Question Which Adaptors for this setup: (M.2 B+M SSD, M.2 NMVe, + Old Laptop)

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kaltja

Jan 21, 2024
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Hello there,
This is my first post here, so please don't bash me if I'm posting in the wrong place.
I'm in the middle of a technical crisis here and need your help finding adaptors to this setup, as I'm out of my depth when it comes to hardware compatibility.

I have a spare hardware that I would hate to just let them collect dust!

The Hardware​


  • Aspire E5-571G (relevant: `lshw` below). The laptop will be used as a small server to self-host small things and would be dismantled as the keyboard and screen already not working, but the motherboard is intact. The laptop has the following:
  • Wi-Fi card with the model QCA9565 / AR9565, which is inserted inside a PCIE port. So I thought I could remove the Wi-Fi card and insert the NVMe with some kind of adaptor.
  • DVD room where I thought I could buy an adaptor to use the M2 SATA3 SSD.
  • The pre-build in 2.5 HDD that I thought I would ditch in the future as it's snail slow and get an expansion or better SSD.
  • 512GB SATA-3 M.2 SSD (NGFF, B+M ): source, spec sheet
  • Crucial CT1000P1SSD8: 1TB NVM-e, M-key

How you can help:​


What I have in mind is to ditch the DVD and the Wi-Fi card and install the spare drives via some kind of adaptors, then use the old laptop as a small media server.
But I don't know which adaptors could help me achieve this.

Please, help me evaluate if what I'm seeking is achievable.

Feel free to suggest some hardware as well, if this doesn't go against this community provide some links or photos.


Open Questions:​


  • does my motherboard pre-build in SATA for the HDD support Port multiplication? If yes, then I could in theory bring a SATA expansion card and use it to expand the port to add extra SATA drives! But would those drives show up as separate drives or as a single jbod drive?
  • And for the slot of the Wi-Fi card, I don't know if it's a mini-PCIe or a PCIe-X1, but either way I could in theory get a mini PCI Express SSD Controller Card and attach multiple SSDs. If this approach is more achievable and would provide better speeds than the port multiplayer, then I would gladly buy some extra sata3 drives and install them.

Relevant LSHW:​


PCI:​


Code: 
*-pci:0
             description: PCI bridge
             product: 8 Series PCI Express Root Port 3
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1c
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.0
             version: e4
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:40 ioport:4000(size=4096) memory:b3500000-b35fffff
           *-generic
                description: Unassigned class
                product: RTL8411B PCI Express Card Reader
                vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
                version: 01
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix vpd bus_master cap_list rom
                configuration: driver=rtsx_pci latency=0
                resources: irq:43 memory:b3505000-b3505fff memory:b3510000-b351ffff
           *-network
                description: Ethernet interface
                product: RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
                vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
                physical id: 0.1
                bus info: pci@0000:01:00.1
                logical name: enp1s0f1
                version: 12
                serial: f8:a9:63:9f:4a:b6
                size: 1Gbit/s
                capacity: 1Gbit/s
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix vpd bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
                configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=6.1.0-0.deb11.13-amd64 duplex=full firmware=rtl8411-2_0.0.1 07/08/13 ip=192.168.178.30 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=1Gbit/s
                resources: irq:18 ioport:4000(size=256) memory:b3504000-b3504fff memory:b3500000-b3503fff
        *-pci:1
             description: PCI bridge
             product: 8 Series PCI Express Root Port 4
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1c.3
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.3
             version: e4
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:41 memory:b3400000-b34fffff
           *-network DISABLED
                description: Wireless interface
                product: QCA9565 / AR9565 Wireless Network Adapter
                vendor: Qualcomm Atheros
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
                logical name: wlp2s0
                version: 01
                serial: 18:cf:5e:0e:ba:41
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list rom ethernet physical wireless
                configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ath9k driverversion=6.1.0-0.deb11.13-amd64 firmware=N/A latency=0 link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
                resources: irq:19 memory:b3400000-b347ffff memory:b3480000-b348ffff
        *-pci:2
             description: PCI bridge
             product: 8 Series PCI Express Root Port 5
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1c.4
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.4
             version: e4
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:42 ioport:3000(size=4096) memory:b2000000-b2ffffff ioport:a0000000(size=301989888)

