USB DAS Enclosure Question

[t0ny84]

I’m hoping to get some real-world feedback on using USB DAS enclosures and whether they’re a viable option. Most search results say “USB = BAD”, but that advice often doesn’t come from people who have actually used them in practice.

I previously purchased a NetApp disk shelf, but due to space, noise, and power consumption, I’m now looking for ways to reduce all three where possible.

I’m considering a mini PC such as an HP ProDesk 400 G3 Mini and wondering whether it would be a good option to pair with one or more USB DAS enclosures, given that these systems don’t have PCIe slots for a SAS HBA. I’m also open to any alternative “out-of-the-box” ideas.

Additionally, I’d like to know whether it’s possible to connect multiple USB DAS enclosures to a single mini PC and create one array spanning all drives.

Planned setup:

• Base OS: Proxmox
• Storage: 3.5" SATA HDDs in RAID 5 or RAID 6
• Usage: NAS with a few containers (ARR suite, possibly TrueNAS)

Any firsthand experiences or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Example DAS Enclosures
DAS Enclosure Link 1
DAS Enclosure Link 2
DAS Enclosure Link 3

Thanks
t0ny84

 

[nereith]

I use a TerraMaster D6-320 with five WD HC570 (RAIDZ2) as a backup pool in my TrueNAS CE server.

So far, I have not had issues with replications or scrubs over the the past year.

Typical backup procedure is: Turn on DAS -> Import Pool -> Replicate -> Export Pool -> Turn off DAS.

No idea how it will perform as a regular data pool.