I’d like to run Rockstor on a NAS form factor.
Are there known devices that perform well and are not locked down to allow installation of an alternate OS? Preferably something with decent CPU power.
A lot of people use a microserver from HP for FreeNAS, Xpenology and other systems.
Also active enthusiasts mod the server with specific XEON processors and the like.
BIOS upgrade/hack is needed to get full speed on the 5th SATA port.
Has 4 bays.
Is on my wishlist for quite some time, but the need isn’t here yet, and it is a little too expensive for just the heck with it.
Is that something that would fit your requirements?
good luck
yes, this looks good. i came up with the same thing, though i was looking for something with an even smaller form factor. and only 2 disk slots.
There are a ton of ITX/m-ATX cases you could use. But you will probably have to live without hotswap for that. Though the smallest cases may only have room for 2.5 inch drives
You can cram 4 2,5" drives in a 5,25 bay.
So an ITX case with a single 5,25 bay could be enough.
If you want to go the USB 3 route, you could go with options like Intel NUC or Asus VivoPC. Very compact yet pretty powerful. You do get one internal 3.5 sata slot. The Rockstor OS runs fine from a USB 3 stick or you can also run it from the sdcard.
My two-disk NAS is based on this £21 case and this motherboard.
Accommodates 2 x 3.5" disks (second one in 5.25" bay via adapter), and thanks to IPMI on the motherboard, I have out-of-band remote access. Perfect as a backup NAS in remote location. Motherboard also has a PCI-E slot, which I’ve installed this £5 PCI-E to mSATA adapter and a cheap 16GB mSATA SSD for the OS\system disk. Is completely silent since CPU is passively cooled, and motherboard supports DC power-in, so no noisy PSU fan.
The links to the case and the MoBo are the same, both linking to the MB.
Can you correct the link to the case ?