SATA​


Code: 
*-sata
             description: SATA controller
             product: 8 Series SATA Controller 1 [AHCI mode]
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f.2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.2
             logical name: scsi0
             logical name: scsi1
             version: 04
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: sata msi pm ahci_1.0 bus_master cap_list emulated
             configuration: driver=ahci latency=0
             resources: irq:46 ioport:5088(size=8) ioport:5094(size=4) ioport:5080(size=8) ioport:5090(size=4) ioport:5060(size=32) memory:b361b000-b361b7ff
           *-disk
                description: ATA Disk
                product: ST500LT012-1DG14
                physical id: 0
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0
                logical name: /dev/sda
                version: SDM1
                serial: S3P8P94R
                size: 465GiB (500GB)
                capabilities: gpt-1.00 partitioned partitioned:gpt
                configuration: ansiversion=5 guid=64ce8f3d-ca36-4876-89f2-11f1a5dd54ca logicalsectorsize=512 sectorsize=4096
              *-volume:0
                   description: Windows FAT volume
                   vendor: mkfs.fat
                   physical id: 1
                   bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,1
                   logical name: /dev/sda1
                   logical name: /boot/efi
                   version: FAT32
                   serial: 1707-858a
                   size: 510MiB
                   capacity: 511MiB
                   capabilities: boot fat initialized
                   configuration: FATs=2 filesystem=fat mount.fstype=vfat mount.options=rw,relatime,fmask=0077,dmask=0077,codepage=437,iocharset=ascii,shortname=mixed,utf8,errors=remount-ro state=mounted
              *-volume:1
                   description: EXT4 volume
                   vendor: Linux
                   physical id: 2
                   bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,2
                   logical name: /dev/sda2
                   logical name: /
                   version: 1.0
                   serial: bede47bc-d500-4b4b-878e-c74f18eeded7
                   size: 464GiB
                   capabilities: journaled extended_attributes large_files huge_files dir_nlink recover 64bit extents ext4 ext2 initialized
                   configuration: created=2024-01-06 02:48:32 filesystem=ext4 lastmountpoint=/ modified=2024-01-21 02:39:46 mount.fstype=ext4 mount.options=rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro mounted=2024-01-21 02:39:53 state=mounted
              *-volume:2
                   description: Linux swap volume
                   vendor: Linux
                   physical id: 3
                   bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,3
                   logical name: /dev/sda3
                   version: 1
                   serial: c0dd7399-cd6c-456b-a015-dae91572aa9a
                   size: 975MiB
                   capacity: 975MiB
                   capabilities: nofs swap initialized
                   configuration: filesystem=swap pagesize=4095
           *-cdrom
                description: DVD-RAM writer
                product: DVD-RAM UJ8E2Q
                vendor: MATSHITA
                physical id: 1
                bus info: scsi@1:0.0.0
                logical name: /dev/cdrom
                logical name: /dev/cdrw
                logical name: /dev/dvd
                logical name: /dev/dvdrw
                logical name: /dev/sr0
                version: 1.00
                capabilities: removable audio cd-r cd-rw dvd dvd-r dvd-ram
                configuration: ansiversion=5 status=nodisc

EDIT 1:​

Motive​

Forget about the nvme in the setup and focus on the sata topic pls. I didnt want to use some usb solutions because using sata expantion would allow me to use some software raid solutions such like open media vault.
this server would just host some media and images for the family, pihole, immich and plex.
so easy +5TB of storage

​

Products i found:​

 
Last edited:
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USAFRet said:
There is NO benefit trying to forcefeed an NVMe drive into a laptop that does not have a native M.2 port.

Especially for a small "home media server".

Just replace the HDD with a large capacity 2.5" SATA III SSD, and move on.
Click to expand...
Thanks, that's my take on the NVMe as well, but what about the topic of SSD expansion? See the open questions topic.
I need more storage power or better said multiple storage units, one large SSD won't do the job for my media server setup.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
kaltja said:
Thanks, that's my take on the NVMe as well, but what about the topic of SSD expansion? See the open questions topic.
I need more storage power or better said multiple storage units, one large SSD won't do the job for my media server setup.
Click to expand...
How much data are you thinking this will use?

There are multiple external bays, that can take 4-5 drives, and connect via USB.
For a 'media server', you'd see zero speed drawback.
 
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USAFRet said:
How much data are you thinking this will use?

There are multiple external bays, that can take 4-5 drives, and connect via USB.
For a 'media server', you'd see zero speed drawback.
Click to expand...
I have already tried that with USB 2 and was very slow experience both read and write speed wore horrible.
Plus, on the side, I thought if I could achieve this via SATA expansion or multiplication, I could maybe introduce software raid via something like open media vault.

