I have a Mini PC with 4 SATA ports that powers the jbod and has the drives connected. It's my NAS.
this post was submitted on 19 Oct 2025
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That's basically what I'm going for.
How are you connecting the mini PC via SATA and how are you powering the BOD?
The mini PC case is open and the cables go directly from the mainboard/PSU to the BOD back (4 SATA and 1 MOLEX).
You have a disk shelf? Usually they have something like SFF-8088 SAS connectors. I would just use those.
Imagine less off a proper BOD and more of a 3D Printable holder for 3.5 inch drives and no actual connections.
I was considering a mini ITX PC with just an external SAS to Sata PCI card. But at the rate of just building that I might end up just building a better tiny nas box with maybe a jonsbo case like the N3
Yeah I have the N3 and I have no complaints. It works great.
If you're building your own rackmount system, I would still recommend some kind of SAS connector and PCIe card with external connectors, like a 9200-8e. If you aren't using a backplane, you'll probably want a SATA breakout cable and external power.