USB3.0 -> SATA M.2 as Boot-Device?

SlaterTh90

Cadet
Joined
Apr 6, 2020
Messages
4
Hello,

I am currently planning my first Freenas build. I want to use one of the follwing boards for the system:
  1. Supermicro A2SDI-H-TF
  2. Supermicro A2SDi-8C-HLN4F
The boards are basically the same, only difference being that one has 2x 10Gbase-T onbaord while the other has 4x 1Gbase-T interfaces. I want to use all 12 Sata ports for storage (in a 12 bay hot-swap case).

The 10Gbit version is very hard to find where I live, so I might not be able to get that. If that is the case, I am going have to use the
only free PCI-E Slot for a 10Gbit network card. If at all possible I would like to keep the single M.2 slot free, to add a SLOG or L2ARC disk later if I need to. Both boards have an internal USB3.0 port that can be used to connect a OS drive.
I dont want to use a USB-Stick because of the very limited longevity, but a USB to SATA/m.2 adapter would probably not have the same problem.

To get to the actual question: Is someone here running a USB to SATA/M.2 adapter for the boot disk and can recommend one? Because of the positioning of the USB-Port, it would probably also have to be an adapter that does use an extra connection wire. Otherwise the right SFF-8643 port might be blocked.

1712566-n0.jpg
 

Inxsible

Guru
Joined
Aug 14, 2017
Messages
1,123
Have you considered not using a mini-ITX board and using at least a micro-ATX board. It will give you a lot more flexibility in terms of expansion because it will have more PCI slots. You can easily add an HBA on one PCI slot to manage your drives and then add an Intel X550 card for 10Gbe interfaces.

You might even find the micro-ATX based build to be cheaper than the mini-ITX based build.

Secondly, I wouldn't use an on-board USB for the boot drive. They tend to fail and fail often. Use a USB drive connected to the outside port -- or better yet use a small SSD for the boot.
 

SlaterTh90

Cadet
Joined
Apr 6, 2020
Messages
4
Secondly, I wouldn't use an on-board USB for the boot drive. They tend to fail and fail often.
Interesting, I have not heard of this before. Do you mean the disk/stick dying or the port itself?

Have you considered not using a mini-ITX board and using at least a micro-ATX board. It will give you a lot more flexibility in terms of expansion because it will have more PCI slots. You can easily add an HBA on one PCI slot to manage your drives and then add an Intel X550 card for 10Gbe interfaces.

You might even find the micro-ATX based build to be cheaper than the mini-ITX based build.
I already have 2x16GB DDR4 RDIMM laying around. Since power consumption is a major concern for this setup (price per kw/h is going to approch 0.35€ in the near future) I wanted to go with a Atom CPU. The case I want to use can fit up to SSI-EEB, so I could technically use whatever board I want. But if I want to use the memory I have, the only options CPU wise are either Atom C, Xeon D, Xeon E5/E7/Bronze/Silver/Gold, or some variant of EPYC. All of those are either much much more expensive (at least where I live) or they consume significantly more power.

It actually does not matter that much anymore since I managed to get the Supermicro A2SDI-H-TF. I guess that was really lucky, it was in stock for exactly 8 hours after being sold out for almost three months prior. I will just use a spare 512gb nvme I have laying around as a boot drive since the x4 slot can stay free now. Should be the most risk-free and cheap approach possible.

Thanks for your reply anyways though!
 

Inxsible

Guru
Joined
Aug 14, 2017
Messages
1,123
Interesting, I have not heard of this before. Do you mean the disk/stick dying or the port itself?
Yeah, any USB stick attached to the the on-board USB-A port tend to become hot once the case is covered because there is a lot of heat generated by the PSU and the HDDs. Search the forums, people had their boot drives fail frequently. My guess is this is why USB boot drive in general got the bad rep.
FWIW, I use a 8GB USB stick that juts out the back of my case. I have been really lucky as I have been using the same USB drive for 5 years now without a single failure.
I will just use a spare 512gb nvme I have laying around as a boot drive
overkill and a lot of wasted space .... but if you have it just sitting on a shelf then sure go ahead and use it.
 
Top