Seeking Advice

[mystik]

I like the looks of the performance with the new PCIe M.2 storage. I also need a solution for eSATA that supports 8 drives (port multiplier). So, I am on a mission to find the smallest PC where these two goals will be possible. 16 - 32 GB of RAM is desired also. What are your thoughts? I have found the SHUTTLE SH170R6. I don't yet know if its eSATA supports port multiplier, but even if it doesn't, it seems to have a slot where I could add a card. Are there any smaller or better solutions? Thanks much in advance for all advice!

 

[jtd871]

mystik,

Could you explain why you need eSATA to support 8 drives rather than use, say, a dedicated server for the 8 drives?

 

[mystik]

Yes, I can. The biggest reason is due to the space available where the system needs to go. I don't have enough vertical space for a large tower. Also, the smaller form factor per unit makes them more easily manageable. Lastly, I already have the enclosure. So, I don't see any reason to waste that.

 

[jtd871]

The Shuttle you reference appears to have a custom H170 board (see https://shuttleshop.nl/image/data/specificaties/SH170R6.pdf for a photo) with 2 slots, making it a quasi-DTX form factor. Shuttle uses this form factor a lot. You can search for other boards like this (typically they are marketed as mATX with only 2 slots, but usually don't sport a high-end chipset) and put it in a mATX case of your choosing. Due to the layout of this and similar mobos, you'll likely need a single slot GPU in the x16 slot in order to physically use the x4 slot, or just use the IGP on the CPU.

 

[jtd871]

A cursory search on Newegg turned up the following DTX-like options that you could put in a case of your choosing. None seem to have a M.2 slot or eSATA, but all feature 2 PCIe slots (at least 1 x16), with several having the x16 slot outboard meaning that you could use a double-slot GPU with the first slot populated.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135395
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138407
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157684
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157679
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157685
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135360

 

[iFreilicht]

What else are you seeking to do with this rig? Do you need a strong processor? Do you need a dedicated GPU? If you need decent graphics, would an APU suffice? If the answer to the second question is no, pretty much any mITX board with an M.2 slot will do the job because as you said, you can just add a card that supports eSATA with port multiplication.
Then the only task is to find the smallest case that supports a board and an add-on card. The Lone Industries L3 comes to mind.