QGD-3014 - m.2 SATA SSD form factor in specs ?

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mark-in-seattle
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QGD-3014 - m.2 SATA SSD form factor in specs ?

Post by mark-in-seattle »

Hello,

New owner of the QNAP QGD-3014-16PT NAS-switch combo, an updated version of my earlier QGD-1600P. Seeking help from existing QGD-3014 owners who have installed compatible m.2 SATA SSD's in their systems.

QUESTION: QNAP product page specs the pair of m.2 sockets on the motherboard as "M.2 B-Key SATA 2230", while I measure the distance from the socket connectors to the mounting machine screw hole at approx 3" (80mm) ... what gives ? Have searched this forum and out on the "internets" without success to resolve this question.

Hard not to believe my eyes and caliper measurements of the m.2 motherboard mounting location that it is not an 80mm form factor. What am I missing or is QNAP wrong on their product page.... or referencing an earlier prototyped version ???

Thank you.
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OneCD
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Re: QGD-3014 - m.2 SATA SSD form factor in specs ?

Post by OneCD »

Hi and welcome to the forum. :)

It sounds like a typo. Should probably say 2280.

Can you please post a photo of the slots with your measurement device in place?

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mark-in-seattle
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Re: QGD-3014 - m.2 SATA SSD form factor in specs ?

Post by mark-in-seattle »

OneCD - Thank you for your reply.

As requested here are a couple photos of my QGD-3014 motherboard and the two m.2 SSD memory slots. Due to case interference it was hard to measure directly with my calipers, but for illustration purposes I think it is instructive. Note - the two m.2 2280 SATA SSD's I ordered have not arrived yet, so I used an NVME m.2 2280 memory stick I had available as an 2280 form factor stand-in for the photo. Of course NVME isn't compatible with this m.2 slot only SATA versions but this card is m.2 2280. The m.2 SSD mounting screw engages a black plastic standoff on the right side of the photos approx 3" (80mm) from the socket on the left side.

IMG_6814_6inch-machinists-ruler_3-inches.jpg
IMG_6818_digital-calipers_80-ish-mm.jpg
IMG_6816_old-school-calipers_approx-3-inches.jpg
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OneCD
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Re: QGD-3014 - m.2 SATA SSD form factor in specs ?

Post by OneCD »

Good work. :)

I also can't see any mounts for cards @ 30mm on that PCB. And the thermal sensor wouldn't touch on a 30mm card.

Suggest you create a support ticket with QNAP and ask them to fix the specs for that unit. If this is a recently released product, QNAP may not have had much feedback on it yet. Include your photos with the support ticket.

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mark-in-seattle
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Re: QGD-3014 - m.2 SATA SSD form factor in specs ?

Post by mark-in-seattle »

I agree, there are no MB locations that would accept the standard machine screw for an m.2 card at a distance of 30mm from the m.2 sockets, though at 80mm there is a perfectly good plastic standoff for the proper m.2 card machine screw. Awaiting delivery of two m.2 2280 SATA drives purchased a few days ago. Will report back on this thread to confirm these SSD drives work on my QGD-3014 system to help others in the future looking to add SSD's to their QGD-3014 systems.

*** Testing a Use-Case for Thousands of QGD Units ***
On a different note, my experience today with the other QGD system I have: QNAP QGD-1600P, has not been very good at all. Documentation video from QNAP specifically to setup Ubiquiti Controller software using ContainerStation is quite poor and unhelpful. Another of many problem issues: I can login to the NAS side of the QGD-1600P fine, but can not login successfully on the separate IP address to the Switch side of the QGD-1600P. I get the Switch login screen but it rejects the username = admin and my correct password. When logging into the NAS side I can use QuNetSwitch from the desktop and verify the Switch password is exactly what I think it is but entering it correctly on the Switch login screen does not work: "incorrect username or password ....". Tried all the obvious issues: http: -vs- https nothing lets me login to the Switch directly from various web browsers (macOS).

