Just got all the hardware set up and working today, super stoked!

In the pic:

  • Raspberry Pi 5
  • Radxa Penta SATA hat for Pi
  • 5x WD Blue 8TB HDD
  • Noctua 140mm fan
  • 12V -> 5V buck convertor
  • 12V (red), 5V (white), and GND (black) distribution blocks

I went with the Raspberry Pi to save some money and keep my power consumption low. I’m planning to use the NAS for streaming TV shows and movies (probably with Jellyfin), replacing my google photos account (probably with Immich), and maybe steaming music (not sure what I might use for that yet). The Pi is running Raspberry Pi Desktop OS, might switch to the server version. I’ve got all 5 drives set up and I’ve tested out streaming some stuff locally including some 4K movies, so far so good!

For those wondering, I added the 5V buck convertor because some people online said the SATA hat doesn’t do a great job of supplying power to the Pi if you’re only providing 12V to the barrel jack, so I’m going to run a USB C cable to the Pi. Also using it to send 5V to the PWM pin on the fan. Might add some LEDs too, fuck it.

Next steps:

  • Set up RAID 5 ZFS RAIDz1?
  • 3D print an enclosure with panel mount connectors

Any tips/suggestions are welcome! Will post again once I get the enclosure set up.

  • Avid AmoebaEnglish
    5•11 days ago

    Basically the equivalent of RAID 5 in terms of redundancy.

    You don’t even need to do RAIDz expansion, although that feature could save some space. You can just add another redundant set of disks to the existing one. E.g. have a 5-disk RAIDz1 which gives you the space of 4 disks. Then maybe slap on a 2-disk mirror which gives you the space of 1 additional disk. Or another RAIDz1 with however many disks you like. Or a RAIDz2, etc. As long as the newly added space has adequate redundancy of its own, it can be seamlessly added to the existing one, “magically” increasing the available storage space. No fuss.