A Look Inside

You have to deal with several screws to fully tear down the NAS, but the procedure is straightforward. To access the M.2 slots is much easier.


The barebone chassis.


The mainboard is small, so the CPU's heatsink looks massive. The lack of active cooling for the heatsink is an advantage since it means fewer moving parts, which can break in the long run. The RAM slots are on the back side to be easier accessible without having to tear down the NAS fully.


One RAM slot is free for future upgrades. The installed DIMM uses Samsung K4A4G08 chips and has 4 GB capacity.


The mainboard uses a Macronix MX25U6432F flash memory IC.


The DSM OS is installed in a Macronic MX30LF1G18AC-TI 1 Gbit NAND flash memory chip.


The pair of fans is driven by two Nuvoton 3941S-A linear regulators.


A Realtek RTL8111H Gigabit Ethernet controller handles communications.


Two AP4435GM FETs are installed next to an SK34C Schottky barrier diode (SBR).


A PCIe express packet switch by ASMedia.


An FPGA by Gowin with model number GW1N-LV2. An FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) is a programmable logic device that can be used to implement various digital and mixed-signal systems, such as digital logic circuits, processors, and custom hardware. They can be reprogrammed to change their functionality and are useful for many applications.


A Renesas Electronics 9DB433AGLF clock buffer. In short, a clock buffer is a device that is used to distribute a clock signal to multiple destinations. It receives a single input clock signal and generates multiple copies of the same signal, which are then sent to different parts of a circuit or system.


An 8-bit microcontroller by PIC—its model number is PIC16F18345. It most likely handles the server's LED indicators.


An Atmel microcontroller.


This looks to be a CH4T245 4-bit translating transceiver. It is typically used for parallel-to-serial or serial-to-parallel conversion of data.


This is the mainboard's real-time clock. An RTC tracks time even when power is turned off, and it is useful for scheduling events, setting alarms, or for time-stamping applications.


Power phases for the CPU, RAM, and the other system parts.


An RT3663BM dual-output PWM controller is used to control the VRMs taking care of the CPU's circuit.


Some diodes. For those of you with limited knowledge of electronics, a diode is a device that allows current to flow in only one direction. Think it as a one-way valve for current. Diodes are omnipresent in electronic applications.


This PCIe card offers a USB 3.2 Gen 1 port.


The SATA expansion card. The SATA-PCIe bridge is a JMB585 IC.


Y.S. Tech provides the two 92 mm diameter fans. Their model number is FD129225LL-N (12 V, 0.12 A, 1900 RPM, and 36.3 CFM). According to Y.S Tech, these fans use Sintetico bearings, which look high quality and will easily outlive any plain sleeve bearing.