Intel NUC-based 64TB home server

[brainiac88]

Intel Core i5 Rock Canyon NUC board
Bplus M.2 to PCIe adapter board
PCIe ribbon extension cable
2x 8GB DDR3L-1600
180GB M.2 SSD in a M.2 > SATA adapter
LSI 8-port SATA RAID card
8x HGST He8 8TB HDDs
Dell 12V 18A power supply
50W 12V to 5V buck regulator
Plexiglas panels, a bunch of 6-32 and 4-40 hardware
Panel-mount extension cables: 2x USB 3.0, Ethernet, HDMI
2x 120mm fans, momentary pushbutton, terminal strip
Windows 10 x64, Kodi, uTorrent, Skype

Usages:

• Kodi home theater playback (movies and sports via Cricfree)
• Home file server (hardware RAID-5)
• uTorrent downloader
• Magic Jack home phone host
• Skype auto-answer camera host
• Hauppauge HD PVR2 capture host

Of all the HTPCs I've built over the years, this has got to be the most power and space-efficient. Prior to this, I had a mid-tower ATX with a 35W i7-4785T. This new box consumes only half the volume of the mid-tower ATX.

The NUC board sports an i5-5250U CPU, fast enough for 4K playback, yet only has a 15W TDP. It's M.2 slot has 4x PCIe lanes which I've utilized to connect an off-the-shelf RAID card, and 8x monster HGST HDDs. I had to fab the power delivery and chassis myself, which wasn't too bad. All non-computer bits were purchased from eBay, Home Depot, and Ace Hardware. Next upgrade is to find an equally power-efficient RAID card. This one reaches 80C+!!!

 

[T_Minus]

I like the creativity, and design! Looks like it works for you.

It looks like a shorty 4U size judging by the 4 drive width & extra height, did you compare sizes to shorty 4U chassis ? Or is it misleading in depth and it's really 2x as short as a "short" 4U ?

Either way awesome build.

 

[markarr]

First off that looks great and a lot in a small package.

I personally would be worried about the 8 8tb in a raid 5, the rebuild time on that would be crazy and if they are all from the same batch the chances of failure are higher.

 

[archangel.dmitry]

Great work no comments there. But, I don't think plexiglas is a good base because it accumulates charge and dust. Dell does not make (re-brands) good power supplies, just my opinion. If it is your only server I would go with RAID6 at least.

I could wrong but you really need to make some ventilation holes in that box...

 

[T_Minus]

I did not see the RAID5 and 8TB I too would go to another RAID setup.


I'm curious about Plexiglass or Lexan for the build. I know their different but I'm not sure how they vary in terms of acceptability of static for a PC / electronic system as we only use Lexan for race windows.

FWIW I've yet to have a "cool" raid / HBA card :/

Another thought would be to setup the "HD TRAY" with fans pushing air from the front all the way out the back of the cabinet so very little heat stays in there. Another idea may be to mount the other hardawre spaced off the plexi above the HDs so the heat soak from the HD doesn't affect other components. Just my 02. (You could do a 'HD Air Tunnel' right out the back)

 

[neo]

I hope you install some fans into your cabinet to circulate air

Also, those PCIe extension ribbons are usually rated for PCIe 1.0 - I've seen it cause many phantom errors before.

 

[T_Minus]

I hope you install some fans into your cabinet to circulate air

Also, those PCIe extension ribbons are usually rated for PCIe 1.0 - I've seen it cause many phantom errors before.

@neo is there a reason they can't make PCIe 2.0 or 3.0 ribbon cable adapters?

 

[neo]

@neo is there a reason they can't make PCIe 2.0 or 3.0 ribbon cable adapters?

The longer the copper traces become, attenuation of the signal becomes an issue.

Interference and signal integrity also comes into play.

Motherboard PCB designers all put their boards through a certification. I can't say I've seen a certified PCIe 3.0 ribbon extension.

If it was low speed signaling it would be fine. Which is why there are rumors PCIe 4.0 (or higher) might be over fiber instead.

 

[Patriot]

A+ in a unique solution... not sure I would have thought to go this route over low voltage 1150 socket (they have a 13w tdp chip) but the fact you made it into a working solution is hella impressive.

 

[brainiac88]

Thanks for the great feedback! My replies:

• Dimensions are roughly 18" wide, 9" deep, 6" tall. Intention was for it to fit in with A/V components
• There are 2x 120mm blue LED fans on the back exhausting hot air. I put them in the back to minimize wind noise to the viewing / seating area. They are hooked up as 7V to further reduce noise. Steady-state testing shows that the airflow was enough to keep the HDDs, NUC board, and RAID card cool enough.
• The front panel has an array of 3/4" holes to let cool air in over the HDDs and the boards
• I fully understand the dust concerns. I used to live in a high-dust carpeted environment, but have since moved to a new place with industrial low-dust carpeting. Also, the RAID box is inside a cabinet with ventilation, to further minimize dust. One mod I was considering is a front-mounted electrostatic air-con air intake filter.
• The power supply is branded by Dell, but manufactured by Delta, probably the best PWM maker there is.
• I had similar concerns on the PCIe cable so I tested it with a high-end graphics card running at PCIe Gen3 speeds, playing some intense 3D. During my testing, no errors or artifacts were observed, so I went with it. Besides, this particular card just runs at PCIe Gen2.

