Is there anyone who has successfully put together a "high-powered" mini-itx ZFS box that would be willing to post their system specs? I''m eyeballing the KI690-AM2... http://www.albatron.com.tw/english/product/mb/pro_detail.asp?rlink=Overview&no=239 ...but am having a difficult time locating it and a suitable case currently. I was in negotiations with a hardware source, but he/his company disappeared (thank goodness I hadn''t ordered from him!). Thoughts/advice? Any other suggestions for a mini-itx (or other small form factor) mobo that supports enough ram/cpu/SATA ? My goals & constraints for this system are: *) ZFS -- I want this to run opensolaris/ZFS *) Size -- I don''t have room for anything bigger than the Chenbro ES34069 case http://www.chenbro.com/corporatesite/products_detail.php?serno=100 *) Power -- I want to be able to put a hefty chunk of RAM and a nice cpu in it, because I''d like this box to be multi-purpose (eventually) Thanks, --Ben This message posted from opensolaris.org
On Tue, Apr 29, 2008 at 07:41:01AM -0700, Benjamin Ellison wrote:> Is there anyone who has successfully put together a "high-powered" mini-itx ZFS box that would be willing to post their system specs? > > I''m eyeballing the KI690-AM2... > http://www.albatron.com.tw/english/product/mb/pro_detail.asp?rlink=Overview&no=239 >(can''t quite tell wheteher that''s 2G max or 2G/module) http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=11921> ...but am having a difficult time locating it and a suitable case currently. I was in negotiations with a hardware source, but he/his company disappeared (thank goodness I hadn''t ordered from him!). > > Thoughts/advice? Any other suggestions for a mini-itx (or other small form factor) mobo that supports enough ram/cpu/SATA ? >Not the easiest requirements as mini-itx usually means little space for memory and sata ports. I think the best (but not cheap) option I''ve seen is: Commell LV-676D Intel Core 2 Duo Mainboard (for 273.35 pounds at linitx, but I''ve seen them for less elsewhere). vh Mads Toftum -- http://soulfood.dk
I wonder how hard it would be to get Solaris running on the new ReadyNAS. http://www.netgear.com/Products/Storage/ReadyNASPro.aspx Wes Felter - wesley at felter.org
Wes, OpenWGT is the project to re-flash netgear devices with linux busybox or debian variants. Unfortunately, IMO the netgear camp is not as well organized as the Linksys camp: Openwrt.org (I am an openwrt White Russian user). You can use openwrt to research the Netgear ReadyNAS specs, but I surspect that will be a long road ahead. If you buy the ReadyNAS pro and pry it open, please contribute your findings to the wiki! http://wiki.openwrt.org/TableOfHardware This message posted from opensolaris.org
ellisonb, have you been to mini-itx.com? The only one NON-VIA cpu based mini-itx mobo I have ever heard about: Jetway J9F2 uses Intel Core Duo Mobile with Intel? 945GM + ICH7M chipset + 2 DIMM slots for a max of 2GB RAM VIA sponsors the mini-itx spec - I think it''s currently 2 dimm slots that max at 4GB, and that''s only on the CN896 chipset. Otherwise its 2 slots @ 2GB like the Jetway. This message posted from opensolaris.org
SV wrote:> OpenWGT is the project to re-flash netgear devices with linux busybox or debian variants. Unfortunately, IMO the netgear camp is not as well organized as the Linksys camp: Openwrt.org (I am an openwrt White Russian user). > > You can use openwrt to research the Netgear ReadyNAS specs, but I surspect that will be a long road ahead. If you buy the ReadyNAS pro and pry it open, please contribute your findings to the wiki!Read more carefully; ReadyNAS Pro appears to be completely different (and more standard) hardware than ReadyNAS. If you can squeeze Solaris down to 128MB and somehow get it in the flash, I bet it will work. Wes Felter - wesley at felter.org
Intel EagleLake boards look very promising for this purpose. Compact low-power home NAS but with some power to it. Onboard gigabit. http://www.mini-itx.com/2008/03/06/intels-eaglelake-mini-itx-boards This message posted from opensolaris.org
