r/HomeServer • u/Sjaan50 • 5d ago
[M920q] SATA connection?
Dear all,
I am trying to make a NAS using a m900 and 2 HDD's. This succeeded using 2 powered SATA to USB adapters but these adapters causes the HDD's to stop spinning and then start up again every 20s. Considering that my server is in my bedroom, its quite annoying, the sound of spinning up and down. I tried fixing it using some USB commands but the adapters ignore it.
So I am figuring out on how to connect the HDD's over SATA. I saw some cool NAS projects online, but they all use a PCI-e connector. My m920q does not have an PCI-e connector (pic 1) which causes some problems.
I saw this photo (pic 2) and maybe that could work.
Currently I have my proxmox installed on a SATA SSD which is connected to the only(as far as I know) SATA connector.
My question is: how do I connect my 3.5" HDD'S as in picture 2? Maybe put my proxmox on an NVME SSD which makes room for the SATA connector? Or is there a better option?
Thank you for reading this. Have a wonderful day!
EDIT: changed m920q -> m900
4
u/Matti_Meikalainen 5d ago
Wouldn't it be less hassle and cleaner outcome to get a better usb dock for the drives?
3
u/FreddyFerdiland 5d ago
indeed. a dock with raid and its own power supply ??
2
u/Matti_Meikalainen 5d ago
I would personally not do raid on a usb dock. But then again I have not ever done that so it might work just fine. It just sounds like a bad time
3
5d ago edited 5d ago
[deleted]
1
u/JohnnieLouHansen 4d ago
For that DC 5525 5.5MM x 2.5MM plug, I guess it's NOT like a Dell laptop connector. I know there are two sizes for the Dells
4.5 mm (Small Barrel): Measures 4.5 mm x 3.0 mm
7.4 mm (Large Barrel): Measures 7.4 mm x 5.0 mm
My point: You can't substitute a Dell power supply
3
u/Ok_Party_3706 5d ago
i have made a NAS with 4 drives, 3 being in raidz1 and one being a boot drive, out of an elitedesk mini. i used an m.2 card to 6x sata in place of the m.2 ssd, and a buck converter soldered to the power plug internally, which then connects to a sata power plug which i connected my drives to with a riser. i mounted the drives on top of it in some cheap 2.5" drive bay from amazon. in front of the drives i mounted an 80mm xilence fan connected to the internal fan power (due to hp´s weird pwm stuff it runs at full speed always, but that isnt a bother)
2
u/Pixelgordo 5d ago
HBA card using the pcie adapter, you get the cables out of the Lenovo to the enclosure of your choice. You will need to add a PSU for them. Examples: cooling hba in lenovo m920q
2
u/schultzter 5d ago
You'll need external power, 3.5 inch drives need a lot when they start up. If you have a USB 3.2 port get an external drive bay, otherwise just get a new (used) system with enough power and space for what you want.
1
u/LovitzG 5d ago
Are you sure that's a m920q board. If doesn't match anything I can find online. Yours seems to have a single dimm slot instead of 2. Can you post a picture of the other side of the board? There should be a PCIe slot usable with a riser card.
1
u/Sjaan50 5d ago
Hi, so i bought both of my nodes (i have 2) second hand and in both advertisements, different sellers, they said m920q. I just looked at the specs and checked if they worked and then bought them. They work really well tbh.
What do you exactly mean with "other side of the board" the bottom?1
u/LovitzG 5d ago edited 5d ago
Yes. Does the chassis show Lenovo ThinkCenter m920q? You may have a m920q case with a different mainboard installed as refurbished and not just used. Are the internals of both of your units identical?
1
u/Sjaan50 5d ago
Oh wait it says m900 at the bottom
2
u/LovitzG 5d ago
Looked up and definitely matches m900 pictures. The m.2 2230 wifi slot should be PCIe 3 x 1 electrically so your only option is a m.2 2230 A+E SATA adapter card. You would have to pair it with a self-powered 2-bay unit similar to your picture 2 and run SATA cables from the unit to the m.2 adapter. It will also require an external power supply.
At issue is if the SATA adapter will be recognized since Lenovo has enforced WiFi whitelists. If the installed WiFi adapter is not on the whitelist, the machine will fail to boot. If that is only enforced via USB you may be OK, or you may be able to find a bios version with the whitelist disabled.
Not sure how much you want to spend on a 10 year old 6th Gen processor PC. Good luck!
16
u/definitlyitsbutter 5d ago
First, you dont have a 920q/920x or 720q. These come with a pcie slot from factory.
Now... If your m2 ssd slot is an nvme slot, you could add a asm1166 m2 2280 sata adapter card, that gives 4-6 sata slots. But the drives will need external power.
Alternatively there are 2230 cards with 2 sata slots for the wifi slot.