This is a little Gist I made to help others looking into buying a Framework mainboard for a homelab / NAS purpose. It's a mix of research I have undertaken to look for parts to work around the limited expansion capabilities of the Framework Desktop mainboard.
Bear in mind, this guide does not cheap out! It ensures that you get the best performance and reliability for your homelab or NAS setup for personal use only and maximises the potential of the Framework Desktop mainboard given its limitations. You may need to expand on my research to find the best components for your specific use case if your budget is more limiting.
While the Framework desktop mainboard is a beast in terms of its compute performance, and up to 128GB of unified memory, it only has two M.2 slots for storage expansion. This can be a limiting factor for users looking to build a high-capacity NAS or homelab environment.
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As per their website we have:
- 3x Standard 4-pin fan header (Standard PWM)
- 1x Standard 9-pin header (Front Panel Header)
- 2x 20-pin USB Type-E header (Front panel USB header)
- 1x Standard 9-pin header (Front panel audio header)
- 1x Standard 4-pin header with 3 signals (ARGB header)
- 1x RTC Battery connector (Molex 51021-8602, RTC Battery is preinstalled)
- 1x PCIe x4 slot (not exposed on default case)
I don't own one yet, however, I have one on pre-order so will be sure to finalize my thoughts here when I get it!
I feel though, while there are certainly limitations to the board, it's sheer grunt and power efficiency will make it a great fit for small homelabs / NAS setups. However, anything more data critical or requiring high availability might benefit much more from a more traditional server setup.
Main limitations:
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Lack of ECC
ECC protects your data from bit flips, which can be a concern in environments where data integrity is critical. While ECC is really nice, for a small homelab environment it's not critical or even necessary. ECC is more of a nice-to-have.
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Limited expansion slots
There are two M.2 slots for storage expansion, which may not be sufficient for users looking to build a high-capacity NAS or homelab environment. This will mean using USB or a PCIe expansion card for additional storage options (which I will get into later).
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Lack of upgradeable memory
The Framework Desktop mainboard uses soldered memory, which means you cannot upgrade the RAM after purchase. Framework have said this is for signal integrity for the AMD Ryzen AI+ processor and is limitation provided by physics, not so much the choices of Framework themselves.
However, one handy thing is that it makes building your homelab easier, as there is already a pre-installed Cooler Master heatsink that cools both the APU/SoC and RAM modules!
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Limited PCIe lanes
The Framework Desktop mainboard has a limited number of PCIe lanes available (x4) which means if you plan for a high-speed SSD-based NAS where gigabits of throughput are required, you may run into bandwidth limitations. However, for most people, this is not a concern, and if you plan to use HDDs as the main storage medium, then probably not a problem at all.
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Lack of IPMI
IPMI is a set of standardized specifications for hardware management and monitoring. No IPMI means you won't have out-of-band management capabilities which can be a drawback for users looking to manage their NAS or homelab remotely. But again, this is a personal homelab and for most this is not a deal breaker.
However, not all is lost. Using something like a PiKVM you will find you do not need IPMI. More details below.
Now on to the parts. All of these options address the limitations mentioned above and aim to enhance the functionality of the Framework Desktop mainboard for non-critical NAS and homelab use.
I recommend the Jonsbo N3.
The case has up to 8 drive bays, allowing for plenty of 3.5" HDDs. It also has plenty of clearance for the APU/SoC heatsink and fan unlike the Jonsbo N4 which is shorter.
If you haven't heard of Jonsbo, that's ok! Don't be fooled, the cases they do are high quality and very well received.
I aimed for maximum efficiency and minimal noise.
I recommend the following fans:
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1x Noctua NF-A12x25 G2
This will be used to cool the APU/SoC on the mainboard. It's Noctua's latest second generation flagship, the best 120mm fan on the market. The APU/SoC on the Framework is so efficient, this may not even spin up. But if it does, it'll be basically silent.
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2x Noctua NF-A8 PWM (1 recommended, 2 optional)
These are 80mm fans, and will live on the back of the case at the top, which will exhaust the heat of the APU/SoC.
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2x Noctua NF-A9 PWM (optional, case comes with lower quality fans pre-installed)
These are 92mm fans, fairly unconventional. These will live as exhausts on the back of the case at the bottom where the HDD bays are located. It will encourage air to come in from the front where the drives are, keeping them cooler.
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1x Noctua NF-A4x10 PWM (required)
This is a 40mm fan, and is really small. This will be used to aid the modification of the HBA to keep it cool. I will go into more detail about the HBA stuff further down.
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1x PWM 3-way splitter (required)
This 3 way splitter will be for the API/SoC + the two 80mm exhaust fans.
Connecting two Y splitters together can also work too. If you bought the fans above, (except the 40mm fan), they come with Y splitters!
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1x PWM extender (required)
This will extend the PWM header for the 40mm fan and will occupy the third (and last) fan header on the board.
The other fans you bought usually come with one of these cables!
I recommend getting at least 3 HDDs, the capacity of which and the brand is up to you. They need to support SATA and this will be your high-volume storage with RAID.
I also recommend a small NVMe SSD (250GB will be sufficient) for the operating system (like TrueNAS Community Edition).
And at least a 1TB NVMe SSD for caching and apps.
I recommend the Broadcom 9500-8i, or at the very least a PCIe to Sata controller (not multiplier).
This is where I feel most people make a mistake when looking for ways to expand their storage on a system with limited expansion options!
People often to lean to cheap multiplier adapters which can lead to performance bottlenecks, compatibility issues, dropped drives and even data loss. This is because it's easy to fall into the trap of using a port multiplier without realizing which is a no-go for NAS systems.
