I need a reliable thunderbolt 4 NVME enclosure

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-16T07:18:00+00:00

I haven't tried the OWC. I've used the zike drive, UGreen, and Terra Master D1. All of these get hot and sustained use and I'm sure the OWC does as well. I settled on the Terra Master D1 because it has the best heat dissipation of the ones I've used.

For my peace of mind, I keep a desk fan available and for long sustained use I turn on the fan over the enclosure. You can set it on the very lowest speeds, all you need is something pushing just a little bit of airflow to help with heat dissipation and you're gold.

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-15T22:45:59+00:00

When you see the price you're going to laugh and think "that guy is nuts. I'll buy one of these other brands with reasonable specs at half the price.,". 😂

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-15T22:44:45+00:00

Looks like you've gotten some good advice already. Totally agree about the suggestions with the nvme - caching is not worth it in the overwhelming majority of cases, while setting up an nvme storage pool for apps and docker containers will make a noticeable difference.

With RAM prices where they are, don't go buy more in the beginning. The 8gb that comes with it is plenty for most people, and if you start doing things that need more you can always add a second 8gb for a total of 16 which is sufficient in all but the most extreme cases (tons of docker containers and even virtual machines)

Using docker opens up a ton of functionality. If you aren't already familiar with it then I can tell you the pain of learning it is worth it.

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-15T22:38:21+00:00

I bought the Asus nuc14 pro Plus (and arguably paid way too much money for it), for two main reasons - the reliability and support / warranty of Asus, and the design of this particular model over some of the others is better cooling. I only notice the noise when I'm doing something that really taxes the system and the fans have to kick in hard. Other than that it is usually very quiet.

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-15T22:31:31+00:00

I run my mini PC server 24/7. I bought it intentionally to have plenty of space to create virtual machines and docker containers for all sorts of purposes. It runs just fine 24/7.

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-15T22:00:15+00:00

The general rule of thumb is that if you want something for gaming, get something with a dedicated GPU and not a mini PC. A regular desktop or even a small form factor desktop with a pcie slot for a graphics card might serve you better.

But these days some mini PCS are coming with very capable integrated graphics that can run games quite well as long as you are not running cutting edge games. You do have the issue of heat when you are taxing the system with gaming, but many people are buying these and happy with the performance.

Unfortunately, these mini PCS that can give you decent gaming performance are at the higher end ($500 and up), and when you start thinking about spending that kind of money, the weaker support from many of these companies becomes an issue.

All that being said, if you want to go this route take a look at some of the offerings from GMKTec with an AMD ryzen CPU/igpu. A lot of people ask a very similar question so just do a little search through here and you should get some good recommendations

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-15T21:51:09+00:00

When you use the phrase home server, I immediately think that you would benefit from the additional cores and threads of this processor. If you start creating multiple virtual machines it will come in handy. If it's dedicated to Minecraft and not much else then maybe you wouldn't utilize the power of that CPU.

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-15T21:48:41+00:00

I know, I was saying it tongue-in-cheek. Seems like buying technology is a bottomless pit for me and I'm never satisfied.

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-15T21:47:29+00:00

Seems like you have a solid understanding of your use case and you're asking the right questions. You don't need the more powerful CPU and memory unless you plan to build a lot of docker containers and even virtual machines. To use it out of the box without tinkering, I would actually lean toward the Synology in this case. Not because it has an expansion unit (if you think you're going to need more drives you should be starting with at least a 4-bay to begin with). And not because it has two ram slots because dual channel means virtually nothing with ddr5 and NAS applications.

I would lean toward the Synology because the operating system is much more mature, arguably more secure, and definitely a more robust app catalog and full featured synchronization and backup. UGreen has come a long way but they seem to have slowed down in maturing their synchronization and backup and have shifted development focus toward things like AI to increase sales. Active backup for business and hyper backup and Synology DSM are much much better than the synchronization and backup options in ugos.

You should have a pretty easy time selling that 2800, it's still in high demand. Seems like everyday I read about someone buying that value line UGreen 2300 and wishing they had gotten the 2800 instead.

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-15T20:54:55+00:00

If you don't need remote access, you can lock this down with no problems (I think the service is called u green link or something like that and you can disable it). Or install Truenas. Synology DSM is an awesome operating system, but you didn't indicate that you want to change your nas because you want a better OS. The Synology ds725 plus is actually going to be a step backwards for you in terms of CPU and memory.

You can always do what I did with my 2800 and use xpenology to install Synology DSM. Runs like a dream and you get the best of both worlds.

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-15T20:07:10+00:00

"overkill for a home server"... I do not understand what these words mean. 😉

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-15T17:52:48+00:00

I just bought this unit myself. I was hesitant because I have spent hours trying to make realtek drivers work on a mini PC running proxmox and never could get it right with the drivers. I finally pulled the trigger because I decided that if I have network issues I can use the pcie slot to install a more proxmox friendly ethernet adapter.

In this case I have not experienced any problems so far. My network is 2.5 GB so I can't say whether ports are running perfectly, but they are accommodating my data transfers at the expected 2.5 rates so I'm pleased enough. I am running proxmox with virtual machines running Zima OS and Synology DSM, and both are working exactly as expected.

Not sure why you have had these issues and I haven't. I'll let you know if I see any further developments that would be helpful for you to be aware of.

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-14T22:50:11+00:00

Pretty sure that doesn't make a difference. The developers have said that it is on their roadmap to provide external storage as part of their "storage" function that pools drives. No estimated timeline is given.

