Hello all,
Previously...
Chassis: U-NAS 810
PSU: Seasonic 1U Flex 350W
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500T
Mobo: Jetway NF9A-Q67 Mini-ITX
HDDs : 1 x 120 OCZ Agility 3, 8 x WD Black 750GB
RAID: IBM ServerRAID M5014
OS: Ubuntu 16.04
Issues:
Drives 0 & 1 below the PSU ( getting hot due to PSU never running its fan - The Seasonic PSU fan only kicks in when over 80%-85% load, great for noise but bad for heat - I hardly never hit 80% load)
The 2 drives would hit between 50c-55c (60c max recommended set by OEM - too close for my liking)
Mobo died and there were heat issues with this build so i attempted a rebuild with a different approach.
NAS 2018 Rebuild:
Software:
OS wise, I moved from Ubuntu 16.04 LTS to Synology DSM 6.1.x
Main reason for DSM migration was than it supported 'Seagate Ironwolf Health Managerment' and Docker
Due to limited funds, I had to reuse as much as I could and what I have spare lying about.
New items highlighted in 'Blue' and were buy on eBay used.
Only the Seagate Ironwolf 10TB drives were purchased new.
I understand the Intel DQ77KB is not a server mobo but the features meet my requirements and it was cheap for a mobo with AMT and dual Intel NICs. The only issue being the PCI-E slot is a closed x4, I have to cut open the slot to allow the LSI 9217 PCI-E x8 HBA controller to fit.
- HBA is running at PCI-E x4 3.0, enough bandwidth for spinning HDDs.
Hardware:
Chassis: U-NAS 810
PSU: Dell 240W PA-9E
CPU: Intel Core i7 3770S (wanted a i7-3770T 45W but couldn't source one at reasonable cost)
MB: Intel DQ77KB ITX - Intel Q77 / DUAL LAN / AMT8.0 (iKVM / Remote Management)
RAM: 8GB Samsung DDR3 1066MHz
HBA: Dell LSI 9217-8i (reflash with LSI 9208-8i IT Firmware P20)
SSD: 4 x Intel 530 240GB
Misc. Hardware:
1 x Notuca NH-L9i CPU Cooler
1 x SanDisk Cruiser Ultra Fit 32GB USB Flash Drive (Used for XPEnology Bootloader)
2 x Enermax Twister PWM 120mm Fans (replaced stock GEILD Silent PWM Fans)
2 x Sunno 60mm Maglev Fans (HBA Cooling)
2 x SATA > 2 SATA Power Splitter
2 x SATA > 2 Molex Power Splitter
1 x StarTech 4 SATA Power Splitter
1 x 3 PWM Fan Splitter
3 x U-NAS 2.5 HDD trays
M3 x 36mm Screws (Required to stack 4 x Internal HDD)
M3 x 17mm Screws (Required to stack 2 x Internal HDD)
New Build Pictures:
U-NAS 810 - does indeed have space for 4 x 2.5" HDDs
- you will need to purchase the additional HDD trays
It took a few attempts to find the correct screw size and length (not stated in manual or website!!)
Internal Cable Management
Front USB Ports - I don't understand why there are 2 x USB3 cables - which itx Mobo has 2 x USB3 headers?
I have only connected the 9 pin USB2 headers to the mobo -
Internal HDDs
Originally, I had installed the HDDs with SATA/Power connectors facing the mobo this proved difficult to route the cables - so i re-installed them facing the other way toward the PSU area.
Note:
Access to SATA power is very tight between the HDD trays
- if you need a power splitter then get "Y Splitter"
- Not "serial" as the sata power headers are too large for the HDD trays
Cable Management Nightmare:
After days & hours of messy around with varies types of cables - I settles for this!
It's tidy-er than its looks, no cables are blocking airflow to the fans
System Up and Running! & Heat Issue Resolved:
After 10 hours of up time and copying >900GB of data across the network
- HDDs are in the 30c range (much better than before)
Outstanding Issues:
PSU Mount: - I now have a large hole than need to be filled as I am using external PSU.
Seasonic 1U flex 350W - need to fix the fan issue - not active until >80% - unusable in this setup currently
Internal Cable Management: - I will attempt to tidy the cabling in the future when time permits
U-NAS 810 Review
After 2 builds in this case - I came to the following conclusions..
Pros:
Generally solid and good build quality
Mini-ITX Mobo - Full x16 PCI-E Slot (without the need of riser)
8 x 3.5" Hotswap Bays
4 x 2.5" Internal (tho you need to purchase extra hdd trays)
Cons:
PCI-E single slot - no room for cooling (dual slot would have been better or air vents cutouts on the top panel would helped too).
