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<!DOCTYPE html><htmllang="en"><head><metacharset="UTF-8"><title>NAS Part 1: Theorize | tait.tech</title><linkrel="stylesheet"href="/assets/css/style.css"><metaname="viewport"content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"><metaname="author"content="Tait Hoyem"><metaname="keywords"content=""><metaname="description"content=""></head><body><divid="wrapper"><header><nav><inputtype="checkbox"id="menu"><labelfor="menu">☰</label><divclass="menu-content"><ahref="/"class="nav-link">Home</a><ahref="/blog/"class="nav-link">Blog</a><ahref="https://github.com/TTWNO/"class="nav-link"target="_blank"rel="noopener noreferrer">Github</a></div></nav></header><main><article><header><h1class="post-title">NAS Part 1: Theorize</h1><timedatetime="20-04-12"class="post-date">Sunday, April 12 2020</time></header><hr><p>New Project, phase one: Theorize.</p><p>I want to build a NAS server to store a bunch of data on. Current problem is lack of a computer to accept multiple SATA connections.</p><h3id="problem-1-sata-connectors">Problem 1: SATA connectors</h3><p>This can be solved by an HBE card. Although they tend to be quite expensive (250+). One decent model that isn’t that much is the <ahref="https://www.amazon.ca/SAS9211-8I-8PORT-Int-Sata-Pcie/dp/B002RL8I7M/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=9211-8i&qid=1586699707&sr=8-2">LSI 9211-8I</a>. This is ideal for future expansion.</p><p>A cheaper option is a PCIe multi-SATA connector <ahref="https://www.amazon.ca/Rivo-Controller-Expansion-Profile-Non-Raid/dp/B0836MKFCR?ref_=ast_slp_dp">like this</a>.</p><p>Either work, but one is cheaper and the other is more expandable. The 9211-8I uses two SAS ports, which can be expanded indefinetely. SAS supports splitting. SATA can be connected in a 4:1 ratio to SAS connectors with some <ahref="https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Internal-SFF-8087-Breakout/dp/B012BPLYJC">cheap cables</a>.</p><h3id="problem-2-drives">Problem 2: Drives</h3><p>I do not have enough drives to make this work right now. For the setup I want it would require 5 or 6 drives. I will get 4-5 drives worth of space as one drive worth of space is dedicated to “parity”, making you able to:</p><ol><li>Verify data integrity. If anything goes wrong with a write, it will be fixed automatically.</li><li>If <em>one</em> drive dies, the system can stay online with no problem. Two drives and I’m eff-you-see-kay-ed-dee.</li></ol><p>My other option is to use two drives worth of space for partiy. This would only have me 3-4 drives of space, but this system can withstand the failure of <em>two</em> drives.</p><h3id="problem-3-computer-system">Problem 3: Computer System</h3><p>I currently have 5 computers.</p><ol><li>Celery Stick. An old grey HP laptop with a Braille stickered keyboard. <em>Does not work right now; bad thermal paste job.</em></li><li>A Dell laptop lent to me by my school during my studies.</li><li>Houston. A 21-inch 2011 iMac for which the screen does not work under Linux (excep with the <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">nomodeset</code> kernel option enabled).</li><li>An Old Toshiba laptop (circa 2010) that I got for $50 to test with OpenBSD (works….sometimes).</li><li>Main Rig. My main laptop is an ASUS-705 TUF gaming laptop.</li></ol><p>None of these have PCIe expansion slots with a case that can handle the new drives.</p><p>I think it’s reasonable to say that for hard-drives and low-end tower PCs, I will likely have luck on a place like <ahref="https://kijiji.ca">Kijiji</a> (Canadian Craigslist).</p><p>The search continues :)</p><p>I’m in for a fun ride…. and a few monnies.</p></article></main><hr><footer> This page is mirrored on <ahref="https://beta.tait.tech/2020/04/12/nas1.html">beta.tait.tech</a>. </footer></div></body></html>