Status: Procurement complete — physical build in progressStarted: 2026-02-21
Objective
Acquire all hardware, build the rack, and validate the physical layer before any software is installed. UPS must be protecting the full stack before any drives are powered on.Entry Criteria
None — this is the first phase.Tasks
Purchase Core Hardware
- UPS (APC 1500VA) — FIRST purchase, before anything else
- Minisforum MS-A2 (Ryzen 9 7945HX, 64GB DDR5)
- 2x NVMe for MS-A2 Proxmox boot mirror (1TB each)
- 10GbE SFP+ PCIe NIC for NAS host
- 2x DAC cables (MS-A2 ↔ NAS 10GbE direct link)
Purchase Networking Equipment
- UniFi switch (USW-Pro-Max-16 or USW-Flex-2.5G)
- UniFi patch panel (UP-PATCH-24 keystone)
- Keystone couplers (Cat6 shielded)
- Patch cables (Monoprice SlimRun Cat6 0.5ft)
Purchase Rack and Chassis
- Open-frame rack (15–18U, StarTech or NavePoint)
- 4U 12-bay chassis (IStarUSA D-400-12 or Rosewill RSV-L4412U)
- MS-A2 shelf mount (2U custom bracket)
- Optiplex shelf mount (1U)
- Brush panel for cable management
Sell Excess Hardware
- i5-13600 (use i5-13400 for NAS host)
- 2x 16GB DDR4 sticks (keep 32GB for NAS)
- MSI PRO B660M-A DDR4 (spare board with Realtek NIC issues)
Assemble NAS
- Install i5-13400, 32GB DDR4, LSI HBA, drives, 10GbE NIC
- Install in new 4U chassis
- Verify POST — no errors
Mount Equipment in Rack
- Position UPS at bottom of rack
- Mount UDM-SE, patch panel, switch, brush panel
- Mount MS-A2 shelf and Optiplex shelf
- Install NAS on rails
- Connect all devices to UPS battery-backed outlets
Procurement Log
What Was Bought
| Item | Model | Source | Price | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Compute | Minisforum MS-A2 (Ryzen 9 7945HX, 64GB DDR5) | Amazon | $559 + tax | 2026-02-21 |
| NAS Chassis | Rosewill RSV-L4412U (4U, 12-bay) | Amazon | $345 | (pending) |
| NAS Motherboard | ASUS TUF Gaming Z690-Plus WiFi D4 | Reddit r/hardwareswap | ~$100 | (pending) |
| 10GbE NIC | Dell Intel X710-DA2 (dual-port SFP+) | eBay | ~$25 | (pending) |
| UPS | Tripp-Lite SMART1500LCDXL 1500VA | (pending) | ~$145 | (pending) |
| Switch | UniFi USW-Pro-Max-24 | (bundled with rack) | $560 | (pending) |
What Was Already Owned
| Item | Model | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| NAS CPU | Intel Core i5-13400 | Kept from existing tower — i5-13600 sold |
| NAS RAM | 32GB DDR4 | Kept from existing tower — extra 2x 16GB sticks sold |
| NAS HBA | LSI SAS 9120-8i | Migrated from previous host |
| All HDD drives | WD Red Pro 12TB (x5), WD Red Plus 4TB (x5), IronWolf 6TB (x2) | Carried forward from v2 |
| Secondary Compute | Dell Optiplex 3070 Micro | Free from work |
| Router/Firewall | UniFi UDM-SE | Carried forward from v2 |
What Was Sold
| Item | Reason | Estimated Return |
|---|---|---|
| Intel Core i5-13600 | Unraid is IO-bound — i5-13400 is sufficient | ~$150 |
| 2x 16GB DDR4 SO-DIMM | NAS only needs 32GB | ~$50 |
| MSI PRO B660M-A DDR4 | Known Realtek NIC driver issues in Linux | ~$65 |
Key Decisions
PCIe Slot Problem — Gigabyte B760M DS3H DDR4
PCIe Slot Problem — Gigabyte B760M DS3H DDR4
The original plan was to reuse the Gigabyte B760M DS3H DDR4 motherboard already in the tower. During planning it became clear the board only has 1x usable PCIe slot — one x16 physical slot with two x1 slots that are too small for either the LSI HBA or the 10GbE NIC.The NAS needs both cards simultaneously, making this board incompatible. This was caught during planning before any hardware was purchased.A spare MSI PRO B660M-A DDR4 was considered but ruled out due to known Realtek NIC driver issues in Linux. The ASUS TUF Gaming Z690-Plus WiFi D4 was sourced used from Reddit r/hardwareswap — it has a second x16 slot wired at x4 from the chipset which fits both the LSI HBA and the X710 NIC cleanly.
Scope Creep — Second Full Proxmox Node
Scope Creep — Second Full Proxmox Node
During planning there was temptation to build a second full-spec Proxmox node using spare parts (i5-13600, spare mobo, extra 32GB RAM) instead of using the Optiplex as pve-prod-02.This was rejected. The Optiplex’s workload is intentionally light (PBS + AdGuard LXC), HA is not enabled in this design, and a second powerful node would mean idle resources and higher power draw for no benefit. The spare parts were sold instead.
DAC Cable Lengths
DAC Cable Lengths
Cable lengths were calculated based on the finalized rack layout:
- 0.5M — UDM-SE to switch. Both front-mounted, 2U apart, short run front-to-front.
- 1M — Switch to MS-A2. Front of switch to rear of MS-A2 shelf, routed through brush panel.
- 2M — NAS to MS-A2. Rear-to-rear run accounting for RSV-L4412U sliding rail extension slack (~1.5M actual path + margin). Storage traffic kept off the LAN switch — dedicated point-to-point link.
Exit Criteria
All hardware powered on and POST-verified
All hardware powered on and POST-verified
- MS-A2 boots cleanly
- NAS (Unraid USB flash) boots and shows all drives
- Optiplex boots cleanly
- Pi boots cleanly
UPS protecting full stack
UPS protecting full stack
- All devices connected to UPS battery-backed outlets
- UPS display shows all devices drawing power
- UPS USB cable connected to NAS (for NUT in Phase 2)
Network cables labeled and connected
Network cables labeled and connected
- All DAC links showing 10GbE on switch
- All RJ45 links active
- Cables labeled at both ends
Next Phase
Phase 1 — Network Foundation
VLANs, firewall rules, and network foundation