NAS built in 2015? No, SFF instead!

[ulfn]

A last picture from today. This is how it looks inside under the layer I lifted out. 

[Sonic]

Nice journey! Looking forward to see HexOs on your mini NAS. 

Can you share your experiences with the temperature? I'm really curious about the cooling system in this NAS mini PC.

 

 

[ulfn]

Well there IS a fan inside, and an optional external fan you could mount on the top cover. I got it with my Pocket NAS, even though on their website they say it’s an optional thing. I would need to have it all ready before I can tell you more about it. The four screw holes on the top are meant for the external one. Best thing is, I’ve never heard the internal fan, and the external one seems very quiet also, when I tested it. When I’ve built computers I’ve used Noctua fans, so I’m quite spoiled, in this regard. By the way, all the metal of the box itself seems aimed at dissipating heat. I will be back.

[ulfn]

The internal fan is like one of the layers when you go from top to bottom, so it’s ”format filling”, I would guess it’s  a standard 92x92 mm computer fan, or possibly an 80x80 mm one.

[ulfn]

Just a comment about the internal fan, in my latest post. A standard computer fan it may be, but it would have to be a thin one. Otherwise it would be a like fan with a computer board attached to it.

[ulfn]

On 3/9/2025 at 7:25 PM, Sonic said:

Nice journey! Looking forward to see HexOs on your mini NAS. 

Can you share your experiences with the temperature? I'm really curious about the cooling system in this NAS mini PC.

 

 

As I said, the full picture is only apparent when the OS disk is in place, together with the four NVMe drives,. And I guess the four NVMe ones are the heat creating disks in this setup. Still having a bit of struggle with the (Hex)OS drive, but working on it. Any temperature numbers now wouldn’t be meaningful. So again, I will be back.

[ulfn]

And I sent a question, again, about how and where to install  the OS disk. For you who didn’t follow this from the start, I sent several questions earlier to the ipc.net support team., since I couldn’t get all information from the user manual. I told them all the time I write about this mini PC in a forum, and wanted to get correct information to pass on to others interested in this Pocket NAS. A miniature PC like this, is very different from your normal one with a regular motherboard . In this small scale, there are many custom solutions, and it isn’t always apparent where things should go.

[ulfn]

So, the answer from the ipc.net support team came today. I asked them about the screws used in the screw holes you can see on the underside of the layer I pulled it. Only thing is, as I discovered, those screw holes are already with screws in them from the other side, and not usable here, but as the support said ”you could double-sided tape him”.. So I’m thinking this, or like adhesive Velcro strips. Doing a little research about heat resistance for both of these alternatives, before deciding…

[Dylan]

1 hour ago, ulfn said:

So, the answer from the ipc.net support team came today. I asked them about the screws used in the screw holes you can see on the underside of the layer I pulled it. Only thing is, as I discovered, those screw holes are already with screws in them from the other side, and not usable here, but as the support said ”you could double-sided tape him”.. So I’m thinking this, or like adhesive Velcro strips. Doing a little research about heat resistance for both of these alternatives, before deciding…

Smart. I would also check heat and material temperature thresholds when using non-standard components. Looks like a lot of fun @ulfn! Looking forward to see and hearing about it when you've got it all up and running.

[ulfn]

@DylanYou’d have to see it with a child’s eyes .There’s the joy of discovery in all this.

Edited March 15 by ulfn

[Dylan]

22 minutes ago, ulfn said:

@DylanYou’d have to see it with a child’s eyes .There’s the joy of discovery in all this.

I know exactly what you mean. The joy of discovery is immeasurable.

[ulfn]

Finally I’ve got the time needed to sit down with this project of mine. So, question was how to attach the SSD chip to the inner space of this Pocket NAS? The ipc.net support team suggested with a screw or to use doublesided tape. I had gone through my assortment of various computer related screws, without much success. At least they told me what type of screw was needed. - M2.5x4 See in the picture were I had intended this screw to go. My screwdriver works as a pointer. 

[ulfn]

For other options, I chose adhesive ”velcro” and the doublesided tape suggested. A quite narrow strip of velcro would have to be applied to the plastic part of the SATA connector,only about 4-5 mm in width.. I wouldn’t want to apply it to the chip itself. I believed this alternative was not optimal. My best option, except for the screw was the doublesided tape. Temperature wise I found it would be able to use it in this case. Service temperature is specified as continuous up to 194F and intermittent up to 302F, corresponding to 90-150C. I had planned to use tape on both the connector and on the metal surface it would attach to. More tape adhesive in work, was the plan. 

[ulfn]

This screw I needed I couldn’t find in my own town. Internet shopping was my choice, so I ordered it, minimum order was for 10 of them. But what do you do!? So would this M2.5x4 screw fit? I had no way of knowing until I got it in my hand. So while I was preparing today’s ration of posts - I got it from the postman! Of course I had to try it immediately. It worked 😀  What’s left now, is where do I connect this SATA cable on the motherboard? There’s no obvious answer, I would have to contact the support team again.! That would be for another day.

[ulfn]

The last time I contacted the ipc.net support team, was because I believed they sent me the wrong user manual by e-mail when I purchased this mini PC/NAS. It was only motherboard related things in this manual. Nothing about how you would get to the inner part of this case. That’s why I had to send them all these questions. Seems it really was the manual intended for my Pocket NAS, They said their main products are motherboards…They at least sent me a picture of how you go about opening this case up. which we already know by now, but anyway.

[ulfn]

I sent a question to the ipc.net support (Jessica Fang) about where to connect the minute SATA cable connector to the motherboard. Answer back in almost no time, considering the different time zones. She sent me a link to a video in Chinese and two separate pictures. Of all this I concluded the cable should be attached to the white connector at the bottom middle part of the picture.

[Sonic]

Thank you for the update. I like your journey 🙂

[ulfn]

The cable connector has two sides (!). The colored side should point to the middle of the motherboard. I must tell you this cable connector is very flimsy. The white part of the connector meets like a taped over part of the cables attached to the connector. The second picture doesn’t show it properly, but it’s only like gold colored.

Edited 1 hour ago by ulfn

[ulfn]

Because of this flimsy connector, patience is needed when you try to attach it to the SATA connector on the motherboard, but it seems I succeeded. First time I start this Pocket NAS would reveal if it works. I can also say you should be a bit careful when trying to attach the connector pins of the metal part I screwed the SSD chip on, to the connector on the motherboard itself. I seem to have done that correctly also., because I was able to put the four screws in from the top again, and tighten them. Next step would of course be to mount the four NVMe sticks on top. That must wait a little, though.  Rome wasn’t built in a day.

[ulfn]

If you wonder why it’s not obvious were to connect the SATA cable from the SSD chip, to the motherboard. The small scale of everything on this motherboard, means the SATA connector isn’t like your normal one. SATA ports on regular size motherboards are familiar to everyone who has been inside a computer. Compare that to the minuscule white connector on this motherboard, and you’ll see my point.