This is going to be really just pinhole and Plex for the big family, so +5 TB of storage, easy!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
kaltja said:
I have already tried that with USB 2 and was very slow experience both read and write speed wore horrible.
Plus, on the side, I thought if I could achieve this via SATA expansion or multiplication, I could maybe introduce software raid via something like open media vault.

This is going to be really just pinhole and Plex for the big family, so +5 TB of storage, easy!
Click to expand...
Yes, USB 2 is "slow". So what? The whole laptop is 'slow'.
It is only slow in actual copying data to it.

Watching a movie plays just the same.

5+TB data?
Trivial.

What would I do?
A 1TB 2.5" SATA III drive internally, for the OS and whatnots.
An 8-10-12 TB external HDD for your data.

Done.

Remember...this is an already mostly busted laptop. That external USB drive is movable to whatever new thing you get in the future.

And put that RAID concept out of your mind. That is not the solution you want.
 
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USAFRet said:
Yes, USB 2 is "slow". So what? The whole laptop is 'slow'.
It is only slow in actual copying data to it.

Watching a movie plays just the same.

5+TB data?
Trivial.

What would I do?
A 1TB 2.5" SATA III drive internally, for the OS and whatnots.
An 8-10-12 TB external HDD for your data.

Done.

Remember...this is an already mostly busted laptop. That external USB drive is movable to whatever new thing you get in the future.

And put that RAID concept out of your mind. That is not the solution you want.
Click to expand...
mmm,
I was using the UBS setup with my small old Raspberry Pi 3, and it gave me hell 🙁
Plus as mentioned raid is kinda essential to my use case plus I would argue that a SATA solution would be more reliable in terms of speed. Moreover, I could always opt for a movable option, as shown in my fourth link in the edited section.

The real question to me now would the motherboard support Port multiplication to use the first and fourth link?
if not would a mini PCIe SATA controller allow me to use the fifth link?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
USAFRet said:
Yes, USB 2 is "slow". So what? The whole laptop is 'slow'.
It is only slow in actual copying data to it.

Watching a movie plays just the same.

5+TB data?
Trivial.

What would I do?
A 1TB 2.5" SATA III drive internally, for the OS and whatnots.
An 8-10-12 TB external HDD for your data.

Done.

Remember...this is an already mostly busted laptop. That external USB drive is movable to whatever new thing you get in the future.

And put that RAID concept out of your mind. That is not the solution you want.
Click to expand...
I edited the post. Pls, refresh the page and take a look.
Plus, I appreciate this discussion, and I'm thankful for your time. :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Would all of that work?
I have no idea.

But I know what I would do....a simple external USB HDD to hold the media files.
In fact, that is mostly how a major part of my NAS setup works.
A 4 bay QNAP NAS, with 2 different USB connected modules, holding 4 drives each. 12 drives in total, ~95TB.

And I cannot visualize any reason why "raid is kinda essential".
With this potential conglomeration of stuff, it would only increase the fail potential.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I cannot visualize any reason why "raid is kinda essential".
With this potential conglomeration of stuff, it would only increase the fail potential.
Click to expand...
For the family, images, videos, files, and documents.
One would hate to have all the family photos, videos, and files gone due to faulty storage unit :)
And yes you are right, if the setup is done poorly this would increase the fail potential. :/
On the other hand, the laptop is not that slow! It has 16GB DDR3 rams which i decent :)
And not so poor CPU.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
kaltja said:
For the family, images, videos, files, and documents.
One would hate to have all the family photos, videos, and files gone due to faulty storage unit :)
And yes you are right, if the setup is done poorly this would increase the fail potential. :/
On the other hand, the laptop is not that slow! It has 16GB DDR3 rams which i decent :)
And not so poor CPU.
Click to expand...
And RAID, of any type, is NOT the solution for data protection. This is a common misconception.

What you need is an actual backup routine...a second and third copy.
RAID is not that.

RAID 1/5/whatever only protects against physical drive fail, and only if you really need the uninterrupted uptime.
It does nothing for all the other forms of data loss.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
kaltja said:
For the family, images, videos, files, and documents.
One would hate to have all the family photos, videos, and files gone due to faulty storage unit :)
And yes you are right, if the setup is done poorly this would increase the fail potential. :/
On the other hand, the laptop is not that slow! It has 16GB DDR3 rams which i decent :)
And not so poor CPU.
Click to expand...
You need a better backup solution other than raid. Raid doesn't make sense here
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
USAFRet said:
And RAID, of any type, is NOT the solution for data protection. This is a common misconception.

