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Expanding my laptops HDD capacity (infosec.pub)
submitted 2 days ago by BarHocker@discuss.tchncs.de to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
77 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

cross-posted from: https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/66988984

What I have

I have an old Acer Aspire A515-51G and I also have a desire to have a home server. In combination this creates a need for the laptop to carry more HDDs than it can from factory. Usually it can take one M.2 SSD and one 2.5" SATA drive.

What I want

I want to make the laptop able to run at least 4 HDDs in RAID 5 for storage and have one SSD as boot drive.

What I did

The buying phase

  • 4 HDDs
  • M.2 to SATA adapter
  • 12V/5V SATA power converter
  • 12V 10A power supply

The designing phase

I needed space to hold the HDDs, so I designed a 3D printed a cage to attach to the bottom of my laptop. Two 80mm fans can be attach to it. You can see it on printables. Also I remixed a tray (here is the original) so the HDDs can slide in and out of the cage.

.

The assembly phase

A cutout at the bottom of the laptop was needed to give access to the SATA ports of the adapter.

I put a 2.5" SSD into the already present place for it in the laptop.

Then the cage was attached to the laptop, the HDDs were put in their trays, the trays inside the cage and the cables attached to the adapter and HDDs.

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[–] mirshafie@europe.pub 3 points 17 hours ago

This is really neat and I love it, but I am a bit worried about the power supply. Are you drawing power directly from the laptop? I'd just assume that spinning all four drives at once might cause spikes that I'm unsure if the built-in PSU is equipped for?

[–] nullspace@lemmy.world 6 points 23 hours ago

This is some proper cyberpunk. Great job.

[–] irmadlad@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I like it. The OCD in me is screaming why you didn't use a dremel tool to cut the slot for the USB ports instead of using a rusty, dull, steak knife from the junk drawer, but that's just me. LOL

[–] SpatchyIsOnline@lemmy.world 1 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago)

So I actually have a setup similar to this, but with a mini pc (m.2 to 6x sata adapter, each one connected to a 4tb ssd - well eventually, only 2 are populated currently) and I did use a dremmel to cut through the metal top of the case and it was still a horrible sharp mess, even after I tried sanding it down. I ended up 3d printing a custom i/o shield to stop my cables (or fingers) getting sliced on it and that actually works really well!

Edit: I dropped some pics of my setup in the comments on the original thread!

[–] MML@sh.itjust.works 1 points 23 hours ago

But it doesn't bother you those are SATA ports?

[–] quick_snail@feddit.nl 20 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I would love to watch a short documentary following you trying to take this on a plane

[–] PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

waves hard drives with loose cables around
It's just a hard drive! What's the problem?!
gets shot

[–] doctorflynt@feddit.org 114 points 2 days ago

this is cursed and i love it

[–] kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world 45 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (4 children)

The fact that there exists an m.2 x6 port SATA adapter is the wildest part to me.

[–] Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it 2 points 1 day ago

There is an adapter for everthing

[–] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 21 points 1 day ago

There’s a NINE PORT ONE! That’s bonkers!

[–] BarHocker@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 1 day ago

I was also very happy to find out they exist, otherwise this whole thing would've been a no-starter.

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[–] cRazi_man@europe.pub 65 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (5 children)

Excellent hack.

In case you're a masochist like me and want a lot more work on your hands, then you could remove the whole laptop mobo and make its own case and make it more compact in the process.

I've done this recently to make a standalone machine out of a busted laptop. This can give you a single, more compact unit with all the parts inside. You can improve the cooling and noise too (by using desktop fans). You'll maintain your laptop resale value too by not destroying the case and being able to put the mobo back in place in the future. Infact, with today's ram prices, the reason I went down this route is because you can get broken laptops with soldered in DDR5 ram.

[–] djdarren@piefed.social 14 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I've been pondering doing this to a broken iMac I've got.

It got donated to me by someone who needed to thin out his studio a bit, so it didn't cost me a penny. But I took the screen off to give it a clean out and repaste, apparently didn't tape it in place securely enough as a temporary measure, so the screen fell off. And smashed.

I did some swearing.

However, it's still a surprisingly handy spec. 3.5ghz i5, 24gb RAM and a Radeon GPU. So I've been wondering about pulling the guts and turning it into a desktop, then making it my home server to replace the 2014 Mac mini I currently use.

ponderings intensify

[–] Damage@feddit.it 3 points 23 hours ago

I still have my black Core 2 duo Black Macbook, it's cut to a 4th of its size, a magnet is stuck near the lid sensor and it outputs video from the port on the side.

I mean it used to output, I haven't tried turning it on in like a decade

[–] cRazi_man@europe.pub 6 points 1 day ago

Watch this guy's video. He DIY restores a smashed iMac screen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FStfdGjAwc

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This can give you a single, more compact unit with all the parts inside.

what if i want a multiplex, larger unit with several parts outside? can this help me accomplish that too?

[–] cRazi_man@europe.pub 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Since this is DIY, you can fuck it up as badly as you want. The possibilities are endless!

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[–] horus_son_of_isis@lemmy.world 19 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Next step is to free the acer from it's physical bonds and screw the motherboard to the 3D printed stand.

[–] nullspace@lemmy.world 2 points 23 hours ago

It's handy having the service screen though.

[–] kestrel7_7@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

One could frame it and put it on the wall

[–] horus_son_of_isis@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

if you wire up some blinky LEDs to the power supply, then yes. I NEEDS THEM BLINKYS

[–] electricyarn@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

This has awakened sonething in me

[–] CaptPretentious@lemmy.world 30 points 1 day ago

This is the type of stuff I love to see the most when it comes to PCs. This to me is far more impressive then someone with a standard case, with standard RGB fans, standard AIO RGB cooler...

This reminds me of stuff I did in college.

[–] OR3X@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago

That's janky as hell, I love it.

[–] fabse@feddit.org 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

❌ Fat Client

✅ Fattest Client

[–] ulterno@programming.dev 1 points 1 day ago

~~Client~~ Server

[–] Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 day ago

Lol, cause who wants to use a single USB to interface with the laptop? That's crazy.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

so what kind of looks did you get when you booted that up in the public library? how long before either (a) the cool librarian asked you how you did it or (b) the jerk librarian asked you not to burn down the library

[–] Ooops@feddit.org 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

I'm more irritated than I'd like to admit by the fact that there is no 12V to 6x SATA power converter going with that M.2 to 6x SATA adapter.

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[–] kettuli@lemmy.world 14 points 2 days ago

It’s beautiful.

[–] kSPvhmTOlwvMd7Y7E@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

i know a Bourgeois when i see one

[–] MonkeMischief@lemmy.today 7 points 1 day ago

Because they can afford hard disks? Lol

[–] ThunderLegend@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

How are powering them up.. Do you have a PSU behind the HDDs ?

Edit: never mind just saw the whole post

[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Is the laptop cooling ok with the lid closed? Or do you crack it open when actually in use?

[–] BarHocker@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 day ago

It is ok, the vents are at the back and bottom of the laptop. I have run it in a different 24/7 setup for some time already.

[–] architect@thelemmy.club 3 points 1 day ago

Hot

[–] antsu@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 1 day ago

Maximum respect!

[–] inari@piefed.zip 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Maximum jank

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[–] jobbies@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago

Modern problems require modern solutions.

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