 

[MiniKnight]

Wow that's great!!!!!!! How are the disks on vibration in that setup? Best post today IMO.

 

[brainiac88]

No noticeable vibration. I used nylon spacers to elevate the HDDs, and clear rubber adhesive feet on the bottom of the box. The only noise is the sound of the HDDs themselves seeking "crugg crugg crugg".

 

[T_Minus]

Thanks for the great feedback! My replies:

• Dimensions are roughly 18" wide, 9" deep, 6" tall. Intention was for it to fit in with A/V components
• There are 2x 120mm blue LED fans on the back exhausting hot air. I put them in the back to minimize wind noise to the viewing / seating area. They are hooked up as 7V to further reduce noise. Steady-state testing shows that the airflow was enough to keep the HDDs, NUC board, and RAID card cool enough.
• The front panel has an array of 3/4" holes to let cool air in over the HDDs and the boards
• I fully understand the dust concerns. I used to live in a high-dust carpeted environment, but have since moved to a new place with industrial low-dust carpeting. Also, the RAID box is inside a cabinet with ventilation, to further minimize dust. One mod I was considering is a front-mounted electrostatic air-con air intake filter.
• The power supply is branded by Dell, but manufactured by Delta, probably the best PWM maker there is.
• I had similar concerns on the PCIe cable so I tested it with a high-end graphics card running at PCIe Gen3 speeds, playing some intense 3D. During my testing, no errors or artifacts were observed, so I went with it. Besides, this particular card just runs at PCIe Gen2.

Thank you for addressing each point uniquely!! Those detail oriented among us really appreciate the specifics

• The 4U mini-chassis I mentioned is a standard 19 wide 18" deep and standard 4U/6.5 tall, for the record if for any reason you or anyone else wanted to go with a chassis 2x as deep that can accommodate a variety of motherboards, multiple add-on cards, 3x5.25" external + 3.5" internal... open up your RAM CPU, ETC choices/$$$ a lot, then again you could easily DIY it too onto your existing setup I'm sure.
  
  
• Awesome.
  You could always check into AV Rack Temp Sensor & Fan setups (Cheap) if you wanted to turn the fans off / on based on temps or air flow from smaller silent fans that ran 24/7.
  
  
• Try slots, and play with placement you will be surprised the difference
  
  
• I would like to know the brand of the PCIE cable if it's working so good, I have some usages ideas!

 

[Aluminum]

Give the LSI card direct airflow from a fan if you can, they are designed to be inside servers with decent cooling.

PCI ribbon cables can work fine with the newer generations, they are just less tolerant than the older specs so the shorter the better. The bus has error correction and detection so its not silent per se, you can probe things in linux if you reallllllllly want to confirm things are alright. (though its definitely not simple)

 

[canta]

nice!...
I have not good experience on plexiglass/plastic
getting bend in a long run and static (urgh.... humidity less 50%, watch out during winter season :|).
bending is the most problem that I encountered with my old build case from modded aluminum mac-pro case.
metal case is the best

I am waiting PCI-e ribbon for my intel i-340, and will stress the system to know any error.

If I were you, I would built:
1) 2U-4U short depth server case with heavy mod, metal rule!!!
2) put a rail inside the drawer, why? make easy to upgrade or troubleshooting
3) build DIY PWM fans controller that based on ambient-front intake/internal-drawer temperature to take hot from the drawer, this is easy to control PWM with DIY . * I did two times *.


but... I am a true believer on standard server rack that is disguised as a tv/top table . beauty from outside and beast from inside hahah


OOPS, I look on your last pic.. holly molly.. IKEA!!, I bet
IKEA modular system is easy to hack and has interchange front panel too!!!, and server case friendly

 

[canta]

....

• I would like to know the brand of the PCIE cable if it's working so good, I have some usages ideas!

I can answer that.
You can buy cheap from ebay,
the quality is not good, just cabling with 16X slots and pcb that connect to pci-e motherboard..

I planned to put hot glue on the soldering side to not let the soldering-cable joint bent more than 60 degree.

 

[neo]

• The front panel has an array of 3/4" holes to let cool air in over the HDDs and the boards

My previous comment regarding cabinet airflow was not directed towards your case, but your wooden furniture. Seems air would be stationary and non-circulating with the door closed.

 

[brainiac88]

My previous comment regarding cabinet airflow was not directed towards your case, but your wooden furniture. Seems air would be stationary and non-circulating with the door closed.

Right, sorry. The back of that particular section of the whole Ikea TV stand was taken out, so hot air can exhaust. As for intake, the front door is about 1/8" open so cool air can enter from the front. It is not noticeable at all. It has adjustable Ikea spring-loaded push/pop open door mechanisms.

Originally, I was going to bore big holes in the back and mount 120mm fans on the cabinet rear panels. But I decided to just leave it completely open. Visually does not make a difference.

 

[archangel.dmitry]

I think, it would make more sense to have a dedicated client to work with the TV. I would put server somewhere with better ventilation and accessibility.

 

[brainiac88]

I thought of that, but wanted to minimize the number of PCs running, and electric bill too. The server part is very rarely used anyway. What is used most often is the streaming, then Kodi, then Magic Jack, then Skype camera.