Removable 8 Bay LGA1155 build for ~$260

[bashNinja]

I’ve been working on a build that I creating around this cheap NAS case I found on ebay. Here’s what I was able to come up with. The goal for me was to create 3 boxes that I can place in various friend/family member’s homes as offsite backups. It’ll be running TrueNAS Core and recieving weekly ZFS Snapshot backups.

Type	Part	Price	URL
Case	U-NAS (knockoff) 8 Bay Mini-ITX NAS Storage Server Case w/PSU	$157.51	NEW U-NAS 8 Bay Mini-ITX NAS Storage Server Case Chassis Kit with PSU Cabling | eBay
Motherboard	Aaeon Mini ITX Motherboard EMB-B75A	$55 OBO	Aaeon Mini ITX Motherboard EMB-B75A Includes i3-3220 I/O 4GB RAM Heatsink | eBay
CPU	i3-3220	included with MB
RAM	4GB DDR3 RAM (2x 2GB)	included with MB
CPU Cooler	Dynatron Blower	included with MB
OS Drive	Anything you can Find
PSU	1U Flex PSU	Included with Case
PCIe Riser	16x to 16x riser	$8.99	Amazon.com
SAS2 HBA	LSI 9207-8i	$40	9207-8i -h310 -bracket -cable | eBay
Total	-----	$261.50

Photos

I’ll update as the build goes on!

[JDM_WAAAT]

Subscribed! My U-NAS should be arriving shortly as well. Although mine will be an OTiS.

[LivePono]

You piqued my interest!

[AnotherBot]

I have a hp plex box and was looking to add a dedicated NAS to serve files over to the PMS and for other smaller tasks like photos backup. Have picked up 3 14TB WDs and now trying to see what would be the cheapest yet expandable solution for me. Will this be a good option?

[JDM_WAAAT]

Seems like it, if you’d like a bit more horsepower (especially with Plex transcoding), check out the main thread:

[Official] U-NAS 8-bay Mini-ITX NAS (OTiS - 8th/9th gen Intel)

Join the Discord! [IMG_5123 2] Overview This guide is an extension of the OTiS build guide. Basically, it’s an off-the-shelf NAS using (mostly) brand new parts, with the latest technology like Intel QuickSync and native NVMe support. It’s centered around the U-NAS NSC-800 8-bay enclosure. It’s normally pretty expensive at $210 + shipping (without PSU!), but there’s quite a few available in brand new condition from an ebay seller for almost half that cost (with PSU!). Using the model off …

[AnotherBot]

I already do have the hp p290 for plex transcoding and would like to keep them both running separately.

[JDM_WAAAT]

Ok, so just build the U-NAS and use it as a NAS…

[bashNinja]

Ok. I just started this build and I noticed a few things I’ve missed.

Screws for the motherboard and harddrives. I’m grabbing the screws @JDM_WAAAT listed in his OTiS build.

https://amzn.to/397sSBw
https://amzn.to/33aRnKs

The motherboard only has room for a single fan hookup. I’ll need to get a splitter for the 2nd case drive fan.

[JDM_WAAAT]

If you use Arctic P12/F12 PWM PST, you won’t need a splitter.

[bashNinja]

The splitter I’m looking at will be this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Endlesss-Splitter-Converter-Computer-Extension/dp/B0881SGRCB
It’s a 4 pack for $9. Since I’m doing multiple builds, the price is right. $2.25/per build for the splitter (and using the original fans) vs $15/per build for the Arctic fans is very compelling.

[JDM_WAAAT]

Yeah, if you’re using the stock fans I’d recommend using splitters then. You should consider using 3-way splitters so that all of the fans can be tied to CPU temperature.

[bashNinja]

After booting it for the first time, the stock CPU cooler was LOUD. After playing with the BIOS settings, I saw it was set to manually go full speed. I set it to the Automatic fan setting, and it quieted way down. Silent in the BIOS. I’ll have play with it in a OS and see how I feel about the noise. I might want to upgrade to a quieter cooler.

[bashNinja]

So far, the cooler has worked out really well. Temps are good, and I’ve been impressed with this little machine.

Super good build, I’ve done 3 of these now.

[bashNinja]

Just giving an update. I’ve been fighting an issue with this build for the last few days.

It seems sometimes my LSI HBA doesn’t appear. I don’t even see the blinking green light on the card. This gets resolved when I unplug the machine from power, then boot up. But if I reboot, it has issues again.

I tracked it down to something with the pcie riser. When I remove the riser and go straight into the pcie slot, all my issues disappear.

I’m still looking for a solution, since I can’t close the case without a riser. Any suggestions?

[bashNinja]

Update much later:

Installing an HP H240 HBA instead solves this issue.

There must be something going weird specifically with the Aaeon board, the LSI 9207-8i, and a riser cable.

I’ve tried different Aaeon boards, different LSI cards, and different risers. No combination of changing any of that fixed it. I then tested different motherboards & different HBA cards and everything works. It must only occur when those specific 3 things come together.