use.

When searching for rack mount cases note that 5" drive bays are meant to be repurposed with an internal cage, either vendor supplied or by many third-party companies such as Icy Dock. Simply sorting for 8+ 2.5" drive bays returns very few attractive results vs searching for 3x 5" open bays. 2U cases can fit a full sized ATX (desktop) power supply while 1U cases need a SFX power supply. Supermicro sells 1U and 2U server power supplies with a "quiet" suffix code. Youtube suggests these are indeed pretty quiet options which won't need a Noctua 40mm fan mod.

• http://www.plinkusa.net/2u.htm
  • Plink has the best selection of medium and short-depth rackable cases outside of Alibaba.
  • Case options for PCIE riser cards if you need a full-height card.
  • Most models built to 5" open bay and Plink sells cages. Every hot-swappable storage option you need here.

2U M2 cases

• http://www.plinkusa.net/web2022m.htm
  • 15" mATX/mITX
  • 2x 5" open
  • 2x 3.5" internal (floats over PCIE cards, check dimensions.)
  • http://www.plinkusa.net/webG2380D.htm
    • LCD version with front panel. Might restrict airflow?

2U 3.5" cases

• http://www.plinkusa.net/webITX-S2082.htm
  • 18" mITX
  • 8x 3.5"
  • 2x 2.5" on internal shelf
• http://www.plinkusa.net/webS2082M.htm
  • 21.5" mATX/mITX
  • 8x 3.5"
  • 2x 2.5" on internal shelf

1U

PCIE half-height cards can't fit in 1U. Some dual-ssd carriers exist that should fit upright in a 1U, but that reduces you to 6x drives and no extra slot for connectivity upgrades. If I find any interesting PCIE extender cable solutions, I'll update this list.

Cool toys that won't make it

These things are either too expensive or don't work at the right size but might be useful for someone else.

• https://global.icydock.com/product_363.html
  • Would love some of these. About $1.000 in. Also need a NVME HBA and cables ($100/pop?).
• https://americas.kioxia.com/en-us/business/ssd/data-center-ssd.html
  • CD8 series, 16/32TB 2.5"
  • Can't source direct and ebay has limited stock.
  • Markup for density.