R-Pi 5 NAS Drive

History

I’ve been wanting to build a NAS using a Raspberry Pi since the Raspberry Pi 3 came out. Unfortunately, the performance issues reported by others caused me to delay the project indefinitely. With the release of the Raspberry Pi 5 and its PCI express bus, I can now justify its use in a NAS system. This is especially important with my intention of using RAID 1 (mirroring) for data integrity.

This project required the ability to connect two drives so I could realize RAID 1 mirroring for data integrity. I only found two options that met my needs. I purchased the X1004 PCIe to Dual 2280 NVMe SSD Sheild directly from the Geekworm website. I also purchased the P579 Raspberry Pi 5 PCIe Metal case Compatible with the X1004 and the Official Raspberry Pi 5 Active Cooler.

Hardware Assembly

The first step was to take the enclosure apart and install the stick-on rubber feet, included in the package.

I didn’t think there was a need for the 8GB version of the Raspberry Pi 5 for this project, so I used the 4GB version instead.

The next step was to install the active cooler, but first I needed to remove the little cap from the fan jack, just behind the USB ports (top-right). Finally, the active cooler just snaps into the board with two push-pins and the wire for the fan connects to the jack I just removed the cap from.

Now it’s time to install the hardware to the R-Pi 5. The brass standoffs in the first photo came with the Pi Shield. Normally these would e secured underneath the R-Pi with screws, but the enclosure comes with hardware for securing the R-Pi to the bottom and those M-F standoffs were used on the bottom. The male end connects to the standoffs on the top side. Before installing the Pi Shield, I opted to install the ribbon cable so I wouldn’t have to try and do it with the Shield in the way.

The Pi Shield can now be installed onto the Raspberry Pi 5 hardware. While I refer to this as a Shield, because it is printed on the unit, these are typically referred to as a Pi HAT. HAT stands for Hardware Attached on Top. The ribbon cable is now connected to the shield because there’s a mount for the SSD that will be in the way a little once installed, as you can see in the second photo.

Once the Pi Shield has been installed, it’s time to install the NVMe SSD Modules. These are installed by sliding them into the connector at a 30° angle, then pressing them down and securing them with a screw.

Those short M-F brass standoffs are secured to the enclosure with screws that were included with the enclosure.

As you can see, the SD card is still accessible, and this will be used, since the two SSD modules are for storage only. These cannot be used to boot the R-Pi 5. The button shown is a power button of sorts. I think they’re calling it a safe shutdown button.

Unfortunately, this enclosure does not give easy access to the GPIO pins. I’m not sure I need them, but I was considering installing an OLED to displays IP Address, RAM, CPU and other stats.

The enclosure has been reassembled. The network and USB connectors are visible here. Because this will operate as a NAS drive, a keyboard and mouse will not be connected during normal use, only during development. This will be the same with the HDMI output. Normally, only power and network cables will be connected.

Software Development

I have seen several videos regarding NAS software for the Raspberry Pi. OpenMediaVault (OLV) seems to be the more common package, so that’s what I’m going to use for this project. You can create a NAS without a package, but there are many advantages to using such a package to make it easier to administer and modify the structure of the NAS, add users and shares, etc.

THIS ARTICLE IS STILL BEING DEVELOPED. PLEASE CHECK BACK LATER!

Resources

R-Pi 5 Computer System – Project

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