Others also lean on USB expansion solutions, but these can introduce additional latency and OS's like TrueNAS do not recommend connecting drives over USB especially for ZFS pools. But that story can change if the USB port supports PCIe tunnelling like USB 4 (which the Framework Desktop mainboard supports).
I highly recommend investing in a proper HBA (Host Bus Adapter) card that is designed for use with multiple drives like the Broadcom 9500-8i in IT mode (I also recommend it because the 9500-8i has been on the market for some time and is still actively sold and supported). A HBA will be generally more robust, however, if you're on more of a budget and only plan for a handful of drives, then you can get away with something like a JMicron or ASMedia controller over PCIe and people use them all the time happily (with the occasional quirk or problem reported here and there).
The 9500-8i uses the PCIe slot on the mainboard to connect and provides multiple SATA ports for your drives. Paired with a 50cm SlimSAS 8i (SFF-8654) to 8X Latching SATA Cable, you can connect up to 8 HDDs to a single card.
However, there are some limitations to be aware of:
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The 9500-8i uses uses a PCIe x8 interface.
And the Framework mainboard only has a PCIe x4 slot available for expansion cards.
Do not fret! This may not be the deal breaker you think this is. The PCIe specification fully supports the use of plugging in devices with a higher lane count to a slot with a lower lane count. All it means is the HBA will be limited to PCIe Gen 4 x4 bandwidth which is ~7.8GB/s and will be running in x4 mode instead of x8.
If you do the maths, a typical HDD can support a maximum throughput of around 200MB/s. Even with PCIe 4 x4 bandwidth of up to 8GB per second, and some extra hardware limitations around physics, you could comfortably run 30 HDDs at full speed through an x4 link under optimal conditions. However, SSD's can run at over double the speed of a typical HDD, which means they could saturate the link much more easily so be careful if you have an SSD-based setup.
The next thing to know is that the mainboard will not let you physically connect the card due to the slot size difference. The mainboard only has 1 x4 slot, and the HBA is x8. This means that you will need to purchase a riser cable that lets you connect the 9500-8i to the PCIe x4 slot.
When looking for a riser cable, it's very easy to buy from a random brand from Amazon, which runs you the risk of signal integrity issues and some even advertise x4, but logically do x1 or x2. One brand I highly recommend and is well known is ADT-Link. If you head on over to their website, they have a huge selection of riser cables. In fact, I was amazed at how many options they had... I recommend getting the K28SL 10cm length which is a silver plated cable with EMI protections.
If you buy from them directly, it may take a few weeks for it to arrive and the shipping will be costly but it will be worth it. I also had to contact their support through email, because I bought the wrong model by mistake, and they responded on the same day and resolved my issue and cancelled the order in under an hour.
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The 9500-8i needs some cooling
The card is designed for use in enterprise server chassis where high airflow is standard. The little heatsink on the card is plenty for such an environment, but not for a personal homelab where stagnant air may be a thing.
I recommend adding that small Noctua NF-A4x10 PWM fan mentioned earlier to the HBA card to help with cooling. Even a little whir from the fan can make a big difference in keeping the card cool and preventing thermal throttling.
While the 9500-8i is one of the most power efficient HBAs to date, and can probably survive on its own, not cooling it may shorten its lifespan and a little fan goes a long way in making that piece of hardware last decades.
You may notice there are no ways to attach the fan to the heatsink. You can take a shortcut and use hot glue, or you can purchase 3M x 30mm screws to properly secure the fan in place.
To do so, you can take the 4 brass pins out which secure the heatsink onto the board, and then place the 40mm fan on top. Finally, thread the screw through the fan, then through the heatsink, through the PCB, and secure it with a nut on the other side. Be careful with metal shavings and ensure nothing shorts out or buy nylon screws for maximum safety.
I recommend a small SFX power supply from a well known brand like Seasonic or Corsair. Framework recommend at least a 500W. The Corsair SF models are great choices and provide enough power for the components listed in this guide while maintaining a compact form factor. Usually high quality PSU's are efficient enough to not spin the integrated fan even with fairly heavy use.
I recommend a Type-E to USB 3 male motherboard adapter.
The Jonsbo N3 comes with a USB-A port and a USB-C port. However, the USB A port uses the more chonky 19 pin USB 3 header. The Framework Desktop mainboard has two USB-E headers.
If you want all ports to be functional, you'll need to use a USB-E adapter for the USB-A port. The other USB-C port will work out of the box.
Want IPMI? If you're looking for a way to manage your machine remotely, I highly recommend using a PiKVM. It's a really nice solution that uses a Raspberry Pi 4 SBC as a KVM over IP device. They're not cheap, but compared to other KVM solutions, it is great value.
You can get complete hands-off access to your machine remotely. Just as much power as if you was physically there which is a huge bonus!
Things like:
- The ability to turn off, on, reboot the machine using the motherboard pins over IP
- 1080p access to HDMI output through a polished web interface
- Ability to install an operating system remotely by uploading an image and mounting a virtual USB drive
- Mouse/keyboard access
- BIOS access (super handy for modifying GPU memory allocations remotely on the Framework mainboard!)
- Higher-end models can interface with a UPS seamlessly
- Mix Tailscale in + subnet routing you can securely access the KVM anywhere in the world
- And a heck of a lot more!
Hopefully this guide helps if you're looking to buy a homelab using the Framework Desktop mainboard.
While the mainboard has its limitations, I believe it can make for one of the most compact and efficient homelab solutions available today given the right components and configuration.