Dual M.2 NVMe RAID - small server build

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Zal

209 posts

Master Geek

#293533 28-Jan-2022 12:32

Tossing up the idea of building a small low powered matx nas/hyper-v/kvm box for home.

Was thinking a good 6 core plus CPU using RAID-on-CPU function for the SSDs.

Wanted ECC for the ram but Intel drop that in their retail range :( AMD has it, but I have no idea what their local board raid is like.

What I am struggling with is, can I raid one two PCI4 NVMe SSDs on the motherboard? I have two Samsung 980 Pros 500GB I want to use.

I was then thinking an expansion card like this: https://www.computerlounge.co.nz/shop/components/storage/accessories/asus-hyper-m2-x16-gen-4-card#all-reviews for the local storage, say x4 2TB SSDs in a raid 10 or other.

Looking for wisdom.

gbwelly

1243 posts

Uber Geek

#2857651 28-Jan-2022 12:49

What are you wanting to do with this once you've built it?

Complete silence and fast at the same time is expensive to achieve. I'd approach it from the data side of things. e.g. you'll want RAID for the NAS part, but really, you can back up your VMs to the NAS and run them on a single SSD -those Samsungs will be good to over 20K random iops, one would be fine for a home environment.

I originally built a completely silent, passively cooled Celeron system, right down to using a DC power supply. Now I am much happier with an Intel NUC, a USB Drobo, a little bit of noise and 14x my previous storage capacity.

dt

1152 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#2857652 28-Jan-2022 12:49

double check with which ever hypervisor you go with if it support software raid, I know vmware doesn't so you might end up needing a raid controller as well.

PANiCnz

990 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2857655 28-Jan-2022 12:52

Zal:

I was then thinking an expansion card like this: https://www.computerlounge.co.nz/shop/components/storage/accessories/asus-hyper-m2-x16-gen-4-card#all-reviews for the local storage, say x4 2TB SSDs in a raid 10 or other.

Your motherboard needs to support PCI-e bifurcation to use that adapter, its pretty common on newer motherboards. If you already have the motherboard there is normally an option to configure it in the BIOS.

ShinyChrome

1575 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#2857730 28-Jan-2022 14:13

Apart from using the hardware you already have, what problem are you trying to solve here? Do you actually need both the availability AND speed of RAID 10 to go that expense?

To your question, something like Unraid supports a multi-pool, software RAID 1 setup, that can be used with any type of physical drive for VM vdisks, Docker, and caching, so as long as you have a board with enough ports, you can do dual NVMe drives.

Zal

209 posts

Master Geek

#2857932 28-Jan-2022 18:42

Thanks for the replies.

Wanted use:

Domain controller

blue iris for cameras and storage. This will be 3.5 drives.

Storage of "Linux ISOs"

Mucking around with VMs

My other options is a ML110 G10 but cost it rather high.

PANiCnz

990 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2858101 29-Jan-2022 09:36

TBH you probably need different types of storage for the different use cases. A couple off SSD's is RAID is probably a good fit for VM storage, but some spinning rust is probably a better fit for your Linux ISO's. Linux ISO's are generally a good fit with Write Once Read Many (WORM) storage like Unraid. Unraid support KVM and Docker so can be a good basis for a home server, but personally I'm more inclined to run a proper hypervisor like ESXi or Proxmox.

If your motherboard supports VT-d or IOMMU you can passthrough the storage controller to a VM and virtualize your NAS functionality. This way you can choose whatever NAS OS floats your boat e.g. Unraid, OMV, TrueNAS etc.

Zal

209 posts

Master Geek

#2902471 14-Apr-2022 18:27

If anyone is interested, I went with an HP mini Elitedesk.

Raid 1 500GB nvme

Single 2.5 1tb disc or SSD most likely for cameras.

16GB ram for now

Does the job, but missing EEC.