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Advice with motherboard and sata card


maelstorm

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Hello;

 

I want to make a new Xpenology NAS, and I need some advice about.

 

I need a mini-itx motherboard with CPU and a passive cooled system and an expansion sata card with (at least) 8 ports. I don´t need all ports to make a RAID, just only to add HDDs.

 

Can you tell me a good choice fully compatible with xpenology?

 

Thanks in advance.

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if you are looking for 8 ports or 8 HDDs, then even the build-in on board SATA from most mini-ITX motherboards will suffice.

the RAID is not done at the hardware level (RAID card), it's done by DSM at the software level, that's why even the on board SATA will work without problem.

 

Any current Intel based mini- ITX boards are safe, just look for one with 8 SATA ports, most are only 6 SATA ports.

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Any current Intel based mini- ITX boards are safe, just look for one with 8 SATA ports, most are only 6 SATA ports.

 

That´s the point. Most are with just 4 (some with 6) sata ports. You have things like: http://www.asrockrack.com/general/produ ... ifications but I´s a bit expensive and I only need for storage purpose (maybe streaming)

 

 

I want 10-12 HDDs (6-8 with SATA card and 4-6 on board). I was thinking about a nortmal ATX board with more onboard SATA ports, but for only a NAS for storage and looking for a good power compsuption with no virtualization I think an ATX will be a waste of resources. What´s your opinion about?

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I want 10-12 HDDs (6-8 with SATA card and 4-6 on board). I was thinking about a nortmal ATX board with more onboard SATA ports, but for only a NAS for storage and looking for a good power compsuption with no virtualization I think an ATX will be a waste of resources. What´s your opinion about?

 

if you are open to the idea of ATX, then can suggest this one, as I'm using exactly that

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P10S-WS/

 

power consumption is not so much on the motherboard but rather the CPU + HDD

 

your 500w PSU will not be pulling 500w every second, it'll only use as much as needed a typical CPU is 55w + 8 HDDs (7w x 8) 56w

even if you include RAM and whatever the MB actually uses, it won't be more than 150w average

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I want 10-12 HDDs (6-8 with SATA card and 4-6 on board). I was thinking about a nortmal ATX board with more onboard SATA ports, but for only a NAS for storage and looking for a good power compsuption with no virtualization I think an ATX will be a waste of resources. What´s your opinion about?

 

if you are open to the idea of ATX, then can suggest this one, as I'm using exactly that

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P10S-WS/

 

power consumption is not so much on the motherboard but rather the CPU + HDD

 

your 500w PSU will not be pulling 500w every second, it'll only use as much as needed a typical CPU is 55w + 8 HDDs (7w x 8) 56w

even if you include RAM and whatever the MB actually uses, it won't be more than 150w average

 

I´m really open-mind and you´re right about power consumption. I think an ATX motherboard can be an interesting option (I really like the 8 onboard sata ports)... but the one you say it´s a little expensive for only a NAS usage. Motherboard+CPU Vs a small mITX... isnt´?

 

Another option more afordable, maybe?

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Maybe a MicroATX board, this one only has 2x SATA on-board, but has 3 PCI-e slots for additional adapters...

 

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-n3 ... d-graphics

 

Note: I believe that the N3150 is being replaced by the N3160 - they're the essentially the same CPU, but the earlier version had some issue with it's microcode. You might want to hang around for more N3160 board versions to hit the market.

 

Or there's a J3160 board here...

 

http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/int ... p?S_ID=838

 

P.S. I ran Xepenology successfully for several years on this fanless MSI board...

 

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/C847MS- ... o-overview

 

It's perfectly adequate for general NAS duties, I only upgraded to a Xeon server because I wanted extra grunt to play with vSphere and transcode in Plex.

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Maybe a MicroATX board, this one only has 2x SATA on-board, but has 3 PCI-e slots for additional adapters...

 

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-n3 ... d-graphics

 

Note: I believe that the N3150 is being replaced by the N3160 - they're the essentially the same CPU, but the earlier version had some issue with it's microcode. You might want to hang around for more N3160 board versions to hit the market.

 

 

You´re right... it´s cheap and the PCI expansion slots are a real UP.... interesting. Thank you :eek:

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What do you think.. will this work with Xpenology?

