ASRock Beebox as NAS Build better than NanoPi M4?

  • Hello everyone, I'm looking to replace my Raspberry Pi3 as a NAS server. I've seen good reviews on NanoPi M4 but it seems the company selling them is not serious and will be closed for two weeks due to Chinese New Year =O I found a really good low power and customizable mini PC, but I could't find any info on NAS performance here is the specs for the ASRock Beebox n3000:

    • Intel Celeron N3000 1.04 - 2.08 GHzDual Core Processor; Intel HD Graphics, 320 MHz - 600 MHz
    • Supports 4k UHD and Triple Monitor
    • Supports 2x 204-pin DDR3L SODIMM Memory; Maximum 16GB Capcity, Dual Channel, 1600MHz Minimum, Low Voltage 1.35V Required
    • Supports 1x 2.5" SATA Drive and 1x mSATA Drive; 1x Realtek RTL8168 GbE; 802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.0


    Do you think it can be a good machine for NAS and somehow match the NanoPi M4?

  • I can't answer as to if this will be good NAS hardware, but would mention that almost every Chinese company closes for a time around Chinese new year. The official holiday period is 7 days, but its not uncommon for manufacturing facilities to be closed for longer, some as long as a month. So, I wouldn't take a Chinese company being closed as a sign that they aren't serious. But, it is problematic if you really need something from a Chinese vendor at this time of year!

  • the company selling them is not serious and will be closed for two weeks due to Chinese New Year

    This is what they all do, this affects the supply chain of almost everything produced in China (AKA 'almost all electronics stuff world wide') but usually you simply don't know since the sellers in between place their orders accordingly.


    Whether a small box with an outdated Braswell dual core CPU is a good NAS depends solely on your choices. Avoiding USB (especially USB3 with all the hassles) is always a great idea and the 2 SATA ports Braswell SoCs are equipped with will help here. But if I would go the 'Intel Atom' route I would clearly choose a Gemini Lake SoC since it's 2019 already and would most probably end up with some J4105 mini ITX board from ASRock.


    But... if I would start assembling PC hardware I would do this for the only reason to improve data integrity (ECC RAM) and so those consumer grade Intel Atoms aren't for me anyway (unfortunately the 'server grade' Atoms have/had their own problems)


    Back to the NanoPi M4: this device has two 'problems': Crappy powering situation (USB-C in dumb mode --> you need a really short USB-C cable with thick power wires or undervoltage will occur and your board becomes unstable) and all USB3 ports are behind an internal USB3 hub.

  • Crappy powering situation (USB-C in dumb mode --> you need a really short USB-C cable with thick power wires or undervoltage will occur and your board becomes unstable) and all USB3 ports are behind an internal USB3 hub.

    FriendlyElac sells short (~30 cm) and relatively thick cable on their site as accessory
    Are there any issues with USB3 hub? Report shows speeds are decent. Indeed it might limit usage in some cases, yet we are discussing SBC, not a server-grade solution.

  • FriendlyElac sells short (~30 cm) and relatively thick cable on their site as accessory


    I know. But users usually aren't aware of the voltage drop issue (all the time only amperage ratings are looked at), then realize that 30cm are somewhat short, take some other USB-to-USB-C cable lying around (good for a voltage drop below 4.5V when no negotiation to 12V or 20V happens), use this and run into instabilities.


    Unfortunately their SATA HAT still isn't available. Reliable 12V powering, up to 4 PCIe attached SATA ports then combined with up to 4 USB3 ports for backup purposes. USB3 hub issues (shared bandwidth, bus contention issues and the hub being a single point of failure) usually are only a problem if RAID will be played on the USB ports.

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