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.

  • Aqivex@fedinsfw.appEnglish
    59·
    7 天前

    This post is cursed.

    Not because of the insane jank, of course. That’s on brand for self host and I love it.

    It is cursed because it has awakened something in me, and I can feel every old laptop in my vicinity trembling in fear.

    • Bytemeister@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      6 天前

      I can feel every old laptop in my vicinity trembling in fear.

      Don’t deny them that last chance to live a life of purpose.

  • CaptPretentious@lemmy.worldEnglish
    34·
    7 天前

    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.

    • PieMePlenty@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      6 天前

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

  • Ooops@feddit.orgEnglish
    9·
    7 天前

    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.

    • JangleJack@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      7 天前

      Well, I just used a similar adapter in my tower to get more sata ports. M.2 is not just for laptops. Even my ancient mobo had a slot.

  • MinnesotaGoddam@lemmy.worldEnglish
    8·
    7 天前

    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

  • irmadlad@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    6 天前

    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.worldEnglish
      1·
      6 天前

      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!

  • mirshafie@europe.pubEnglish
    3·
    6 天前

    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?