What you need is an actual backup routine...a second and third copy.
RAID is not that.

RAID 1/5/whatever only protects against physical drive fail, and only if you really need the uninterrupted uptime.
It does nothing for all the other forms of data loss.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I know that raid is not a backup solution. :)
But a raid 1 would at least assure me that the data is mirrored in case of a storage unit fail, plus the family would still be able to get access to their data.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Honestly, there's nothing here that suggests that this is a practical idea. Old laptops make poor storage servers.

You'd do far better just buying a $100 box that stores four or five 3.5" hard drives that connect via USB. That'll be far more practical, far more stable, far more usable long-term, and have the potential to do more backup activities properly than Dr. Frankensteining an old laptop.
 
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Roland Of Gilead said:
You need a better backup solution other than raid. Raid doesn't make sense here
Click to expand...
Thanks for joining the discussion. :)
I'm totally aware that this is not a backup solution. But a raid 1 would at least assure me that the data is mirrored in case of a storage unit fail, plus the family would still be able to get access to their data.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
kaltja said:
Yeah, I know that raid is not a backup solution. :)
But a raid 1 would at least assure me that the data is mirrored in case of a storage unit fail, plus the family would still be able to get access to their data.
Click to expand...

As would a proper backup, which would *also* protect you from other things. Like viruses, accidental deletion, etc.

And RAIDs themselves can fail quite a bit. "Help me, my motherboard died and I can't recover any of my files from the RAID I set up for no reason" has to be one of our top 10 questions here.

The planning process here seems to be completely backwards.
 
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DSzymborski said:
Honestly, there's nothing here that suggests that this is a practical idea. Old laptops make poor storage servers.

You'd do far better just buying a $100 box that stores four or five 3.5" hard drives that connect via USB. That'll be far more practical, far more stable, far more usable long-term, and have the potential to do more backup activities properly than Dr. Frankensteining an old laptop.
Click to expand...
In one year my gaming pc I will be changing my gaming pc, and then I will replace the laptop with a more durable up-to-date "server".
Thus, i don't want to currently invest in another box that will eventually sit around collecting dust.
DSzymborski said:
As would a proper backup, which would *also* protect you from other things. Like viruses, accidental deletion, etc.

And RAIDs themselves can fail quite a bit. "Help me, my motherboard died and I can't recover any of my files from the RAID I set up for no reason" has to be one of our top 10 questions here.
Click to expand...
Yes, sadly this is true. :)
OK, forget about raid for a sec.
what about the SATA solution, as it would provide me with far more speeds than a USB 2 solution.
Do you think that if I bought an external SATA box as shown in the fifth link and a 1 bis 5 port SATA adapter, I would be able to get the SATA drives to work? Would the MB work with port multiplication? Sadly, I couldn't find any info about this online .🙁

(note, the linked external SATA box is just a concept placeholder, I'm not saying I will necessarily buy it from the provided link.)
Plus, the external SATA box would be beneficial even in the case of my gaming pc becoming a server so in my opinion nothing will be collecting dust 😉
 
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USAFRet said:
It assures no such thing.

A fail of the RAID controller (not uncommon) significantly increases the degree of difficulty of data retrieval. To the point of 'impossible'.
Click to expand...
Oki :/
We can now forget about the raid. You guys convinced me :)
kaltja said:
In one year my gaming pc I will be changing my gaming pc, and then I will replace the laptop with a more durable up-to-date "server".
Thus, i don't want to currently invest in another box that will eventually sit around collecting dust.

Yes, sadly this is true. :)
OK, forget about raid for a sec.
what about the SATA solution, as it would provide me with far more speeds than a USB 2 solution.
Do you think that if I bought an external SATA box as shown in the fifth link and a 1 bis 5 port SATA adapter, I would be able to get the SATA drives to work? Would the MB work with port multiplication? Sadly, I couldn't find any info about this online .🙁

(note, the linked external SATA box is just a concept placeholder, I'm not saying I will necessarily buy it from the provided link.)
Plus, the external SATA box would be beneficial even in the case of my gaming pc becoming a server so in my opinion nothing will be collecting dust 😉
Click to expand...

But can we now focus on the SATA stuff?
 
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