3D Printed Raspberry Pi NAS

Description

This NAS is designed with minimal dependencies on hardware and software in mind. It used 3D printed parts, generic SBC shapes and mounting place design and no-proprietary software dependencies, make this NAS future proof with huge possibility for expansion.

You might have seen this design on Instructable (which is also written by me). However, this is the LTS version of the project I open source on Instructable a while back. I specially draft this project here on hackaday.io is because Instructable is more like a one-time-off project, while this project is one of my key milestone in designing my own storage cluster. So instead of updating the post over there, I will keep all my updates and latest version on here instead.

In the coming years, I will keep updating this project and sell parts to those who want a plug and play system on Tindie.

Details

Quick Video showcasing how the system looks like (Note: This is the original version that I release back in early 2023. See other progress update for latest revision)

The reason I keep updating the design of this project is due to I really want to host a cluster / home lab. However, I don't really like server equipment which single point of failure (SPOF) on a rack mounted switch or power supply. Instead, I decided to go with multiple smaller devices and build my own GFS like cluster environment where there are no SPOF by allowing multiple layers of file abstraction to be run on these low power devices. Another advantage of this design is that I can expand my storage by adding more 3D printed NAS in the future when I needs them, while access speed will also get improved with more nodes added until it is reaching the networking bandwidth of the gateway node's LAN.

In order to make sure I have supplied of these storage device even after 10 years, I decided to 3D printed and use as little dependent materials / parts as possible. Like using a generic SBC, power regulation solution, making my own PCB and 3D printed cases. These ensure I can made and support it in long period of time (aka LTS version of the NAS).

Files

single_bay_final.zip

3D Models for 1 bay version

x-zip-compressed - 168.65 kB - 02/19/2023 at 14:01

Download

aroz_nas_psu.zip

Gerber file for PCB, version 1

x-zip-compressed - 110.48 kB - 02/13/2023 at 04:59

Download

models_final.zip

3D Models for 2 bay version

x-zip-compressed - 480.60 kB - 02/13/2023 at 04:59

Download

Project Logs

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Issue with power outage and SATA adapter
tobychui • 03/30/2023 at 14:25 • 0 comments

Recently I have built another NAS but this time based on the orange pi zero 2 with the same configuration as the one I open source few months before. The one on the right (white one) is the latest one while the left one (black one) is the old one.I have store both of these NAS, one powered up and one powered down for maintenance, at my university and a scheduled power outage bring down the new one. Generally speaking, power outage isn't a big issue for SBCs as they will just kick start themselves again after there are power again, but this time, it cannot detect any of the two hard drives.
At first I was questioning about the power management and regulation section of my design. So I added a bypass buck converter that supply 5V to the SATA to USB adapter's USB 5V rail, but issues still exists and IO error just shown up on the linux dmesg outputa

I tried swapping out the drives, rebooting, rubbing the contacts with rubber and many other debugging methods and even call in my friend from Computer Science department for helping with the debugging. Finally, we came to a conclusion that it is not the power supply issue nor the disk issue. We boils down to two possible issues
1. The SATA adapter is fried during the power resume and a voltage surge is happened during the first few ms of power resume (But we do use a power supply with ESD protection)
2. There are bugs in the linux kernel built by orange pi zero 2 which, I have no idea why it happen at the same time we have power outage, have effects on USB stability

As I am still rushing my Master thesis and don't have time to continue to debug this. That is why I bought a used D525 Intel Atom motherboard from a (questionable) seller online, combining with a used aluminum PC case and a Dell ATX power supply, I am building my x86 NAS (finally) for real and hope this time it will work without bringing me any further troubles, at least not before I have done with my thesis.
Will I get sue because of front-panel design?
tobychui • 02/26/2023 at 04:02 • 0 comments

As I am trying to build a cluster software for this project and test for their speed, I need to have at least two of these NAS device to start testing. That is why I am building a 2nd one out of left over materials from the first prototype.

After the printing is done and assembled, I notice it feels like the S branded NAS lying in the corner of the server room. I wonder if I will get sue for its design? But just in case, I better stick with the hot-plug version instead and leave this front-panel for next project :P
[Updates] Single bay version release!
tobychui • 02/19/2023 at 14:06 • 0 comments

The single bay version of the 3D printable NAS is completed. The models are uploaded to the file section of this project as "single_bay_final.zip".
If you want one for some reason (maybe you want a single 10TB HDD instead of two 4TB one?) , you can use this version instead.
All the components required for the electronics are identical to the 2 bay version, except you can choose to not solder one of the 12V buck converter as well as the 2nd bay's SATA adapter. Take a look at the model files and you will know how to work on it.
Single Bay version (WIP)
tobychui • 02/13/2023 at 05:14 • 0 comments

Single bay version designing in progress.
This is a version design for tight living space. This design can be stacked up and cramp into gaps between furniture and walls (But I guess no one will do this right?)
Updates on the Power Management Board
tobychui • 02/13/2023 at 05:06 • 0 comments

The previous power management board didn't factor in the status LED light and the fan for cooling the HDD. In the work in progress version, I added two more 5V XHR-2.54 header for doing just that.
Note that some 12V fan that fits (6010) can actually be powered by 5V and it is actually much quieter if it is under voltage. In this revision, I am taking advantage of this properties and allow 5V powering of a 12V 6010 fan. Here is the 3D preview if anyone of you is interested.