I was thinking on buying a 2-4 bay HDD powered enclosure as a NAS for my mini pc, since I already have that, and buying or building a full-fledged diy NAS seems a bit expensive.

I want to hear some opinions from you guys, since it seems using this method is a mixed area from the selfhosted pros. I would be hoping that by using a powered enclosure, that would alleviate or solve the USB port overcharging issue, which have appeared in my mini pc when trying out an external HDD with a normal sata to usb converter.

Did you have any experiences with a setup like this one?

Uninvited Guest
link
fedilink
English
27d

Thanks for the reply! I have a couple USB 3.0 2-drive docks that just sit out in the open - consolidating in to a single, enclosed unit with a fan would be nice (since mine or open, you really hear the HD spin up/click when accessing it).

What do you use to adjust your drives’ spin down? hdparm? hd-idle? I have one drive that is constantly spinning/accessed so the thermal concerns with the unit do weigh on me.

fmstrat
link
fedilink
English
37d

Oh man it’s been a while, but I think I used hdparm. They basically show up as individual USB drives and were SMART capable.

The DAS is disconnected now for a road test (this system will eventually live in a van), but once I reconnect it I could check if you would like.

Uninvited Guest
link
fedilink
English
26d

If it crosses your mind once it’s all hooked up :⁠-⁠)

fmstrat
link
fedilink
English
218h

So see my other comment on the heat above, but smartctl and hdparm both work great with it. For this warm room I’ve stuck a fan in front and temps stay below 40C so far.

Create a post

A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don’t control.

Rules:

  1. Be civil: we’re here to support and learn from one another. Insults won’t be tolerated. Flame wars are frowned upon.

  2. No spam posting.

  3. Posts have to be centered around self-hosting. There are other communities for discussing hardware or home computing. If it’s not obvious why your post topic revolves around selfhosting, please include details to make it clear.

  4. Don’t duplicate the full text of your blog or github here. Just post the link for folks to click.

  5. Submission headline should match the article title (don’t cherry-pick information from the title to fit your agenda).

  6. No trolling.

Resources:

Any issues on the community? Report it using the report flag.

Questions? DM the mods!

  • 1 user online
  • 260 users / day
  • 494 users / week
  • 1.09K users / month
  • 3.79K users / 6 months
  • 1 subscriber
  • 3.91K Posts
  • 79.2K Comments
  • Modlog