NAS / Lightweight HTPC MB options?

teek5449 · Post by **teek5449** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 8:33 am

I have been looking into building a NAS for my home network and was interested in some ideas. I really want a low power consumption fanless system. I had seen JetWay J8F9-P-LF mentioned in an article and thought, perfect, but its discontinued. I am sure there are newer boards out there that meet my specs but some searching has only brought up a few.

Is there a perfect board out there for me? Here is what I would like:

-low power consumption
-fanless
-only for one maybe two HDs
-TV output / or an onboard TV header
-does not have to be an small form factor but if it is all the better. (using a power brick is just fine)
-if I could double up and use for a lightweight HTPC even better (just some streaming video really)
-sound is secondary to the other needs

Thank you for your help.

remco_t · Post by **remco_t** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 3:27 pm

If you don't have any problems with an Atom CPU you might want to look at the Intel D945GSEJT or the Jetway NF94-270. Both have connectors for multiple (SATA) drives, both have Gbit LAN and both use the Atom N270/945GSE chipset combo which should have a TDP of round 12-13ish Watt.

These are the boards I'm leaning towards to for my own server/NAS solution.

edit: just read about the HTPC requirements... maybe an Atom with NVIDIA ION chipset?

mgarl10024 · Post by **mgarl10024** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 11:43 pm

Hi Teek5449,

Does the motherboard need to be small? Would you consider a fullsize board if it were cheaper, or have you got your heart set on a small board?

I'm no expert, but I believe some underclocked fullsize motherboard/CPU combos can give excellent results, and you wouldn't need to sacrifice the slots etc. like you would with a small board.
I myself have built my fileserver using a 2.3Ghz AMD (LE-1300) on a GA-MA74GM-S2H, with two drives, and power consumption is often less than 40watts.

Hope that helps,

MG

teek5449 · Post by **teek5449** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 6:24 am

@remco_t

I looked into both of your suggestions and the Intel D945GSEJT seems to be a good fit with low power draw, the Jetway NF94-270 has more power and more features that I want. What I didn't see on the Jetway NF94-270 was the option to use a wall wart (power brick) type power supply. It seems to require a standard power supply which adds fan noise. I did a quick Google on the NVIDIA ION and it seems that they are not out yet? Do you know if these will be released in a fanless option?

@mgarl10024

Small form factor is not a necessity but being able to stick it all into a small case and put it in an out of the way spot is nice.

My main concern is low power consumption and noise since this will be on 24 hours a day. The more features that I can get, like in the NF94-270 the better but power consumption and noise trumps all. If all I can get is a simple NAS and not a lightweight HTPC because it will be a power hog then Ill stick with a small NAS.

Thanks again for your replies and I'm still open for ideas.

remco_t · Post by **remco_t** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:41 pm

There are two manufacturers that come to mind:

Point of View
Zotac
Asus

The ION boards are low-power (chipset TDP of 12W + 4W for the Atom 230) but primarily built for HTPC systems so you might find that they offer more functionality than one might need for a NAS (eg. HDMI connection, 6.1 sound, etc). The RAID function offered by the chipset though might be interesting for a NAS.

remco_t · Post by **remco_t** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:42 pm

Point of View (example board)
Zotac (example board)
Asus (example board, not passive though)

couldn't make these links in my previous post, needed to have a minimum of 3 posts first...

matt_garman · Post by **matt_garman** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 2:58 pm

If you give up the HTPC requirement, consider an Alix board from PCEngines, such as the alix1d.

I have an Alix board that I use for my firewall/router/gateway; it only consumes 5 watts AC. The 1d I linked has a two USB ports, so you can connect two external hard drives. Or, it also has a PCI slot, so you could add a SATA PCI card, such as the Supermicro AOC-SAT2-MV8, and have up to eight drives.

This is probably your least-power option, particularly if you let your hard drives spin down when idle.

You might also consider the Biostar A760G-M2. I am using this board for my file server; I posted detailed power consumption info about it here on SPCR.

Side note: I really think there's a market for dedicated, low-power NAS hardware. What I'd like to see is something like that Alix board, but with a configurable amount of ECC memory, two high-quality gigabit ethernet ports, and at least eight integrated SATA ports on a reliable controller (Intel's ICH seem to be good), all on a fast PCIe bus. Install the open source OS of your choice (Linux, BSD, Solaris) on a compact flash card, and you're done. Something like this Via NAS 7800 comes close, but lacks some features, and isn't generally available anyway.

teek5449 · Post by **teek5449** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 8:29 am

I looked in to the links that remco_t posted. I think that I can get away with more than just a NAS. A lightweight HTPC looks to be possible with some of those MBs. I have a question though. Some of the passively cooled MBs have onboard power connectors (20+4, etc...), are there options out there for me to use a passively cooled PS with these boards or will a standard PS be needed? I have been building computers for myself for 10 years now and this will be my first passive system and I want to get it right.

Thanks again for helping me out. I will start to post what I am thinking of using and see what you guys think once I get some more details worked out.

xan_user · Post by **xan_user** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 9:33 am

You might get more input if you change the thread title.
After all its not really a NAS you're building, its a low power HTPC.

teek5449 · Post by **teek5449** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 1:30 pm

Changed.... my original thought was to just build a NAS but with some of the MB options out there a lightweight HTPC looks to be possible.