What to do with small NVME SSD? (M.2 2242)

[BetteBalterZen]

Hi guys 

So one of our laptops at work got an SSD upgrade and my boss gave me its old Lenovo X1 Titanium Kioxia 256GB NVMe KBG40ZNT256G to play with. I though I'd take it home and burn it out as a cache drive in my DS920+ NAS but it only supports M.2 2280 size NVME's. 

So now I have this small but working NVME and have I have no good use for it. Anyone got any cool ideas? Maybe a huge and fast USB-drive? (if such adapters exist and work properly) 

[da na]

Could stick it in a PCIE slot...

Amazon.com: M.2 NVME to PCIe 3.0 x4 Adapter with Aluminum Heatsink Solution : Electronics

these support the short NVMEs

[Needfuldoer]

I think there are brackets that let you physically mount a shorter SSD into a 2280 slot.

 

M.2 to USB enclosures definitely exist, but I don't have any firsthand experience with them.

[BetteBalterZen]

8 minutes ago, Mel0nMan said:

Could stick it in a PCIE slot...

Amazon.com: M.2 NVME to PCIe 3.0 x4 Adapter with Aluminum Heatsink Solution : Electronics

these support the short NVMEs

For sure, for sure, but I don't feel like this NVME being important enough for me to add such a board in my PC hehe but thanks for sharing your idea

[BetteBalterZen]

18 hours ago, Needfuldoer said:

I think there are brackets that let you physically mount a shorter SSD into a 2280 slot.

 

M.2 to USB enclosures definitely exist, but I don't have any firsthand experience with them.

Yes I have seen them but I'm not sure if my DS920+ will support it and these brackets / adapters, they also add height to the NVME so I'm not sure if it will fit. 

Currently looking at some 2242 M.2 to USB adapters enclosures but they are actually kinda expensive... Nut sure if I'm willing to pay around 50 USD and up for a proper adapter haha. 

[Kilrah]

Something like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/123477229354?hash=item1cbfd0ff2a:g:2dgAAOSwcDdb4-Ll

 

 

I have 2 similar ones, one has my portable linux install.

[BetteBalterZen]

1 minute ago, Kilrah said:

Something like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/123477229354?hash=item1cbfd0ff2a:g:2dgAAOSwcDdb4-Ll

 

I have 2 similar ones, one has my portable linux install.

Oh yeah that is perfect. I fear though that import taxes would cost more than the product itself if ordering from eBay. Anyhow, hows the performance with this one? 

[Kilrah]

The one I have seems to be more like this one, without the retractable USB:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/154018664574?hash=item23dc3a507e:g:EdIAAOSwWf1gPE~o

 

Seems there are some with type C as well now:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124517360677?hash=item1cfdd02425:g:svEAAOSwJy1f9m5a

 

It works as good as you'd expect of 5Gbps USB, i.e. 350ish MB/s if the SSD can take it. 

 

Ah but I see your SSD is NVMe, those are for SATA drives... have never looked for short NVMe ones, but there are definitely 2280-sized ones. I have one of those that's 10Gbps and it'll do 500+MB/s without sweating.

[Kilrah]

Yup looks like there are small 10Gbit NVMe ones too: https://www.ebay.com/itm/143900979330

Note that unlike SATA ones they won't work on USB2 ports, shouldn't be a big deal nowadays but good to know.

[BetteBalterZen]

@Kilrah

Yes, I'd like to pull as much performance from it as possible so I'd prefer a 10Gbps adapter, and 500+ MB/s sounds really good. 

I see that most sellers from eBay is outside of EU so I will probably have to pay a lot of import tax. But thanks for sharing these. 

But because of the import taxes, I took a look at Amazon.de and I found this one: NVMe to USB Adapter, M.2 SSD to USB 3.1 Type A Card, M.2 PCIe Based M Key Hard Drive Converter Reader as Portable SSD 10Gbps USB 3.1 Gen 2 Bridge Chip Support OS 2242 2260 2280: Amazon.de: Computer & Accessories

Looks pretty good to me and the price is alright. What do you think of it? 

[Helpful Tech Witch]

M.2 ports are compatible based of interface, not size. Just because there’s not 2242 mount doesn’t mean it’s not going to work, in fact, it will work.

[BetteBalterZen]

1 minute ago, Helpful Tech Wiard said:

M.2 ports are compatible based of interface, not size. Just because there’s not 2242 mount doesn’t mean it’s not going to work, in fact, it will work.

Right, and thank you for clearifying

[Kilrah]

1 minute ago, BetteBalterZen said:

Looks pretty good to me and the price is alright. What do you think of it? 

It doesn't seem to come with a case, just a bare circuit board, so meh...

 

Don't know how it is in the EU now but here I can import stuff up to $60ish without fees. Small/cheap eBay items like this never get taxed.

[BetteBalterZen]

2 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

It doesn't seem to come with a case, just a bare circuit board, so meh...

 

Don't know how it is in the EU now but here I can import stuff up to $60ish without fees. Small/cheap eBay items like this never get taxed.

Ah yeah true, looks like there's no case with it... Too bad. 

Well last time I ordered something for 150DKK from outside EU I ended up paying the same for import taxes. So yeah I'll do my best to order from within EU

[BetteBalterZen]

25 minutes ago, Helpful Tech Wiard said:

M.2 ports are compatible based of interface, not size. Just because there’s not 2242 mount doesn’t mean it’s not going to work, in fact, it will work.

Right after thinking about it, I will look more into an adapter because it would be cool to have a cache in my NAS. Have to get home first and measure the room near the M.2 socket. 

[Helpful Tech Witch]

1 hour ago, BetteBalterZen said:

Right after thinking about it, I will look more into an adapter because it would be cool to have a cache in my NAS. Have to get home first and measure the room near the M.2 socket. 

Of it dooesnt have room for a mounting bracket, electrical tape would always be an option

[SimplyChunk]

Or you could mount it with a couple of layers of foam double sided tape. Like this stuff

 

https://www.ebay.de/itm/253545130721?epid=2255403306&hash=item3b0877aae1:g:vR4AAOSw-zxWpQTu

 

It does leave a residue when you remove it BUT it's nothing a little isopropyl and elbow greese can't fix

 

Edit:

Just measure the space under the m.2 card and get the apropriate thickness

[Vishera]

2 hours ago, Kilrah said:

Something like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/123477229354?hash=item1cbfd0ff2a:g:2dgAAOSwcDdb4-Ll

 

 

I have 2 similar ones, one has my portable linux install.

That's for SATA M.2,not NVME.

[LogicalDrm]

-> Moved to Storage Devices

[BetteBalterZen]

11 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

-> Moved to Storage Devices

Thank you (and sorry)

[BetteBalterZen]

15 hours ago, Helpful Tech Wiard said:

Of it dooesnt have room for a mounting bracket, electrical tape would always be an option

Oh right, that could possibly work

[BetteBalterZen]

16 hours ago, SimplyChunk said:

Or you could mount it with a couple of layers of foam double sided tape. Like this stuff

 

https://www.ebay.de/itm/253545130721?epid=2255403306&hash=item3b0877aae1:g:vR4AAOSw-zxWpQTu

 

It does leave a residue when you remove it BUT it's nothing a little isopropyl and elbow greese can't fix

 

Edit:

Just measure the space under the m.2 card and get the apropriate thickness

Ah yes, good idea

[BetteBalterZen]

Thank you everyone for all the good ideas and such, appreciate it!