X86-P6: Ultra-compact NAS Unveiled With Four M.2 Slots and Dual 2.5G Ethernet

[GGforever]

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.

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[TumbleGeorge]

The system packs a single SO-DIMM slot, good for up to 48 GB of DDR5-4800 memory.

CPU support up to 16GB! Must correct your misinformation.

 

[GGforever]

CPU support up to 16GB! Must correct your misinformation.

You are correct. Fixed!

 

[tussinman]

CPU support up to 16GB! Must correct your misinformation.

Intels spec sheets are often wrong or outdated. Case in point: X58 being able to run 6x8GB.

As long as the higher density dimm are electrically compatible you should be good to go. This means things like voltage, rank, and so forth

You are correct. Fixed!

Technically 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

 

[GGforever]

Intels spec sheets are often wrong or outdated. Case in point: X58 being able to run 6x8GB.

As long as the higher density dimm are electrically compatible you should be good to go. This means things like voltage, rank, and so forth

Technically 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

I know. But I know certain N100/150/305 systems with 16+ GB RAM that have occasional stability issues.
So, there. Not ideal in a NAS, best to stick to official specs.

 

[Wirko]

CPU support up to 16GB! Must correct your misinformation.

Aliexpress sells configurations with up to 32 GB of RAM. Maybe the manufacturer has tested the larger SO-DIMM too and it works.

The manufacturer appears to be "CWWK", and here's the product page:

CWWK X86-P6 Pocket NAS Board PC Intel i3-N355 N150 2xi226-V 2.5G DDR5 4800MHz 4xM.2 NVMe Firewall Router Mini PC Case 2xUSB3.2 2xHD

CWWK is committed to developing a reliable, secure, and customizable firewall or VPN appliance for network professionals and enthusiasts.

cwwk.net

 

[Daven]

X86-P6? Did I miss a processor launch?

 

[Wirko]

X86-P6? Did I miss a processor launch?

If you're younger than 30 then yes.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

So close, if only it had 10Gbps ports...

 

[GGforever]

So close, if only it had 10Gbps ports...

single pcie 3 lane lol, so wouldve bottlenecked hard

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

single pcie 3 lane lol, so wouldve bottlenecked hard

First- you're giving up 2/3rds of your bandwidth to use 2.5 Gbps ports. So I'd much rather hit a 1GB/s bottleneck then a 312MB/s bottleneck.

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."

X86-P6 Pocket NAS features Intel Twin Lake CPU, 4 x M.2 slots, and 2 x 2.5 GbE LAN port - Liliputing

X86-P6 Pocket NAS features Intel Twin Lake CPU, 4 x M.2 slots, and 2 x 2.5 GbE LAN port

liliputing.com

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?

 

[AusWolf]

Not too expensive, either. Nice!

 

[LabRat 891]

First- you're giving up 2/3rds of your bandwidth to use 2.5 Gbps ports. So I'd much rather hit a 1GB/s bottleneck then a 312MB/s bottleneck.

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.

AFAIK, X550 and X710 are pretty spendy to integrate. (Both of which have optional 10G+5G/2.5G/1G 'multi-gig' support)
Given the lacking consumer-facing options for 10GBASE-T, I think dual (Realtek) 5gbps ports would've been appreciated (and more-widely compatible)

"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."

X86-P6 Pocket NAS features Intel Twin Lake CPU, 4 x M.2 slots, and 2 x 2.5 GbE LAN port - Liliputing

X86-P6 Pocket NAS features Intel Twin Lake CPU, 4 x M.2 slots, and 2 x 2.5 GbE LAN port

liliputing.com

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.

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).

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?

100%
NVME-based NAS doesn't even begin to make sense without at least Dual Port 5GBASE-T.

 

[Chaitanya]

First- you're giving up 2/3rds of your bandwidth to use 2.5 Gbps ports. So I'd much rather hit a 1GB/s bottleneck then a 312MB/s bottleneck.

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."

X86-P6 Pocket NAS features Intel Twin Lake CPU, 4 x M.2 slots, and 2 x 2.5 GbE LAN port - Liliputing

X86-P6 Pocket NAS features Intel Twin Lake CPU, 4 x M.2 slots, and 2 x 2.5 GbE LAN port

liliputing.com

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?

Even Terramaster F8 comes with 10Gbps NIC out of the box.

 

[csendesmark]

>M.2 SSD NAS
>only dual 2.5Gbps LAN
Why people creating things like this???

 

[GGforever]

First- you're giving up 2/3rds of your bandwidth to use 2.5 Gbps ports. So I'd much rather hit a 1GB/s bottleneck then a 312MB/s bottleneck.

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."

X86-P6 Pocket NAS features Intel Twin Lake CPU, 4 x M.2 slots, and 2 x 2.5 GbE LAN port - Liliputing

X86-P6 Pocket NAS features Intel Twin Lake CPU, 4 x M.2 slots, and 2 x 2.5 GbE LAN port

liliputing.com

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?

Yeah, true.. but not if you are utilizing a single ssd though.
I mean, yeah dual 10G wouldve def be nice.
But at this price, do we really expect people to have 10G networking at their home?

 

[Blue4130]

>M.2 SSD NAS
>only dual 2.5Gbps LAN
Why people creating things like this???

The CPU only has 9 pcie lanes. Pretty hard to cram 4 ssd's, 2 2.5Gbps port, USB all on 9 lanes.

 

[csendesmark]

I see, and then it is kind of pointless that way