Dell Precision 3280 Compact 5 NVMe 10GbE NAS conversion

[RomHeu]

Hi!

Long time lurker, new subscriber!

I'm upgrading my WAN and LAN from 1G to 10G, so I need/want to replace my Synology DS218+ with 12TB of available storage with an all-flash NAS/hypervisor with 10G networking (RJ45 or SFP+).

I already own a Dell Precision 3280 Compact and I wonder if I could convert it. It has 1 M.2 WiFi slot, 2 M.2 2280 slots, 1 PCIe x1 slot and 1 PCIe x8 slot (both x16 physical).

How can I fit 1x OS NVMe, 4x 4TB NVMes and 1x 10G adapter inside of this?

Maybe a low profile PCIe x8 to 4 M.2 slots with a bifurcation chip, and a M.2 to 10G adapter?

I can't find a modern PCIe 4.0 x8 to 4 M.2 card that would fit the case, and I'm not sure about the implications of such a setup.

Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[RolloZ170]

and 1x 10G adapter inside of this?

and a M.2 to 10G adapter?

PCIe 2.0 = 5GTs 0,5Gbs
PCIe 3.0 = 8GTs 1Gbs
better a PCIe card in the x1 slot

I can't find a modern PCIe 4.0 x8 to 4 M.2 card that would fit the case, and I'm not sure about the implications of such a setup.

4x 2 lanes bifurcation possible ?
if not you need a card with a switch
( PCIe x 8 to 4 Port M.2 NVMe SSD-Switch-Adapter )

 

[RomHeu]

The 2 slots on the riser are x8 and x1.

I can't find of which generation. I assume they are PCIe 4.0 or 5.0, because that's what the i7-14700 CPU supports.

So I would use a PCIe 4.0 x8 card with a PCIe switch (PLX or equivalent) with 4 M.2 2280 slots.
I "just" need one that fits the Dell 3280 Compact: half height/low profile and less than Xcm long.
Any suggestion?

Regarding 10G networking:
Assuming the PCIe x1 slot is PCIe 4.0, it's 16GT/s or 2GB/s, which would be enough for 10GbE. But as far as what I can find, PCIe cards with 1x 10GbE port are PCIe 3.0 x4 at best. Why is that? Such a card in the PCIe 4.0 x1 slot would work at PCIe 3.0 x1 speeds, which is 8GT/s or 1GB/s, so PCIe bandwidth would be the bottleneck, which isn't ideal.
Whereas an M.2 slot is usually x4, isn't it? I assume they are PCIe 4.0 or at least PCIe 3.0 in this system, so perfect for a 10G card?

 

[RolloZ170]

Whereas an M.2 slot is usually x4, isn't it?

do not expect you can use a M.2 NVMe slot for normal PCIe devices.
the two M.2 can Raid. so i expect you can't use them for 10G NIC (not sure)

 

[RomHeu]

Why shouldn't I expect to use one of the M.2 NVMe slots for a 10GbE adapter?
RAID is an option in the BIOS, but you can set them both as plain PCIe.
Patrick from STH often suggests using M.2 slots for network adapters in his videos, and contrary to the PCIe x8 to 4 M.2 low profile card, indeed a M.2 to 10GbE RJ45 is easy to find.

 

[RolloZ170]

Why shouldn't I expect to use one of the M.2 NVMe slots for a 10GbE adapter?

if the BIOS expects an NVMe device. just try
but its not unusual if that doesn't work.

RAID is an option in the BIOS, but you can set them both as plain PCIe.

if that is so it should work. i saw Raid and AHCI, not a 3rd option.

 

[RomHeu]

NVMe drives aren't AHCI.
If you saw AHCI for NVMe slots, it actually means native PCIe.

Anyway, that goes back to my quest for a low profile PCIe 4.0 x8 card to 4 M.2 slots with PCIe switch.
Or any other suggestion for my project!

 

[pimposh]

My Precisions 3460 do not support bifurcation and i neither yours 3280 support it.
There are no 4gen PLXed PCI-e carriers supporting 4gen drives that are fitting your chassis.

If you still want to use 3280 - aside from cooling issues - it might fit in on some generic carrier board.

Viking thingie

 

[RolloZ170]

NVMe drives aren't AHCI.
If you saw AHCI for NVMe slots, it actually means native PCIe.

PCIe SSD can be NVMe or AHCI

 

[louie1961]

I think what you want is not doable. What you could do is put 2 of these into your PC https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-RIITOP-Expansion-Chipset-ASM1166/dp/B0D8BCWHPT?th=1

Then throw a 10gbe NIC into the PCI 8X slot. 12 SATA drives will easily saturate your 10 network. Even better if you use SSD SATA drives. The only problem might be how to power all those SATA drives.