HP T630 SATA HBA options

[Blackarrow]

I have an HP T630 thin client and a couple of Seagate Ironwolf HDDs and would like to build a cheap NAS with TrueNAS. Of course the T630 doesn't have any SATA ports, so I need some kind of HBA to be able to connect the HDDs. So my questions are what's the best one to buy and would the ones I've listed below work at all? Keeping in mind the T630's motherboard has 2 available M.2 slots. One is the secondary SSD slot which is a standard M.2 E-key and the other one is the slot for the WIFI extension card which would accept an M.2 A+E module. So here are the options:

• DELOCK 62848 - Converter M.2 key a+E > 1 x miniPCIe (converter) + https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000009469874.html (HBA) - plugs into the WIFI card slot; preferred option as I can still close the T630 and would just need to cut out a hole in the back panel in order to pass through the mini SAS cable
• https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004685538198.html - plugs into the free SSD slot; great, but can't close the T630 and would need to leave it open

So would the converter + HBA work in the WIFI slot? AFAIK it's a PCIe slot, so it should definitely work as the HBA brings its own SATA controller (Marvell 88SE9215).

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[audiophonicz]

man... where were these things a couple years ago when I wanted to build a micro-cluster. Still havent found them in SFP+ yet tho. Of the 3 i like the Marvel one myself.

Out of curiosity how do you plan on powering the drives?

 

[Blackarrow]

man... where were these things a couple years ago when I wanted to build a micro-cluster. Still havent found them in SFP+ yet tho. Of the 3 i like the Marvel one myself.

Out of curiosity how do you plan on powering the drives?

Yes, I’d go with the Marvel as well, I’m just not sure it’ll work in the WiFi port. Wondering if someone’s done something similar…

Anyways - powering the drives is really simple. I plan on using one of these external power supplies NAVILOCK 41410 - Navilock 4-Pin Molex power supply that supplies both 5V and 12V through a Molex 4-pin connector. Then it’s a matter of using one of these adapters DELOCK 60100 - Molex 4 Pin male > SATA 15 Pin female 12 cm to convert it to a 15-pin SATA power cable and then using a splitter DELOCK 60395 - Power Cable, SATA Plug > 4x SATA Socket, 40 cm, Black so I can power multiple drives.

 

[MarcS]

@Blackarrow Did you ever implement this? How and where did you mount your harddisks? Did you cool the hds ? I want to build a similar nas but disk cooling is the issue.