amuck-landowner

Help building low-power server with e-sata raid

wlanboy

wlanboy

Content Contributer
I bought a ZBOX Mini PC and added a old 128GB SSD and a old 4 GB of RAM. Perfect setup for a small Windows-alike plattform.
Main purpose is a running Windows 2012 R2 server for .Net / AD / IIS stuff. I really like the fan-less build and the low-power footprint of this bare-bone.


But I would like to add a SATA based raid with two 512GB Sata3 drives (which are currently idling on my desk). The box does have an external e-Sata port so my guess would be that it might be possible to connect "something" on that port that would be able to handle 2 or 3 SATA drives. But I did not find anything below my hobby-190$-limit.


Sharkoon does have a e-Sata raid box: https://en.sharkoon.com/product/1689/11353 but that is a oversized 5-bay solution. Maybe someone is allready working with a low-budget Raid-1 solution.
 
T

TheLinuxBug

New Member
HalfEatenPie said:
Well, on a real big budget iirc @TheLinuxBug mentioned on his ARM device post that he's using a software raid card that's was basically a port multiplier. 


I think this was the one: http://www.amazon.com/Syba-Internal-Multiplier-Mounting-SY-PCI40037/dp/B0056HNROI


Can you use something like that?  
Click to expand...

Quick correction; The SYBA JMB393 is actually self-contained storage processor chip which completely frees up the main CPU loading, and is not software raid based.  It can be used as a port multiplier or a RAID card based on the configuration you used for it.  I currently use it as a raid5 controller for 5x2TB SATA on my pcDuino Nano A20 as it is limited to a single SATA port.


Before I add anything else though, I just want to mention it is SATA II and will likely not work for your needs (SATA 3, I am assuming you want 6Gb/s while this only supports 3Gb/sec).


If all you wanted was to add additional storage (which doesn't look to be the case here) you could also just get a $25 SATA II port multiplier off of ebay (dont have a link currently but if you search you will find it quickly).


I can't currently think of something to offer for your needs as honestly I have built most of my storage solutions my self, so I haven't looked much at the Pre-built NAS boxes that are out there.  I think @KuJoe has messed with a few though? Could be wrong...


Cheers!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
T

TheLinuxBug

New Member
Was looking around and found two board which I thought may be interesting for this thread: 


LeMaker Cello($299.00 & still need to purchase DDR3 Ram)  and the NVIDIA JETSON TK1 ($192.99 w 2GB Ram)


LeMaker Cello


SoC


AMD Opteron A1100 Series


CPU


Quad-core ARM Cortex-A57 64 bit


DRAM


Two DDR3 SO-DIMM sockets


SATA


Two SATA ports


USB


Two USB 3.0 ports


Console


USB-micro port for console support


Ethernet


1 GBe Ethernet


PCIe


x16 PCIe G3 slot


JTAG


10-Pin JTAG headers


Expansion Interface


Linaro 96Bords Expansion slot


Dimension


Standard 160 x 120 mm 96Boards Enterprise Edition form factor


Weight


500g


The LeMaker Cello main board is scheduled to ship in Q2 of 2016.


It will however have Usb 3.0 AND SATA w/ Gigabit Nic and DDR3 sockets so potential for a reasonable amount of memory (more than the 1-2GB we have been seeing I would hope).


NVIDIA JETSON TK1


Model



Brand


NVIDIA


Model


940-7R375-0001-000


Combo Type


Motherboard/CPU/VGA Combo


Bundle



CPU


NVIDIA 4-Plus-1 quad-core ARM Cortex A15 CPU


Memory


2GB memory with 64 bit width
16GB 4.51 eMMC memory


Expansion Slots



Mini Card Slots


1 x Half mini-PCIE


Storage Devices



SATA


1 x SATA


Onboard Video



Onboard Video Chipset


NVIDIA Kepler GPU with 192 CUDA cores


Onboard Audio



Audio Chipset


Realtek ALC5639


Onboard LAN



LAN Chipset


Realtek RTL8111GS


LAN Speed


10/100/1000Mbps


Rear Panel Ports



COM


1 x RS232 serial port


HDMI


1 x HDMI


USB 3.0


1 x USB 3.0


Audio Ports


2 Ports


Internal I/O Connectors



Other Connectors


1 x Full size SD/MMC connector
1 x JTAG
1 x 12V DC Power

The following signals are available through an expansion port
-DP/LVDS
-Touch SPI 1x4 + 1x1 CSI-2
-GPIOs
-UART
-HSIC
-i2c


Both include real SATA on board and USB 3.0 and would be great for a server solution you could probably trust (more than a $15 board maybe :) ).


Cheers!
 
drmike

drmike

100% Tier-1 Gogent
Definitely interesting boards.  However, pricing on these has them up above Intel complete NUC and J1900 type boards with full cases and all.


Not kicking either effort, just unsure if the value is there to justify those asking prices or even 50% of such.
 
drmike

drmike

100% Tier-1 Gogent
TheLinuxBug said:
Quick correction; The SYBA JMB393 is actually self-contained storage processor chip which completely frees up the main CPU loading, and is not software raid based.  It can be used as a port multiplier or a RAID card based on the configuration you used for it.  I currently use it as a raid5 controller for 5x2TB SATA on my pcDuino Nano A20 as it is limited to a single SATA port.
Click to expand...

I'd be interested in build notes / photos on your A20 + 5 drive setup.


How long have you been running it and how reliable has it been so far?
 
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