ITX backup server options?

Hi,

I already have my main nas working fine and considering building a backup nas to guard against hardware failures (Important data is synced to the cloud).

The backup nas will live in my small apartment until I find a remote place for it.

I really need it to have as small of a footprint as possible.

I am also pro-ECC. I prefer a board with IPMI.

My plan is either a mirror or a 3 drive raidz1. 4 SATA ports for that (boot+raidz).
My options are:

X10SDV which is extremely expensive in the EU. I pay .15-.20 euros per kwh.

MJ11-ec1 which consumes around 30watts idle.

Maybe a Ryzen pro and an itx board? That could have ECC support although no IPMI which I really like.

What would you do if you are in my place? Should i just bite the bullet and get the mj11? Just get the over priced x10sdv? Something else?

Thanks in advance :slightly_smiling_face:

Have you looked at the ASRock Rack servers?
https://www.asrockrack.com/general/products.asp#Server
They do seem to have a decent selection of Mini-ITX, more if your selected case can support a deep Mini-ITX. Many, (maybe all), seem to support ECC RAM if the CPU does, and again many seem to support IPMI. Their are Intel and AMD choices.

Now I can’t make any recommendations for you, as you mentioned power usage. Plus, specific boards might not be available in the EU or cost significantly more. However, ASRock Rack is work a look.

Personally just buy a truenas mini and call it a day.

Yeah but they are also around the 230 euros mark with neither CPU nor RAM. That’s if I get them from outside the EU. Locally would be even more.

The price tag hurts :grin:
I also need something with a low profile. I plan to host it remotely at some point. I don’t want people to worry about its presence.

I guess I will go for the mj11. Not the best option but it’s what is available.

Thank you both for responding :slightly_smiling_face:

If you want a complete system with a small profile, and you don’t care about performance and don’t require ECC, then the TerraMaster line is worth looking into.

It will save you the hassle of building your own custom server with separate parts.

I use a TerraMaster for my offsite cold storage backup pool.

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That much???
I have not measured mine, but I’d expect less (excluding drives of course).

Otherwise, keep an eye on X10SDV offers, you’ll eventually find an opportunity at reasonable price. Include A2SDi in your search, just in case…

You can even have IPMI… if you forget “affordable”. Even then it’s still:

Mini-ITX. Server. Socketed. Pick any two.

More computing power, which you do not need for a backup server, but I’d question whether a Ryzen PRO APU and chipset will beat a MJ11-EC1 on idle power.
And if you’re going to spend >400 € on a server board, you can as well go for an Atom C3000 or Xeon D-1500.

Which one do you use?

I checked again and it is not as bad.
Here it is 20w Gigabyte MJ11-EC1 EPYC 3151 Mystery | ServeTheHome Forums

But here it is 30w Gigabyte MJ11-EC1 EPYC 3151 Mystery | ServeTheHome Forums

Any idea where to monitor (beside STH)?

Spending 300-400 does not make sense. It will take 7+ years to break even :grin:

F4-223

4 HDD bays, 2 NVMe slots

My boot-pool and System Dataset are on the one NVMe I have installed.[1]

The CPU is very under powered. It’s fine as a strict backup target with minimal management.

I got a good deal that included a free NVMe drive and 32 GiB of RAM.

If you need a more capable CPU, there’s the F4-424 Pro (16 or 32 GiB version).


  1. I don’t believe they come with an NVMe drive. I think that was a bonus the seller included for me. I wouldn’t recommend using a USB stick for the boot-pool. Just grab a small NVME, install TrueNAS, and call it a day. ↩︎

Thank you @winnielinnie it looks interesting. I will keep it in mind if i ever advice my non tech-friends :slightly_smiling_face:

eBay, and your local small ads site

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@MSameer, here’s a printable shopping guide for small form factor and mini-ITX.

I know :slightly_smiling_face:

My gaming pc is an sffpc and the price tag hurts :grin:

Anyway, the moment I decided to go for the mj11 was the moment the seller raised its price to a 100 euros.

I guess I will just wait for something else.

I am also considering an mATX and having my 2 hdds against the PCIE slots. I am designing my own case so it might work…

Bummer. But for a backup NAS this is still a very palatable price for a mini-ITX server board with 8 SATA and modern IPMI.