NAS Optimizations for RockPro64

[MNtinkerer]

Hello again, MNtinkerer
I'm wondering if you are using the Pine64/Ameridroid NAS Case?

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I'd love to hear about your experiences, uses (like number of drives), if you are using that case or what you do use if you are not.

I am using a variety of cases. I do have a couple of the official Pine64 NAS case. Mine have easy access to the SD card, however I've read others who reported a misaligned slot. I have modified both NAS cases to add switches for controlling the case fan speed with resistors, added a switch to close the eMMC/SD card header from the outside of the case when the cover is on, and have made my own 3.5" HDD 3 bay drive holder allowing for the drives to fit within the NAS case with the cover on.

I also have a couple of the premium cases, PVC cases, and the open acrylic case. Being a tinkerer the open-acrylic case is my favorite followed by the PVC case since both allow easy access to the RPro64. In order to utilize a PCIe to SATA adapter I use PCIe extenders. They work well with the small "L" shaped brackets available at any hardware store to fasten the PCIe to SATA adapters down. I also have a 5 bay 3.5" w/fan mount bracket drive holder and a couple of power supplies. One supply is 250w and the other is the modified PSU with many of the leads crimped into dupont connectors except for the SATA power connectors which I plug directly into the drives.

Made some UART jacks that work with the Pine64 serial console adapter for the Pinephone/Pinephone Pro/Pinebook Pro out of 1/8" stereo jacks soldered to female dupont plugs, that plug into the Ground, TX, and RX (pins 6, 8, 10 respectively) of the GPIO header on the RPro64. It makes for a clean way to debug the system with the case on.

I like the look of circuit boards and computer hardware so in the future I will likely just use a couple of bigger acrylic sheets and pcboard stand offs, keeping the sides open, or make an all acrylic enclosure with a fan at one end and an easily removed rear panel for ease of access. I work in fabrication so metal work isn't hard for me, though anyone can do the modifications that I have if they are willing to use a drill, x-acto blade, and learning to solder.

Finally, the PVC cases use a metal insert for the front panel, so if you'd like to make an enclosure, keep it clean looking, but don't have the skill for fine metal work, it is worth buying the PVC case to save hours of pain.