[Guide] NAS Killer 4.1 supplemental + deals

Quick question, how hard was it to get IT mode flashed? Did you just follow JDM’s video on it?

Pretty much. I didn’t watch the entire video but yes you should be good. My only holdup getting it working was figuring out that I needed to use the internal USB socket.

Also, Cntrl-C did not work from the virtual keyboard for me. I had to use a real keyboard attached physically to the server.

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There’s a catch when using the Chenbro 1U case with shucked 10TB WD drives. Only two out of the four mounting holes align correctly with the drives.

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Is it load? Does it comes with a cpu heatsink?

It’s loud, and it comes with a basic 1U server heatsink.

If you change cases you need to change heatsinks as well.

I am looking at combo 4, I want to move this into a standard desktop case, can you harvest the io shield from the 1u rack mount case for use on a desktop case?

I don’t think you can. I would just use without an IO shield or cut one out of foam if you must have one.

FWIW I use server boards without IO shields all the time.

In addition if you have a 3d printer you can print one. I was able to find one close enough on thingiverse and modify it for a server board. Worked great.

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Gah! Please don’t fill my mind with more amazing things to purchase! :smiley:

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New to enterprise hardware but I got in on this earlier. Did I need extra SATA cables for connecting the motherboard to a SATA HDD or is it good to just use the already connected cables that came with the used server? Also, is flashing the onboard SAS controller is the same procedure as the video tutorial on the Supermicro board one? I grabbed Combo 4 and am following Rackmount sample, but got a bigger PSU and the Arctic fans in order to quiet the chassis down.

Side note, I grabbed several of the 12TB WD Easystores and they’re in the new mounting pattern so I’m only able to just stick the HDD side rails of the RSV-L4500 case on them to slide into the bays with no screws. They’re pretty locked in but do have a very, very tiny bit of give, is that ok? Thanks.

You should be able to use the same SATA cable. This board contains the same LSI chipset. So the instruction in the video should work. Some electrical tape where it is loose should tighten it up. What are you going to run with it?

Got option 4 in the mail today. It is loud when the CPU fans turns on. The PSU is also loud. I going to try to use the case.

Was running Plex/Sonarr/Radarr/Jackett on a QNAP I got last year and plan on migrating those over because I quickly filled up the total 27TB. The SATA/SAS or whichever cables were weird to me because they were all silver.

Slightly upset though that the original IO shield for the motherboard didn’t come with the package so the RSV-L4500 is just naked over the ports in the back.

FWIW I don’t run IO shields on either of my Rosewills!

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I’m planning to get Combo 4 to make a FreeNAS machine, but it doesn’t seem that the LSI SAS 2008 card supports RAID Z2 (RAID 6). Would I need to buy a separate RAID card to plug into the machine to make use RAID Z2?

Z2 is a software raid. FreeNAS takes care of the Z2 raid. LSI is only a hard drive controller in this case. No need to buy any new raid card. Just slap in some HDDs and you are good to go.

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Oh ok well that’s convenient. Appreciate the answer!

I’ve been building PC’s for decades but this would be my first with server architecture. Before I jump in head first, is there any “read this first” I should know about? Particularly the comment "Quick question, how hard was it to get IT mode flashed? " made me wonder about what surprises lie ahead!

I have flashed LSI cards and motherboards to IT mode and its always been super simple. Just find clear directions and follow them.

I went the Motherboard and Sourcing my own Memory and CPU. Finding compatible memory on ebay at the $30 / 8GB is tougher than i had anticipated. Went to build out of the box and kept getting continuous beeping from the motherboard. After going through the User Manual on the MOBO, it’s beeping that Memory is not installed. Turns out I bought PC3-12800 UDIMM Non-ECC memory. Uff. Back online I go…

I bought option #3. I think I offered $150 and they countered $175. Not bad with free shipping since it must weigh 50 lbs! You weren’t kidding about LOUD. I was expecting vacuum cleaner – or maybe blender. This is more like fighter jet taxiing to the runway.

Preparing to install a new HSF I discovered the CPU has no fan! There is a shroud funnelling air and the front-to-back little case fans are doing all the work. Helped in part due to a massive copper heatsink that puts the Thamaltake to shame! And the case, while not beautiful, is actually a great case if you have a place for it. Room for 12-14 drives. 400W Gold PSU.

Instead, I cut a hole for a 92mm case fan directly over the CPU and installed a quiet fan. Not mounting it into a rack, the fan sticking out of the top is not a problem. Unfortunately, Unraid plugins cannot detect the fans properly - or at least not that I have figured out. So I plan to disable and remove the loud internal fans, but I would keep them if I could figure how to throttle them.

All in all $175 + $8 fan + cost of drives makes for a cheap, easy, and so far quite fast Unraid box!
Thanks JDM_WAAAT