Self-hosted CM4 NAS - I have questions; sources, ideas and answers appreciated
Self-hosted CM4 NAS - I have questions; sources, ideas and answers appreciated
So I'm looking to build my own CM4-based NAS appliance. I figure that I've got the time to build it, and it'll be cheaper, more powerful and more capable than an off-the-shelf appliance (such as a QNAP or Synology device).
I'm looking to use it for self-hosting, probably 2 - 4 SSD's to run it (Happy to spend the money on the drives, as I can spread that out over time)... will likely start with a relatively cheap 2tib 2.5" SSD like the Crucial BX500 and scale up as I go...
I'd like a relatively neat box - something like the Argon EON. I'd like to use the CM4 because it's got the PCI-E so you can use a relatively full-speed ACPI interface to the SATA ports, which rules out the Argon EON (Except, possibly, as a donor case). I don't have a 3D Printer, but I'd be happy to purchase a printed model from a makers group or similar. I'm happy to actually build up a unit (setting up fans, etc.) but I've no soldering experience whatsoever.
Software-wise, I've already got a RPI4 which I've been playing around with... Seems pretty good, and I had pi-hole running on it for a while (until SD card unreliability took it down).
Does anyone have any experience with a build like this? Any advice on what cases to use, what hats for the PCIE-to-SATA work best? Anything at all, really, that you'd advise?
If you're going to be basing this on a pi4, I wouldn't spend the money on SSDs. The pi is going to be your bottleneck, not the drives.
The IO board only has a PCIe 2.0 x1 which has a max speed of 500MB/s.
You'd honestly be better off building an itx system or buying a cheap one and upgrading stuff like RAM. Hell, even a Beelink would be better than a pi
Those are fair pointers, but I suppose in the back of my mind I'm also thinking about power draw as well... Speed isn't a massive retirement, it's going to be hooked up to a poe network, if I wanted speed I'd first be putting in cat 6 or something...
Not heard of a beelink, time to research, thanks.
Beelink is just an inexpensive brand of mini PCs like the Intel NUC. The one I have for my office draws 25W max, but has a 12th gen i3 in it, 16gb ddr5 ram, wifi6, and dual 2.5gb/s ethernet for like $300