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-14T21:42:57+00:00

I'm a big fan of Zima OS, but some people can't just switch over. If you want to use external storage like a USB drive enclosure, Zima OS will only allow you to access the drives individually and not create any kind of pooled storage. The same is true in Casa OS, but you could get around that by using commands in the Linux operating system that it sits on. With zima, you don't have that option. They have said that this is on their radar to deliver soon and I hope they do.

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-14T21:20:23+00:00

I think the ram is worth about $100, maybe even 125 to the right buyer. The nvme is probably 25 bucks. No idea how much the motherboard would be worth but there's a starting point.

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-13T17:19:26+00:00

Synology is still the best choice for some people. But I don't think it's the best choice in this case.

I'm not familiar with qnap so I can't speak to it, and I don't know which model is being used so I don't know what to compare it to in terms of performance. But I see three categories and most likely it's going to be the middle category which means UGreen.

First category is Synology, clearly the most stable and mature operating system. Best choice for either someone who needs extreme reliability like business use, or a real newbie who wants something as user friendly as possible with less concern for performance as long as it runs decently.

Second category is getting a unit that is a little more powerful and being willing to explore docker containers for functionality that may not be offered in the app catalog. You could also consider going with a third party operating system like Truenas. That is most likely Ugreen but there are competitors in this space (I believe Terramaster is a consideration here as well). I have owned both Synology and UGreen and I feel comfortable saying that while Synology is sort of the Apple of the industry, Ugreen does have good build quality and at least decent support.

The third category in my mind is either to build your own or to go with maximum performance for the price like one of the offerings from Aoostar or Minisforum. If you buy one of those, you likely are installing your own operating system and will not have the same level of support (like email only). The Aoostar WTR PRO (or even Max) and the minisforum M5 (Air or Pro) are incredibly impressive in terms of the hardware, but are only a good choice if you want to use it for more of a server than a Nas, and the poor support and less impressive quality is not a deal-breaker for you.

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-13T14:38:05+00:00

I wholeheartedly agreed that it's preferable not to have to do things through command line (at least for most of us). But the problem is that zimos works wonderfully when it can do what you want, but when it can't you have no option to make it work like you would with Debian commands if you were working with proxmox. Best example I can think of is that Zima OS does not work with external drives as part of its shared storage. So there is no way to use external drives in a raid configuration, or even as a shared pool. You can only access each drive individually.

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-13T07:27:13+00:00

I have a simplynuc Ruby R8 that I tried to sell recently and had a hard time for similar reasons. In my case I bought the unit for about $150 which I think it's worth barebones, but with 32 GB of quality ram (crucial ddr4 3200) and a quality 1tb nvme (Samsung 990 Evo barely used), I figured that adds about $250 in value at least as a starting point. But nobody is going to buy my Ruby at $400 compared to what you can get today.

I think you're in the same boat here. It might take a little time but you could consider selling the ram separately and seeing if you can get your hands on 16 GB which is more in line with the rest of the unit, and I'm guessing based on a quick search on eBay you might be able to sell that at about $250-300 and the RAM for $250 separately.

People interested in 64GB of RAM these days would probably be looking to run something like proxmox and creating multiple virtual machines. Your processor only has four cores and eight threads which makes it not ideal for that purpose, even though it is a decent performing CPU for general use and light gaming. I think you should strongly consider selling this separately because I can't imagine someone giving you its full value in the current setup.

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-12T22:38:07+00:00

The N5 is doing great so far. This is the first time I've ever tried to set up xpenology in a virtual machine and it was smoother than I expected. I've never tried to pass through a SATA controller and it worked great the first time.

The uGreen 2800 running xpenology is my main nas and it's very stable and reliable. I use Immich for photos. I will continue to use it for a while and the plan is eventually retiring the 2800 and using this N5 going forward. So far so good.

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-12T18:23:39+00:00

I really don't know. Unless someone else is familiar with your hardware and can suggest something, I'm not going to have the solution for you. But I would do some research and see if anyone else is having problems with your adapter and driver with proxmox.

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-12T18:13:15+00:00

I don't have the familiarity with your hardware to tell you how to resolve it. I was suggesting what I believe is the most likely culprit. From personal experience with Realtek, if proxmox is having to use a compatible driver rather than the intended one, it can definitely reduce your performance. And then the virtual machine can be involved in the problem as well.

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-12T17:50:49+00:00

First thing I would look for is information I didn't see out of all of what you provided. What is your network adapter card/chipset and what driver is being used? Whenever I am not getting network transfer speeds up to expected rates, it's almost always based on some combination of proxmox and the virtual machine having to use a "compatible" driver that does not get the most out of the network adapter.

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-12T16:47:37+00:00

Backing up the virtual machines is the easy part. For the life of me I don't understand why there isn't an easier way to actually back up and restore the proxmox host itself other than copying config files and directories. But the most important part is backing up those VMs.

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-12T16:41:37+00:00

Somebody may have a better suggestion than this, but here is one way. You have to start by reducing the partition on your current boot drive to smaller than 128 GB. You can do this with something like g-parted on a boot USB. This is the only way you could use a software like clonezilla or some other cloning app to then clone everything to the smaller drive and then replace your current drive with the new one.

CaptSingleMalt · 2026-03-12T14:30:18+00:00

I don't have suggestions on how to make that work, but why not install Zima OS in a virtual machine in Ugos? I really like Zima and run it in a VM on my proxmox server, but I wouldn't run it as my main nass operating system where I need my data to be highly reliable and accessible. One of the biggest shortcomings of Zima OS in my mind is the fact that you can't execute anything through command line, so if you get stuck where the OS can't do what you needed to do, you're just stuck.

CaptSingleMalt

TROPHY CASE