ATX power cables from PSU will never reach Mobo as they are on the opposite ends located in the case.
- no ATX power extension cables were included.
Only 1 x HDD tray provided (I expected at least 2 - considering the price they should have given 4!)
8 x 3.5" Hotswap Caddie (not tray-less)
8 x SATA/SAS ports on enclosure (2 x mini-SAS ports would have been better for cable management)
Still some sharp edges - especially near the sata/sas enclosure cable management area
Manual / Website Support is poor
- UPDATE - Cable Management Nightmare: Part 2
Ordered some more cables of varies sorts and lengths spending around £20.
1 - Reversed position of 2.5" HDDs - connectors toward mobo like originally intended
2 - Added second Sunno 60mm fans / Notuca Low Power Fan Adapter
Better than before but PSU is still not quite there yet. I would like it clear the a PSU area so can be used later if necessary.
Starting Again:
So I removed everything and installed everything again!
Installed 2 x Noctua NF-S12A PWM Ultra Quiet 120mm PWM Cooling Fan from another system replacing Enermax fans.
Removed stock molex power cables on drive enclosure and replaced them with SATA -> 2 x Molex cables then connected them to SATA -> 2 SATA Power cable, all running along the cable management area.
The mini SAS cables are also route this way, then running down to avoid the CPU cooler the cross into the right channel, finally up to the LSI HBA
Am pleased with the final layout - the top area is clean and PSU fits perfectly.
All additional and excess cables are now kept in the right channel of the mobo next to usb/front panel. Its a tight fit, i used lots of cables ties / cables ties mounts and velcro strips to ensure cables running across the mobo remains out of the CPU cooler path.
I tried to remove the USB3 headers but it's part of a front panel audio (all or nothing - its possible to remove it - you will lose the top 2 USB ports / Audio Ports if you do and you will still have the blue USB3 cable as that's attached to Power / Reset Panel below)
Outstanding Issues:
PSU Mount: - Ordered 120mm x 1m thick cut-able fan grille / filters - will attempt to make a mod.
Seasonic 1U flex 350W - need rise RMA with Seasonic
Previously...
Chassis: U-NAS 810
PSU: Seasonic 1U Flex 350W
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500T
Mobo: Jetway NF9A-Q67 Mini-ITX
HDDs : 1 x 120 OCZ Agility 3, 8 x WD Black 750GB
RAID: IBM ServerRAID M5014
OS: Ubuntu 16.04
Issues:
Drives 0 & 1 below the PSU ( getting hot due to PSU never running its fan - The Seasonic PSU fan only kicks in when over 80%-85% load, great for noise but bad for heat - I hardly never hit 80% load)
The 2 drives would hit between 50c-55c (60c max recommended set by OEM - too close for my liking)
Mobo died and there were heat issues with this build so i attempted a rebuild with a different approach.
NAS 2018 Rebuild:
Software:
OS wise, I moved from Ubuntu 16.04 LTS to Synology DSM 6.1.x
Main reason for DSM migration was than it supported 'Seagate Ironwolf Health Managerment' and Docker
Due to limited funds, I had to reuse as much as I could and what I have spare lying about.
New items highlighted in 'Blue' and were buy on eBay used.
Only the Seagate Ironwolf 10TB drives were purchased new.
I understand the Intel DQ77KB is not a server mobo but the features meet my requirements and it was cheap for a mobo with AMT and dual Intel NICs. The only issue being the PCI-E slot is a closed x4, I have to cut open the slot to allow the LSI 9217 PCI-E x8 HBA controller to fit.
- HBA is running at PCI-E x4 3.0, enough bandwidth for spinning HDDs.
Hardware:
Chassis: U-NAS 810
PSU: Dell 240W PA-9E
CPU: Intel Core i7 3770S (wanted a i7-3770T 45W but couldn't source one at reasonable cost)
MB: Intel DQ77KB ITX - Intel Q77 / DUAL LAN / AMT8.0 (iKVM / Remote Management)
RAM: 8GB Samsung DDR3 1066MHz
HBA: Dell LSI 9217-8i (reflash with LSI 9208-8i IT Firmware P20)
SSD: 4 x Intel 530 240GB
- 2 x RAID1 Docker Apps
- 2 x SSD Cache
Misc. Hardware:
1 x Notuca NH-L9i CPU Cooler
1 x SanDisk Cruiser Ultra Fit 32GB USB Flash Drive (Used for XPEnology Bootloader)
2 x Enermax Twister PWM 120mm Fans (replaced stock GEILD Silent PWM Fans)
2 x Sunno 60mm Maglev Fans (HBA Cooling)
2 x SATA > 2 SATA Power Splitter
2 x SATA > 2 Molex Power Splitter
1 x StarTech 4 SATA Power Splitter
1 x 3 PWM Fan Splitter
3 x U-NAS 2.5 HDD trays
M3 x 36mm Screws (Required to stack 4 x Internal HDD)
M3 x 17mm Screws (Required to stack 2 x Internal HDD)
New Build Pictures:
U-NAS 810 - does indeed have space for 4 x 2.5" HDDs
- you will need to purchase the additional HDD trays
It took a few attempts to find the correct screw size and length (not stated in manual or website!!)
