Energy efficient CPU for use in NAS with hardware RAID controller

[zonky]

Hi guys,

I want to built-up a NAS-system from scratch using a Adaptec SATA RAID-controller with 8 Channels. As the NAS will be running 24h a day it should consume less energy as possible. Usually I would tend to use an Intel Atom which is quite cheap and energy efficient, at least for things I want to do with it.

Unfortunately there's no Atom or respectively related chipsets providing the needed number of PCIe Lanes. The question is, do I have to use ordinary desktop prcocesors or are there alternatives? And if I have to take desktop CPUs - which one should I take to have minimum power consumption? (At best there's a Mini-ITX/DTX mainboard available)

I hope there's a practical solution. Thanks in advance for your help.


Cheers,
Marcel

 

[das_stig]

AMD Brazos E-350 2x1.6Ghz mini ITX.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-brazos-platform-tested-e350-apu-review/

 

[zonky]

Thanks for your reply but I had this (indeed interesting piece of hardware) on my radar already. Unfortunately I didn't find any solution providing more than 4 PCIe Lanes. As my RAID-adapter (http://www.adaptec.com/de-de/products/_eol/sas-4805/) uses 8 of them, this won't be enough

 

[GhislainG]

Would a Core i3-2100T and a DH67CF Mini-ITX motherboard meet your requirements? I don't know if the 16x PCI Express slot will work with your RAID controller, but Intel or a reseller should be able to answer that question. Would you consider a mATX motherboard? Will the motherbaord and hard disks all be installed in the same enclosure?

 

[zonky]

Would a Core i3-2100T and a DH67CF Mini-ITX motherboard meet your requirements? I don't know if the 16x PCI Express slot will work with your RAID controller, but Intel or a reseller should be able to answer that question. Would you consider a mATX motherboard? Will the motherbaord and hard disks all be installed in the same enclosure?

I thought about that option already. And it would be my last resort as it is a quite expensive solution
Since I do not really need the performance of a Core i3 CPU I try to avoid that. The reason why I want to have ITX is, because I already own an ITX case which allows me to add 6 disks.

 

[GhislainG]

Unfortunately there are few ITX motherboards. Have you considered an AMD solution? The ASUS M4A88T-I Deluxe motherboard with an inexpensive AMD processor might be a good solution.

Since you were interested in an Atom solution, but none meets your requirements, have you considered the Foxconn AHD1S-K AMD E-350?