A Look Inside

It's time now to strip the NAS down to discover what components it hides inside.


Although we expected it to be easy, dismantling the N7710-G wasn't because of the numerous hidden screws we had to remove, but we managed to take it apart eventually.


Under one of the two available PCIe slot is the mainboard's revision number.


Only the backplate of the cooling system is on the solder side of the mainboard.


The Intel Pentium G850 CPU is cooled by a low-profile cooler.


The CPU's voltage regulation circuit uses four phases.


The mainboard's chipset is a passively cooled Intel C206. This chipset supports 14 USB 2.0 ports and six SATA ports. Two of its SATA ports are compatible with the SATA III protocol, which results in support for 6 Gb/s speeds.


There are three empty RAM slots should you want to upgrade the server's memory. However, doing so won't be easy because you will have to completely remove the mainboard. As you can see, the installed DIMM is by ADATA.


The server comes with 2 GB of Afaya flash memory.


The hardware monitor controller is a Fintek F71889ED. We also found another hardware monitoring IC on the mainboard, a Winbond W83795G IC.


Both provided USB 3.0 ports are controlled by a NEC D720202 IC.


The Gigabit Ethernet ports are handled by two Intel WG82574L controllers.


The LED indicators and both USB 2.0 ports are located at the front.


A Pericom P13VDP IC, the video output controller.


The driver responsible for all LED indicators, an NXP PCA9532 IC.


Above the system buzzer and the mainboard's battery is a Texas Instruments TPS54326PWP buck converter.


Right next to a 34APXLKG4 is an URL="http://www.atmel.com/devices/atmega168pa.aspx"]Atmel ATmega168PA[/URL] 8-bit AVR RISC-based microcontroller. We have no idea what the 34APXLKG4 is used for.


The PCIe expansion card that holds all seven HDDs the N7710-G supports.


On the aforementioned card are three Silicon Image SiI3132 (PCI Express to 2-Port Serial ATA II Host) controllers, an NXP PCA9532PW 16-bit I²C-bus and SMBus I/O expander, and an IDT 9DB403DGLF clock buffer.


The pre-installed 10GbE Ethernet card. It uses a Marvell Alaska 88X3110 controller.


The PSU is provided by Enhance, a good OEM, and can deliver up to 300 W (250 W on the +12V rails), so it will easily handle the needs of this NAS server. Its model number is FLEX-0130D and its 80 Plus certified.


Both 92mm fans are provided by Sunon, and their model number is EE92251B3-0000-G99. They run at up to 2400 RPM and use double ball-bearings, which will have them last for a long time.