 

https://www.amazon.com/Ableconn-PEX10-S ... nsion+sata

 

It´s a cheap optio for just a JBOD. Isn´t?

 

depends if...

 

Chipset: ASMedia ASM1062 + 2x JMicron JMB575

 

...is supported by Xpenology. If it uses SATA port multiplication, then it almost certainly won't work.

 

Damm... it was cheap for 10 SATA ports :lol:

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The N3150M-E is nice choice if you install an extra 8 port SATA controller to it

 

but I've always been skeptical of the SoC motherboards, basically if the CPU dies, or the motherboard dies, for whatever reason, then you'll have to replace the whole thing again.

 

that's why I always got with regular motherboard, then pair it up with a low power consumption CPU like Celeron or i3

 

One thing to keep in mind, SOME motherboards doesn't like it when you install SATA/SAS cards in the video card PCIEx16 slot, but otherwise works fine on other PCIE slots, since that motherboard only has 1 PCIEx16 slot, it'll be a luck of the draw to see if it accepts SAS/SATA controller on it.

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What do you think.. will this work with Xpenology?

 

https://www.amazon.com/Ableconn-PEX10-S ... nsion+sata

 

It´s a cheap optio for just a JBOD. Isn´t?

 

depends if...

 

Chipset: ASMedia ASM1062 + 2x JMicron JMB575

 

...is supported by Xpenology. If it uses SATA port multiplication, then it almost certainly won't work.

 

Damm... it was cheap for 10 SATA ports :lol:

 

there were a few other threads in the forum that confirmed port multiplication is not support in XPEnology, most models will not work.

 

it will only see the original 4 ports, the rest will be ignored, if using multiplicators.

 

try this one which I'm using http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... 6816101792

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but I've always been skeptical of the SoC motherboards, basically if the CPU dies, or the motherboard dies, for whatever reason, then you'll have to replace the whole thing again.

 

that's why I always got with regular motherboard, then pair it up with a low power consumption CPU like Celeron or i3

 

So you prefer the option that is more expensive, more difficult to troubleshoot and to repair?

 

If the SoC board fails, you replace it, either under warranty or with a much newer board if it's old.

 

In your prefered option; you need to work out if is the CPU or the motherboard that blown - in which case you need either a spare motherboard or CPU (or both) to confirm the faulty component to be replaced. If the faulty component is under warranty, then you wait for a replacement. If it's not, you have to decide if it worth investing more money in an old platform or ditching it for a whole new setup.

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That's the part I've no problem with, I always have plenty of spare parts to swap around.

 

People gets rid of their old PCs for new PCs, and I recycle them all for other causes, so spare parts are abundant.

 

Turning them into NAS devices is one of the better option for slower machines, machines that are a little faster, I load them up with Edubuntu (Ubuntu for education) and donate them to schools for little kids.

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That's the part I've no problem with, I always have plenty of spare parts to swap around.

 

People gets rid of their old PCs for new PCs, and I recycle them all for other causes, so spare parts are abundant.

 

Turning them into NAS devices is one of the better option for slower machines, machines that are a little faster, I load them up with Edubuntu (Ubuntu for education) and donate them to schools for little kids.

 

Ah, now I understand. Your advice was predicated on the unstated assumption that Maelstrom should take up PC recycling as a hobby and means of philanthropy. In that case, I agree with everything you said.

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Thank you for all your advices, but after a couple of weeks of research, I think the most convenient it´s something like that, a micro-ATX motherboard.

 

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-n3 ... d-graphics

 

The small form factor and the 3 PCI slots are a real up for a future expansion with sata cards like http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... 6816101792

 

I will buy a normal and cheap case https://www.amazon.es/NOX-NXCBAYVXW-ord ... +NXCBAYVXW

 

 

Maybe AllGamer is right about the classic MOBO with CPU, but for something fast, easy and simple... an integrated "all in one non expensive" motherboard it´s a real interesting option. Like all others, time to compare and choose it´s the thing we don´t have so much :grin:

 

 

As berwhale says, I´m expecting with this MOBO viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16071 but I think it´s have several lacks:

.- Only 1 slot for RAM

.- NO PCI slots

. 7 SATA ports with Marwell 88se9235 and 5 SATA ports with Marwell 88se9705... I don´t know if this last one it´s fully compatile :???:

 

 

Thank you both of you!

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