I''ll have to check out the EagleLake stuff. I did look at the Jetway at one point in time, but forgot why I initially ruled it out. Might be worth a re-visit. I also dug up a notice that Kontron was coming out with one that looks promising as well, the KT690/mITX: http://us.kontron.com/products/boards+and+mezzanines/embedded+motherboards/miniitx+motherboards/kt690mitx.html I sent them an email asking for some retail/sourcing/distribution info, but received no response. I like the fact that it has a compactflash socket and 2x gigabit ports. If they don''t want an absolute fortune for it, this could be a sweet board... providing of course that compatible drivers could be wrangled. --Ben This message posted from opensolaris.org
Ok, all the bits and pieces I (thought I) needed became available and I have ordered & assembled my "mini" NAS. Once I get the pictures off my camera (when will the Eye-Fi support CF!?) I will do up a blog entry on the construction & update this thread. My biggest problem so far is that there is no driver support for the onboard network interfaces (Broadcom BCM5787M) in OpenSolaris 2008.05. The bge driver isn''t working, but I just saw a couple posts that the bcem driver might work, so we''ll give it a whirl tonight. I really hope it works, because I really, *really* want to have this thing utilizing ZFS. Hardware list, for those interested... (from newegg): OCZ 2GB 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) Laptop Memory SAMSUNG Spinpoint M Series HM080GC 80GB 5400 RPM ATA-6 Notebook Hard Drive KINAMAX ADP-IDE23 Laptop 2.5" to Desktop 3.5" IDE Hard Drive Adapter Converter 4 x SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD753LJ 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drives (from Logic Supply): IEI KINO-690S1 AMD Turion 64 Mini-ITX Mainboard CoolerMaster EPN-41CSS-01 - Socket 479, Socket M, Socket P Panasonic SR-8178-B Slimline Tray-loading CD/DVD-ROM Slimline CD to 40 pin IDE adapter (NOTE: I ended up with two at some point... I think the case I ordered may have come with one). Chenbro ES34069 Mini-ITX Home Server/NAS Chassis (from CompuVest): 2.0GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 Mobile TL-60 FSB 1600MHz 2x512KB S1 Things that I still probably could use: Low profile SATA cables Long, round IDE cable See this for cost breakdown, if interested: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pblAtpLs7JXRv1q3YBevVZQ I''ll let everyone know if the driver thing works out, and when I get my pics online. the Chenbro case is pretty cool, even if it does seem spendy -- although things start to even out once you take into account the included/built-in power supply, fans, and SATA II backplane/hot-swap bays. --Ben This message posted from opensolaris.org
Update: The BCME drivers & solution from this thread worked, I think: http://opensolaris.org/jive/thread.jspa?messageID=195224 At least, it says the broadcom is "up" -- I just don''t have it in a location where I can get an IP and outside access to test it, yet. I had some intermittent video issues, which Logicsupply.com tech support suggested were caused by RAM. I ran a memory test from a bootable disc ( http://www.memtest.org/ ) which showed the chips as good, so I relocating the ram chip to a different slot. Problem fixed :) The round cables from firefold.com came in, and work *much* better in the case, especially once I trimmed off the rubber boots. Of course it was only after I went through this headache that I found logicsupply''s review of the case and how they installed the mobo. My current problem is attempting to get opensolaris to recognize my storage drives, some of which can be followed in another thread: http://www.opensolaris.org/jive/thread.jspa?threadID=62493&tstart=0 --Ben This message posted from opensolaris.org
Ok, all done :) Check out the details in my blog. Yesterday''s post covered some of the stuff I mentioned in this thread. Today''s post covers assembly/construction. Tomorrow''s post will cover "soft" tweaks (installation, configuration, troubleshooting). http://blog.flowbuzz.com/search/label/NAS --Ben This message posted from opensolaris.org