Comments on: drobo is no good… so I’m building my own NAS [updated]

By: frankleng

frankleng — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 06:35:35 +0000

hey thanx for visiting.
I tried using a CF card and a USB stick for the OS drive. However, the read speed wasn't nearly as impressive as a SSD and boot time felt quite slow.
The D510MO board has a mini PCI-E slot built in. Perfect for mini SSD and add-on cards. I wish there was a SATA controller made for mini PCI-E... but those are exclusive items for OEM vendors and not available to end users. I got bought a $20USD 4GB SSD off eBay. Its lifetime is longer than normal CF cards, and it is much faster. =) I would highly recommend it if you have a mini PCI-E slot on your board.

I've actually chosen another case and returned my Chenbro. I picked the Antec NSK2400. It is more of a media center chassis, but it's half the price of the Chenbro and offers superior cooling features. It also gives me the possibility of using it as a media center when I decided to upgrade the hardware to be HD capable.

Lastly... the hot swappable bays are nice. but since the bays aren't screwed in... you can hear the 4 drives vibrate under heavy load. Especially when I threw in my 7200 RPM 2TB drives. The Chenbro's bays were nicely built, but they were still consumer quality. That's probably why the enterprise stuff cost so much more. =p

By: dmullenix

dmullenix — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 03:37:17 +0000

I have almost the same setup, except I got a 4GB compact flash, and a CF to sata adapter that mounts into the 2.5" drive space in the case. I am also using freenas, and it works great!!

Like you I didnt order the riser card, so not I'm stuck waiting for the riser card to come in so I can attach my SATA controller, but I was curious to see how your controller fit with the riser installed, I put my pci card where it should be with the riser, and it looks a bit tight.

Good write up! And I agree, No Drobo

By: frankleng

frankleng — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 22:09:45 +0000

thank you for dropping by.
I just put all the parts together last night. the store forgot to ship me the PCI riser card... so now I can only do 2 drives.

I've also ordered a 4GB micro PCI-E SSD to run the OS. that will ship a week later along with the PCI Riser.

I've decided to use FreeNAS, installed on a normal USB stick for now. will post more progress tonight. stay tuned.

By: James

James — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 08:43:15 +0000

Hey Frank, I'm looking to accomplish what you're aiming to do… Have you made any progress? I would love to hear of any updates you can share!

By: frankleng

frankleng — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 02:47:46 +0000

lol. the drobo was fine as a local FireWire or USB direct attached
storage. but the TonidoPlug or the Droboshare just doesn't have enough
power to pump out full USB speeds throught ethernet… so have to get
a real NAS setup. I've leanred my lesson. gonna sell the damn drobo
and plug.

By: Mitchell McKenna

Mitchell McKenna — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 01:56:35 +0000

Well, well, well, I told you to go NAS from the beginning didn't I? I could tell from how you said you wanted to use it. What are you doing with the Drobo/TonidoPlug now? ebay? Let me know how the final setup turns out.