WHS, Low power AM1 build.

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HellDiverUK

Active Member
Jul 16, 2014
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Yeah, ESXi is the more common method of running Nanoboot. Running it off a USB stick natively seems less common.
 

DBayPlaya2k3

Member
Nov 9, 2012
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Houston
I have done some initial testing on supported 10G NICs with Nanoboot and physical box with usb boot drive.

1. Intel X540-T2 = Supported (I assumed this would work as the actual synology line lets you purchase these specific nics for add in)

2. Mellanox Connect X2 - Not currently supported (Currently no driver support in Nanoboot from what I can tell though there are some request to add it in)

3. Barcode 1020 - Unknown (I currently am still looking for cheap cables before I can purchase these nics to test with)
 

HellDiverUK

Active Member
Jul 16, 2014
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I had a few hours yesterday, so I stuck a different drive in to the server (WD Blue WD500AAKS) and ran up Server 2012R2. It handled it perfectly. A little slow on boot, but that's the norm for that crappy drive. Files transfers are still 100-110MB/s both ways. All in all, I'm quite impressed by the AM1 platform. Just such a shame there isn't 5 or 6 SATA ports on the board, rather than the stock 2. As it is, the LSI card is using 6.8W of power (according to LSI's data sheets), which is nearly 25% of the power used by the board and SOC.
 

HellDiverUK

Active Member
Jul 16, 2014
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Swapped out the case yesterday. I had a Norco ITX-S4 sitting around unused. The Node 304 took up most of the shelf in the Ikea unit in the hallway, leaving very little room for my router, and no room at all for the external backup drive. I swapped the machine in to the Norco, and it seems quite happy. The Norco has some generic OE 250W 1U PSU in it, which reports to be 80Plus Bronze. It seems to run very warm, so I'm thinking I'll try and source a better PSU from the likes of FSP or Seasonic. I'd really like a 150W 80Plus Gold if that's at all possible, but I think I'm probably asking too much.

I also did some maths. By using this AM1 machine compared to my old server from a few years ago (a Core2Quad Q6700), I'm saving £124 a year on power costs.
 

HellDiverUK

Active Member
Jul 16, 2014
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A little hint, if your HDDs aren't hibernating in XPEnology, turn off "Hot Swap" support in the PC BIOS. Hot swap polls the drives too often, stopping them from hibernating.

I'm a sucker for new and shiny things, so I ordered an AsRock AD2550R/U3S3 Server Board (Atom D2550, Intel ICH10R, DDR3, S-ATA 600, Mini ITX) - 10W processor, and 7 SATA connectors on the board. As my LSI HBA is using about 7W on it's own, I'm thinking I should be able to save 10W of power at the wall by getting rid of it and using a board with sufficient SATA connectors. Also with dual Intel NICs on board I should be able to bind them for 2Gb connectivity. I'm starting to think I might need to go to a Pico PSU...I'm getting well below the point where even the 250W 1U PSU in the Norco will be well outside it's most efficient loading.
 

HellDiverUK

Active Member
Jul 16, 2014
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I just ordered another board, this time it's an AsRock board with an integrated Atom D2550 on it. I'm going to give it a spin, and if it runs OK I may run a NAS for backups at my parent's house (rsync or torrent sync overnight between eachother, most likely). It's a 10W CPU, so should run even lower at the wall. Though, I've had a few AsRock boards in the past and they've all been s**t, so I'm hoping their 'Server' line is a bit better. :confused: