Looking for Low Power suggestions

  • I'm looking to build my first OMV server after running a power hungry xeon based windows server for years.


    The OMV build will be storage only, I would be wanting to use Reslio, and I would like to automate power on/off over night etc. It will primarily hold video files to be served by Plex (separate plex server) and syncing my daily use work files from various computers. I'm looking to save the planet (my wallet) when it comes to power usage.


    My problem is deciding on the hardware/motherboard/SBC for the build. An SBC would be great, I already have 4x 3Tb 3.5" WD Red SATA drives which seems to narrow my options a lot.


    NanoPi M4 with SATA hat seem very difficult to obtain in the UK?
    Helios 4 seems difficult to obtain full stop.
    Raspberry Pi4 would be good but the USB could be a pain for connecting the 3.5" drives unless there is a hat I havent seen?
    Odroid HC2 looks great but the single drive is obviously a limit, I guess I could have 4 of them and 4 OMV installations at a push but could be a pain to manage, is there something like FreeNAS's TrueCommand for OMV?
    Odroid XU4 with the CloudShell2 look great, who doesnt love a live LCD screen, but it looks like OMV doesnt work well with it? (might just be old posts) and a few negative comments about the CloudShell2 in general.


    I am not against a USB drive setup if there are better board options without SATA.


    Completely open to your thoughts....

    • Offizieller Beitrag

    Use your current small HDDs for backups.


    Get a HC2 or a RPi4 and a 12-16 TB HDD.


    With the RPi4 you'll need a case and an external HDD case. Perhaps a 2 drive case for future expansion? Or an extra drive for primary backups.


    Typically what draws power is the HDDs. Let them spin down and leave the rest on. It can be tricky to automate on/off with SBCs.

  • I looked a little bit around and checked for pico-ITX boards but I couldn´t find any equivalent to the nanopi m4 + sata hat. If anybody knows a super small board with 4 sata ports please share it.


    at the end if you need 4 full sata ports and look about a small setup you only can choose the Helios board or the nanopi + sata hat.


    The helios is restricted to 2GB ram while the nanopi is available in two versions 2GB and 4GB


    to compare the cpu´s you have on one side the Rockchip RK3399 from the nanopi vs the Marvell Armada 388 (88F6828) in the helios.


    both are super efficient cpus but with differences. the RK3399 is a quad core cpu at higher frequencies vs the Marvell dual core cpu.


    beside the RAM, CPU, and frequecy difference there is a big advantage on the Rockchip at efficiency.


    helios is rating their board with 8.0W when drives are sleeping. I can tell you the nanopi incl. hat consumes less than 7W when the drives are in standby.


    pricewise the helios full nas kit is sold at 194USD while the nanopi + sata hat counts in at minimum 82USD for the 2GB version or the new V2 with 4GB at 102USD. The nanopi comes without case heatsink and fan but you can get the full set of hardware beside the case far below the price of the helios. I published a tiny case for up to 4 2.5" drives in thingiverse and also here in the my built section.


    both are a good choice but it depends on what you aiming for exactly.


    I´m quite interested in the new Helios64 board but it is not yet available and from the formfactor bigger than the nanopi.

    • Offizieller Beitrag

    Get a hard drive cage something like this to hold your four drives and mount the nanopi m4 + sata hat (plus the heatsinks) on the top of the cage. I Love mine. Don't try to use an EMMC card. They cannot be inserted/removed with the sata hat in place. Love my hc2's also - the frame/heatsink makes it possible to stack them atop one another, but four of them would be about double the cost of one nanopi m4.

    System Backup Typo alert: Under the Linux section the command should be sudo umount /dev/sda1 NOT sudo unmount /dev/sda1

    Backup Data Disk to Backup Disk on Same Machine: In a Scheduled Job:rsync -av --delete /srv/dev-disk-by-uuid-f8814ed9-9a5c-4e1c-8830-426968c20ea3/ /srv/dev-disk-by-uuid-e67439d5-00a3-4942-bd5f-b84ab86aa850/ Don't forget trailing slashes, and BE CAREFUL. (HT: Getting Started with OMV5)

    Equipment - Thinkserver TS140, NanoPi M4 (v.1), Odroid XU4 (Using DietPi): PiHole

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