DIY NAS from dell optiplex Micro: how far can I go with adding storage to SATA slot?

[Een]

Hi LTT community. 

TL;DR Question: how many HDD/SSD's can I add to my SATA slot without encountering issues such as power/reading/writing issues?

I use an old dell optiplex 3060 micro for my home server, running Ubuntu with Plex and some other services. My plan is to also use it as a DIY NAS. 

My hardware knowledge is limited. I am aware I can use the SATA slot in order to add storage devices. Can I use a sata hub such as one posted below to increase the amount of storage drives I attach to my computer? Do I need to think about a way to power them if I add *too many*? How much is too many? I am curious about your insights. 

 

My plan is the following: 

1. Buy a sata splitter/hub (e.g. https://www.amazon.nl/Zerone-Multiplier-Moederbord-Expansion-Ondersteuning/dp/B07PHTDKFT/ref=sr_1_17?__mk_nl_NL=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=2ES5BMG7H6DE6&keywords=sata+hub&qid=1649757954&sprefix=sata+hub%2Caps%2C64&sr=8-17)
2. Buy some old HDD's or SSD's and perform hardware checks
3. Set up RAID configuration, start using for DIY NAS storage.

Image from the computer below: 



With the SATA SLOT:



And an example of a SATA hub: 

[Alex Atkin UK]

7 minutes ago, Een said:

how many HDD/SSD's can I add to my SATA slot without encountering issues such as power/reading/writing issues?

If any of them is an SSD then you will immediately bottleneck the speed (though only if you're accessing more than one at a time), if they're relatively slow HDDs I'd think it would take 4 to start bottlenecking. (not sure what overhead the splitter causes)

As for power, that could be risky.  Its only designed for one drive so any additional over that you're gambling that it has the headroom to handle it without overloading the power delivery circuits.  Probably safer to power the drives with their own PSU, though specifically what PSU I'm not sure.

[Een]

Just now, Alex Atkin UK said:

If any of them is an SSD then you will immediately bottleneck the speed (though only if you're accessing more than one at a time), if they're relatively slow HDDs I'd think it would take 4 to start bottlenecking. (not sure what overhead the splitter causes)

As for power, that could be risky.  Its only designed for one drive so any additional over that you're gambling that it has the headroom to handle it without overloading the power delivery circuits.

Hmm. In that case, would you recommend just starting with around 4 HDD's to see if that would work, considering the bottleneck? I don't need that much speed as I'm mostly going to use it for media. 

Can I use external powering, to prevent overloading the sata slot in the machine? Or perhaps that's not how that works? 

[Alex Atkin UK]

Just now, Een said:

Hmm. In that case, would you recommend just starting with around 4 HDD's to see if that would work, considering the bottleneck? I don't need that much speed as I'm mostly going to use it for media. 

Can I use external powering, to prevent overloading the sata slot in the machine? Or perhaps that's not how that works? 

I don't see any reason why external power wouldn't work.

[Chiyawa]

I think you're better off with USB 3.0 enclosures. HDD splitter does work, but with so many devices plugged in it will bottleneck pretty much. Some HDD can have a sequential read and write speed of 200MB/s (Seagate 3.5 inch 2TB 7200rpm).

[Pandur]

That splitter does not split the power connector so you will need to run power to each drive. 4x HDD will be a good start to test out NAS. You will bottleneck on those once in a blue moon instances where you manage a pure sequential read. But it is mostly a theoretical problem with HDDs.

 

4xSSDs will bottleneck in most instances. They have a much higher max performance (and will probably last longer) if you upgrade your hardware to 4 proper sata ports later.

 

Make a zfs pool, or similar, and start testing. Personally I would go for a NAS specific Linux distro. But stick with Ubuntu since you already have that.

[Een]

5 minutes ago, Pandur said:

That splitter does not split the power connector so you will need to run power to each drive. 4x HDD will be a good start to test out NAS. You will bottleneck on those once in a blue moon instances where you manage a pure sequential read. But it is mostly a theoretical problem with HDDs.

 

4xSSDs will bottleneck in most instances. They have a much higher max performance (and will probably last longer) if you upgrade your hardware to 4 proper sata ports later.

 

Make a zfs pool, or similar, and start testing. Personally I would go for a NAS specific Linux distro. But stick with Ubuntu since you already have that.

Sounds like a good idea. I'll start with 4 then, make a ZFS pool out of it. That'll probably be enough for my 'home server' purposes as it's mostly just a hobby project.

 

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll keep on checking the thread if someone comes with some additional advice :)