NAS Build - W680 board - PCI-E and storage slots

[naslover]

Hello,

 

I'm looking to build a NAS, with the W680 chipset, specifically, this micro-ATX board: https://www.asus.com/motherboards-components/motherboards/workstation/pro-ws-w680m-ace-se/techspec/

 

My needs are:

- 8x Sata HDDs

- 4x M2 NVme SSDs

- 10GBase-T

 

Looking at the motherboard I have:

- 2 x M2 NVme slots
- 4 x SATA 6Gb/s ports
- 1 x SlimSAS Slot Support SlimSAS NVMe device (supports PCIe 4.0 x4 mode and up to 4 SATA devices)
- 1 x PCIe 5.0 x16 slot
- 1 x PCIe 4.0 x4 slot
- 1 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slot

 

Since I don't need a graphics card, my idea was to use the x16 slot for an Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Card, giving me 4 extra NVmes. However, I've realized that the motherboard does not support bifurcation, and therefore if I'm reading this correctly: https://www.asus.com/support/faq/1037507/ I could only fit one Nvme on that card?

 

Instead, I'll just use this card: https://sabrent.com/collections/memory-accessories/products/ec-tfpe to get one M2 NVme out of the x16 port. And I'm thinking, I can use the SlimSAS Slot for one more NVme, giving me the four total I need. That leaves the x1 slot for 4 more Sata ports using this card: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08J2PK1HF and the x16 slot for a 10GBase-T card.

 

Please, let me know if I got anything wrong.

 

My exact questions are the following:

 

- From the SlimSAS slot, what exact adapter do I need, and can you recommend a specific one to use it a connect an M2 NVme?

- For the Intel cards, since it seems very difficult to get real Intel ones, is 10GTek a solid brand for them?

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Edited October 25 by naslover
Updated

[MAM59]

3 hours ago, naslover said:

From the SlimSAS slot, what exact adapter do I need, and can you recommend a specific one to use it a connect an M2 NVme?

You just need a "reverse SAS" cable to connect 4 more SATA drives. No adapter needed.

From the manual:

- 1 x SlimSAS Slot Support SlimSAS NVMe device (supports PCIe 4.0 x4 mode and up to 4 SATA devices)***
*** SlimSAS slot can support up to 4 SATA devices via a transfer cable. the cable is purchased separately.

I would not waste the 16x slot for a single LAN card. If you want twisted pair (which is a very risky descicion...), 4x (PCIe 3.0) should be enough. Avoid the outdated cards with 8x (PCIe2.0) only. Besides the Bus Interface they are the same. But again, you have been warned! Better consider a card with an SFP+ cage and get a proper module. Its more expensive, but if TP turns out to be unstable at your home, you can just throw away the module and cable and switch to fiber or DAC. These are considered to be "safe" for 10G.

I have thrown away about 10 X550 cards here because of this, wasnt a cheap experience too..

 

3 hours ago, naslover said:

From the PCI-E x4 port, what exact adapter do I need, and can you recommend a specific one to use it a connect an M2 NVme?

Any cheap one will do.

 

But be cautious too. Get the Mobos Manual first and READ IT CAREFULLY! Today it is common (and evil) practice to "overload" the boards. Many of them have strange restrictions like "if you use SATA 5-8 the 4x Slot #2 will not be available" or many other stuff. So make sure to READ CAREFULLY, look for *** and make sure that your desired configuration is really available at the same time.

 

[naslover]

Quote

I would not waste the 16x slot for a single LAN card.

What else would I do with it? Since the motherboard does not have bifurcation, I can't use the Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Card, to get 4 NVmes out of it.

Quote

You just need a "reverse SAS" cable to connect 4 more SATA drives. No adapter needed.

No, I wanted to use it for an M2 NVme, not for the 4 more SATA drives. As I said, I can use the x1 port for 4 more SATA drives.

Quote

if TP turns out to be unstable at your home

I don't see why it would, it's a new apartment building, but I will consider the SFP+

[MAM59]

4 minutes ago, naslover said:

No, I wanted to use it for an M2 NVme, not for the 4 more SATA drives. As I said, I can use the x1 port for 4 more SATA drives.

The thing is, if it is an option or always there. If it is always on (the manual will hopefully tell you), it would be a wasted 1x slot

 

On the other hand, if you really need that many NVMes (and therefore a lot of PCIe lanes), you may have chosen the wrong company. AMD CPUs usually offer more lanes and there you can also find many MoBos (not the cheapest ones) that support bifurbication. But even there is a restriction sometimes. I have a 5700G and a HyperX Card in the 16x slot. But only 3 out of 4 NVMes can be populated because the internal GPU keeps 4 lanes directly within the processor. They never make it to the slot. Sadly, even knowing about restrictions does not always help, be prepared for surprises.

Of course, you could also buy "Lane Monsters" like fat Xeons or Threadrippers. They sometimes offer up to 7 full 16x slots, even with bifurbication. But this is a total other price region.

11 minutes ago, naslover said:

I don't see why it would, it's a new apartment building, but I will consider the SFP+

I did not see either because I have used very good cables in the walls here too. But some weeks / months later connections began to reset, rare at the beginning, but increasing more and more. I have tried everything (including new cables in the wall), it only cured the problems for some weeks. After a year I was fed up and did the move to fibre. No problem in the last 4 years now. what a relief.  Today's cable maybe more reliable, but you cannot see them and you cannot check them. Just getting a link and transfering some data does not mean a thing at 10G. It works if you are in close range but at 10m already strange things can happen.