- M3 x 36mm Screws (Required to stack 4 x Internal HDD)
- M3 x 17mm Screws (Required to stack 2 x Internal HDD)
Internal Cable Management
Front USB Ports - I don't understand why there are 2 x USB3 cables - which itx Mobo has 2 x USB3 headers?
I have only connected the 9 pin USB2 headers to the mobo -
- USB3 cables - unconnected.
- Front Panel Audio - unconnected
- Power LED and HDDs LED - unconnected as the LED are too bright
Internal HDDs
Originally, I had installed the HDDs with SATA/Power connectors facing the mobo this proved difficult to route the cables - so i re-installed them facing the other way toward the PSU area.
Note:
Access to SATA power is very tight between the HDD trays
- if you need a power splitter then get "Y Splitter"
- Not "serial" as the sata power headers are too large for the HDD trays
Cable Management Nightmare:
After days & hours of messy around with varies types of cables - I settles for this!
It's tidy-er than its looks, no cables are blocking airflow to the fans
System Up and Running! & Heat Issue Resolved:
After 10 hours of up time and copying >900GB of data across the network
- HDDs are in the 30c range (much better than before)
Outstanding Issues:
PSU Mount: - I now have a large hole than need to be filled as I am using external PSU.
Seasonic 1U flex 350W - need to fix the fan issue - not active until >80% - unusable in this setup currently
Internal Cable Management: - I will attempt to tidy the cabling in the future when time permits
U-NAS 810 Review
After 2 builds in this case - I came to the following conclusions..
Pros:
Generally solid and good build quality
Mini-ITX Mobo - Full x16 PCI-E Slot (without the need of riser)
8 x 3.5" Hotswap Bays
4 x 2.5" Internal (tho you need to purchase extra hdd trays)
Cons:
PCI-E single slot - no room for cooling (dual slot would have been better or air vents cutouts on the top panel would helped too).
ATX power cables from PSU will never reach Mobo as they are on the opposite ends located in the case.
- no ATX power extension cables were included.
Only 1 x HDD tray provided (I expected at least 2 - considering the price they should have given 4!)
8 x 3.5" Hotswap Caddie (not tray-less)
8 x SATA/SAS ports on enclosure (2 x mini-SAS ports would have been better for cable management)
Still some sharp edges - especially near the sata/sas enclosure cable management area
Manual / Website Support is poor
- UPDATE - Cable Management Nightmare: Part 2
Ordered some more cables of varies sorts and lengths spending around £20.
1 - Reversed position of 2.5" HDDs - connectors toward mobo like originally intended
2 - Added second Sunno 60mm fans / Notuca Low Power Fan Adapter
Better than before but PSU is still not quite there yet. I would like it clear the a PSU area so can be used later if necessary.
Starting Again:
So I removed everything and installed everything again!
Installed 2 x Noctua NF-S12A PWM Ultra Quiet 120mm PWM Cooling Fan from another system replacing Enermax fans.
Removed stock molex power cables on drive enclosure and replaced them with SATA -> 2 x Molex cables then connected them to SATA -> 2 SATA Power cable, all running along the cable management area.
The mini SAS cables are also route this way, then running down to avoid the CPU cooler the cross into the right channel, finally up to the LSI HBA
Am pleased with the final layout - the top area is clean and PSU fits perfectly.
All additional and excess cables are now kept in the right channel of the mobo next to usb/front panel. Its a tight fit, i used lots of cables ties / cables ties mounts and velcro strips to ensure cables running across the mobo remains out of the CPU cooler path.
I tried to remove the USB3 headers but it's part of a front panel audio (all or nothing - its possible to remove it - you will lose the top 2 USB ports / Audio Ports if you do and you will still have the blue USB3 cable as that's attached to Power / Reset Panel below)
Outstanding Issues:
PSU Mount: - Ordered 120mm x 1m thick cut-able fan grille / filters - will attempt to make a mod.
Seasonic 1U flex 350W - need rise RMA with Seasonic
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