Small typo in memtest

[Gert-JanVdV]

Thank you very much for this, I finally could turn my quartz64 into a fully functional NAS.

While I was following the steps I noticed that there is a typo in the RAM test. In the tutorial it says

sudo memtester 7500 2

but the included image shows it should be

sudo memtester 1500 2

[nathmo]

it's because i forgot to take the screenshot while running it. i redid later on my computer but its rather slow so i went with less RAM to show the expected output. if you dont mind i would gladly accept a better screenshot.
(the size is in mb so 7.5 Gb of the RAM should be tested (out of the 8Gb), the rest being left free for the OS)
Sorry for the inconvenience. glad the instruction served you well. (did you encounter any issue with networking ? to setup a static IP address ?)

[Gert-JanVdV]

I see, I think I can get you a screenshot, but likely only sometime tomorrow. The NAS is still in a disassembled state, since the plan is to fit it into an ATX enclosure.

I did encounter an issue with networking. ip addr seemed to indicate that 'end0' was the interface that the device was using, but after running sudo nmcli con mod end0 ipv4.addresses 192.168.X.XX/XX it said something like end0 was not recognised, or found, I don't remember the exact wording. Then it didn't recognise con mod, but that is my fault since I noticed that I skipped a step. I fixed the IP address in my router instead for the time being, so I could set up the rest and I plan to look into fixing next weekend.

[nathmo]

Okay. To be fully honest with you, network on Linux is not my strong suit. I used the deprecated version at first and try to use online tutorial for the recommended ways, but I also had some problems. If you managed to make it work cleanly I would gladly hear from you because when I tried it I had a few errors and blamed it on the fact that I had already configured it using /etc/network/interfaces but I might have fucked up and disregarded it too fast.

[nathmo]

and please share a photo of your enclosure :)
(just for my curiosity, but i can add it to the repo if you want)

[Gert-JanVdV]

Sorry for not responding for two weeks, but I've had a hectic time. But I did manage to finish the hardware side of the NAS. I've included pictures below.

The idea was to create a NAS that looked identical to a ATX PSU, that was also completely self-contained. This did mean that my partslist was a little different from yours, since I could not fit a PSU, not even one of the small Pico PSU's out there. So instead I have I 12v external power brick that powers the Quartz64 directly. For the other components they would all have to be powered from the Quartz. This was an issue until I remembered that the PSU I got (one of the exploding gigabyte PSU's) came with some cables, both cables for 4-pin Molex and 2 SATA power cables. Powering these cables turned out to be no issue, since the Quartz64's Pi2 Bus came with 1x3.3v 2x5v and sufficient grounds, and a 4 pin connector next to the barrel plug had two grounds and two 12v. So, I connected those cables to the available pins. I also got lucky that the Quartz mounting holes lined up exactly with 2 of the PSU mounting standoffs.

While it just about worked, I didn't have enough space for a super thin 120mm fan that I intended to have at the top. That does mean that the little thing is a bit of a hotbox, with the two 4TB drives running at 50 degrees under load. The CPU is around 48 degrees at more or less idle, jumping to 51 when it has to do something. The NAS is in an enclosed space, but the temperatures aren't idealI'll likely have to fit a second fan to improve the airquality inside.

[nathmo]

really nice ^^ thank you
tell me how the network setup turn out and maybe a screenshot of memtester ?
I really like how small it looks like.

[alexshnup]

Hello everyone, do you think it would be possible to run a SAS adapter on it, such as the ATTO ExpressSAS HBA? They even provide source codes that allow me to build kernel module.

Which would be better to purchase for this purpose: the QUARTZ64 or the ROCKPro64? I heard from a YouTube blogger that the QUARTZ64 supports more PCI-E devices than the ROCKPro64, but I can't find detailed information on this.

[nathmo]

Well regarding the QUARTZ64 or ROCKPro64 the only thing I can tell you is that both PCIe port are open-ended, so the card could fit. But I never heard that one was more compatible than the other. To use the card, it's hard to predict. I tried with a "normal" x86 CPU+motherboard and had a fair ammount of tweaking to get a SAS card partially working (https://github.com/nathmo/NASJ5040)

If you want to have fun and try for the glory of science, please proceed and report your result :)

If you want a working NAS that is very energy efficient, look at the J5040 motherboard. It's x86 which make it much easier to use for self-hosting purpose and only draw 15-20 W when used (and minimize the number of hard driver as each tend to draw 5 W)

[alexshnup]

Actually, I also thinking about the x86 architecture. I have an Intel NUC 7 PC with a Thunderbolt 3 port. I will try to connect a PCI-E adapter and a SAS HBA to it. I want to use the SAS disks I have, and most importantly, I want to experiment with an LTO drive for archiving. I'm aiming to create a very power-efficient NAS that can also store archives on tape. I don't want to build RAID NAS. Just one SSD (for cache), one HDD and LTO tape. I'll keep you updated and try to make a video. Thanks for the advice.