Dear Intel
I am looking for hardware to build a small, low energy home server that will act primarily as NAS.
Ideally I would like a mainboard and CPU featuring:
- minimal power consumption
- passive cooling
- at least 3x SATA3 connectors
- slot(s) for at least 8Gb RAM
- 1x 1Gb LAN
- reasonable CPU power
- at least 3x SATA3 connectors
- wake on LAN (WOL)
- no WLAN
- minimal graphics
- minimal or no sound
- at least 1x USB 3.0 port.
I have scanned the market quite extensively. The only board I find appearing to meet these requirements is the SuperMicro X9SBAA-F http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/ATOM/X9/X9SBAA-F.cfm which has a more substantial price tag.
A contender is the Intel DN2800MTE, NM10 board. If I purchase this product I would intend to use it with an mSATA device attached to one of the "PCI Express Mini Card" connectors for system, leaving the two SATA2 ports free for connection of HDs. Initially I would connect one HD leaving extensibility to a second open. Initial configurations might be:
1)
- Intel DN2800MTE, NM10 board
- 2x 2Gb DDR3 SO-DIMM 1333 RAM, eg http://www.gskill.com/en/product/f3-10666cl9d-4gbsq
- 1x mSATA device for system, attached to one of the board's PCI Express Mini Card connectors such as SanDisk X110 32Gb straight, 6Gb/s, see http://www.sandisk.com/products/ssd/sata/x110/
- 1x WD Green 3Tb SATA 6Gb/s attached to one of the board's SATA ports, eg http://www.wdc.com/global/products/specs/?driveID=927&language=1
- FreeNAS OS http://www.freenas.org/ or alternative Linux distribution running, amongst other services, NFS
or,
2)
- Intel DN2800MTE, NM10 board
- 2x 2Gb DDR3 SO-DIMM 1333 RAM, eg http://www.gskill.com/en/product/f3-10666cl9d-4gbsq
- 1x SanDisk SSD 64Gb SATA 6Gb/s attached to one of the board's SATA ports, eg http://www.sandisk.com/products/ssd/sata/standard/?capacity=64GB
- 1x WD Green 3Tb SATA 6Gb/s attached to one of the board's SATA ports, eg http://www.wdc.com/global/products/specs/?driveID=927&language=1
- FreeNAS OS http://www.freenas.org/ or alternative Linux distribution running, amongst other services, NFS.
Configuration 1) would be extensible with a second 3Tb HD, or similar, being able to be attached to the board's second SATA port. Configuration 2) would also be extensible by swapping the SanDisk SSD device for an mSATA SanDisk X110 device attached to one of the board's PCI Express Mini Card connectors (as in config 1) and adding a second 3Tb HD, or similar, attached to the board's second SATA port.
My questions:
a) Would these configurations work? Are the selected parts compatible with the Intel DN2800MTE, NM10 board? Is what I suggest an advisable and / or sensible application of the Intel DN2800MTE, NM10 board?
b) What is the difference between the Intel DN2800MT, NM10 board (Intel website) and the Intel DN2800MTE, NM10 board (advertised in German market)?
c) Does the Intel DN2800MTE, NM10 board support wake on LAN (WOL)?
d) Am I correct in assuming that the Intel DN2800MTE, NM10 BIOS supports booting from a USB memory stick?
e) Is the CPU architecture x86_64?
f) What kind of throughput do you think I could expect with the configuration for the device acting as NAS (NFS server) serving data from one of the HDs over the 1Gb/s LAN connecter? Up to towards the theoretical limit of around 1Gb/s?
g) What would be the estimated peak power requirement for the configuration I describe, also in the extended form with two HDs? What would be the estimated "standby" power requirement, with eg HDs parked or with whole device in sleep waiting for a WOL trigger (if supported, see c)?
h) Can you recommend an Intel DN2800MTE compatible DC power supply that would cover the peak power requirements of the proposed extended, double HD configuration?
i) It is stated in the DN2800MT product brief that "SATA data with power cable" is included with the delivered product. Does this provide data and power connectors for attachment of a SATA HD or is it necessary to obtain a separate power supply (additional to the 8 to 19V DC supply for the mainboard) to power the SATA HDs?
j) Am I correct in thinking that the RAM selected is the fastest and largest capacity supported by the mainboard?
k) Are there other mainboard / CPU combinations in the market or in the Intel range which you would recommend were more suited to my requirements? Are there perhaps new products pending in the Intel pipeline, due to appear in the next let's say 6 to 12 months, which might be more suited to my needs? As I explained, ideally I would like at least 3 SATA3 ports on the board (1 for system SATA3 SSD drive and 2 for SATA3 HDs - making also board internal data transfer between the SSD and 2 HDs fast), at least one USB 3.0 port (so that the device can be used to unload data over the USB 3.0 port at the higher rate) and some more RAM capacity. All this being said, the Intel DN2800MTE, NM10 board is a very attractive product. I like the fact that it requires only simple DC power supply. Bring out some more such boards. Compared to an ATX power connector requirement, this is perfect for DIY embedded Linux device building.
Many thanks for your advice,
Jonathan Butler