Tuesday, February 11th 2025
X86-P6: Ultra-compact NAS Unveiled With Four M.2 Slots and Dual 2.5G Ethernet
The X86-P6 is a freshly unveiled mini PC that primarily aims to function as a NAS or a local backup. The system is powered by up to an Intel Core N355 processor, sitting at the top of Intel's Alder Lake-N product lineup. Packing 8 cores and 8 threads, the N355 is no small fry and packs enough computing grunt to push through moderately intensive workloads without an issue. However, the primary selling point for the system, unsurprisingly, is its storage at networking capabilities.
With dual 2.5G LAN, the X86-P6 packs enough networking prowess for a small home office or backup setup. The system also packs four M.2 2280 slots - albeit limited to only a single PCIe 3.0 lane (1 GB/s) per SSD when utilizing all the SSDs, which should theoretically be enough to saturate the system's networking capabilities. Apart from the LAN, the system also sports dual HDMI 2.0 ports, dual USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, as well as an M.2 B-key slot for wireless network modules.
The system packs a single SO-DIMM slot, good for up to 16 GB of DDR5-4800 memory. At just 6.7 x 6.5 x 5.8 inches, the X86-P6 is undoubtedly impressively compact, which isn't all that surprising considering the modest internals. As for pricing, the X86-P6 is available on Amazon at a starting price of $198 for the barebones version with an Intel N100 CPU, and $480 for the high-end variant with the Core 3 N355 CPU.
Source:
Liliputing
With dual 2.5G LAN, the X86-P6 packs enough networking prowess for a small home office or backup setup. The system also packs four M.2 2280 slots - albeit limited to only a single PCIe 3.0 lane (1 GB/s) per SSD when utilizing all the SSDs, which should theoretically be enough to saturate the system's networking capabilities. Apart from the LAN, the system also sports dual HDMI 2.0 ports, dual USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, as well as an M.2 B-key slot for wireless network modules.
13 Comments on X86-P6: Ultra-compact NAS Unveiled With Four M.2 Slots and Dual 2.5G Ethernet
As long as the higher density dimm are electrically compatible you should be good to go. This means things like voltage, rank, and so forthTechnically the spec sheet says that but they are already doing pre-orders with higher ram amounts.
It was the same thing with the N305, you can currently buy 32gb and 48gb variants
So, there. Not ideal in a NAS, best to stick to official specs.
The manufacturer appears to be "CWWK", and here's the product page:
cwwk.net/collections/nas/products/cwwk-x86-p6-pocket-nas-board-pc-intel-i3-n55-n150-2xi226-v-2-5g-ddr5-4800mhz-4xm-2-nvme-firewall-router-mini-pc-case-2xusb3-2-2xhd
Second- it's x1 lane PER DRIVE, a total of 3.0x4 lanes. that is 4096MB/s, 4GB/s. It could saturate not one but TWO 10Gbps ethernet ports at the same time.
"You can get PCIe 3.0 x4 speeds if you remove the breakout board that gives you four M.2 2280 slots and just use a single SSD. But if you want to use four SSDs you’ll be limited to PCIe 3.0 x1 speeds."
liliputing.com/x86-p6-pocket-nas-features-intel-twin-lake-cpu-4-x-m-2-slots-and-2-x-2-5-gbe-lan-port/
The writing is very poor. The backplane is fed with a 3.0x4 connection which then gets split up among installed drives. They're not feeding all 4 ports with a single lane.
It's BS that all these flash based NAS units sacrifice all their bandwidth. Even a basic SATA III SSD can saturate a 2.5Gbps port. Why is it only aSUStor with their overpriced gimmicks can reliably make 10Gbps NAS units?
Given the lacking consumer-facing options for 10GBASE-T, I think dual (Realtek) 5gbps ports would've been appreciated (and more-widely compatible)Hold up. I've been looking for a device like that for awhile.
Closest I've found is a Viking Enterprise Solutions U20040-02 U.2 Gen3x4 -> 4x M.2 Gen3x2 expander.
'Never seen x1/x1/x1/x1 bifurcation before, so I assume they're using a cheap ASMedia gen3 switch.
(They are, I can see it in the pic).
NVME-based NAS doesn't even begin to make sense without at least Dual Port 5GBASE-T.