At this point I am less certain the QNAP QGD productline would be useful for my brother the doctor's investor funded medical services startup company. Full disclosure: my wife and I are "fully qualified angel investors" (SEC speak) in his company which is taking off. His firm has politely turned down two VC deals already and receive cold calls from other VC's about once per week. His medical services company is in one of the hottest areas for new medical VC firm investment and IF...if the company is successful in the next few years they would be partnering with thousands of private American medical practices, many of which I hoped might be able to use QNAP QGD units for a special IT use. However, if I can't get a QGD to configure as needed, with nearly 40+ years in IT and embedded computer system development (yes, a narrow sub-specialty), it doesn't seem as though QNAP QGD units will fit this medical use case. The QLocker "issue" has not helped either.

Will keep trying to configure the QGD-1600P. Thank you again for your help.

*** UPDATE ***
Discovered the QGD Switch did not pay attention to the password I defined for the Switch using the QTS QuNetSwitch module interface. In reality Switch would accept only the default password = MAC address of the Switch, which I did not know to try ... since I had defined the Switch password in the QTS QuNetSwitch interface. Had to hard-reset the Switch for 3 seconds to force password = MAC address and IP = DHCP, then could login OK. Working now on getting the ContainerStation-->Ubiquiti Controller to work.

Configuring the QGD-1600P suffers from a lack of QNAP documentation and very little help online, I think because so few of these otherwise excellent systems have been sold to general users. Like the old IBM mainframe days, the few users in the priesthood guard their wisdom as career enhancing insurance ... at least that's what motivated early IBM System-360 project managers and the Cyber-70 admins I knew. Or - Occam's Razor: the small number of network admins experienced with QGD-1600 systems are too busy being productive in their shops to leave typed bread crumbs for the rest of us ... understandable today.
mark-in-seattle
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Re: QGD-3014 - m.2 SATA SSD form factor in specs ?

Post by mark-in-seattle »

Returning to this thread as promised with good news regarding the form factor of SSD's for the QGD-3014-PT.

Indeed the two WD blue 1TB m.2 2280 SSD's I just installed, worked just fine: successfully created a JBOD storage pool 1.8TB (usable) then created some "thick" volumes from the storage pool and installed apps ..etc. Installed chipside up. Not thrilled with the QNAP mounting "screw" is really a plastic push-pin into the plastic standoff on the motherboard. This mounting design still allows some slight movement by the m.2 stick PCB because the plastic push-pin doesn't lock the PCB as forcefully as a real machine screw..... might replace the plastic push-pin with a self tapping small dia machine screw from my machine shop.

The exact Western Digital SSD model info (purchased from Newegg.com : WD Blue 3D NAND 1TB Internal SSD - SATA III 6Gb/s M.2 2280 Solid State Drive - WDS100T2B0B.
As you can see from the specs above, form factor = m.2 2280 (80mm length), not as the QNAP product page for the QGD-3014-PT defines = m.2 2230 (30mm).

Hopes this helps another QNAP user.
WD-m.2-2280-SSDs-installed-in-QGD-3014_IMG_6826_email-size.jpg
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mark-in-seattle
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32-GB RAM installed on QGD-3014-16PT

Post by mark-in-seattle »

Successfully installed at my own risk - 32-GB of DDR4 2666mhz RAM on my QNAP QGD-3014-16PT replacing 8-GB of factory DDR4 from QNAP.

This is for informational purposes only !!! I have only 30 mins of uptime on this config with 32-GB so do not know if system will remain stable ...etc.... but so far, so good.

My first attempt with same dual 16-GB memory sticks that worked in my QGD-1600P RAM upgrade failed in the QGD-3014-16PT. Those that failed were slower 2400mhz CL-15 SODIMMs, (worked fine in the QGD-1600). The sticks that worked were DDR4-2666mhz CL-19 sticks. Exact model purchased from Amazon: Crucial RAM 16GB DDR4 2666 MHz CL19 Laptop Memory CT16G4SFRA266 ... delivered in 3 hours to our house in Seattle ... gave the delivery staff an electronic award/thank you.
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