William Osman, I Built You a Computer!

Quick Overview

William Osman built a portable, rugged Network Attached Storage (NAS) server, nicknamed "A.S.S." (Anywhere Storage Server), inside a Pelican Air case, requiring custom 3D-printed parts and specialized server components like an ASRock Rack AM5D4ID-2T motherboard and a 16-core AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D CPU to meet the one-month deadline.

Key Points: The custom portable NAS, nicknamed "A.S.S." (Anywhere Storage Server), was built inside a Pelican Air case to meet William Osman's requirement for portability. The build utilized an ASRock Rack AM5D4ID-2T server motherboard, which supports consumer AM5 CPUs, and an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D CPU (16 cores, 32 threads). Storage capacity came from four KIOXIA CD6-R 15.36TB NVMe SSDs, totaling 61.44TB of raw storage, which were installed using a custom 3D-printed bracket. Cooling for the high-TDP CPU was achieved using a Noctua NH-U9S Black cooler, and additional cooling for the case/drives involved three Noctua fans mounted to a custom rear panel. The server components were powered by an external HDPLEX 500W GaN ATX Power Supply, which was secured inside the case using custom 3D-printed mounts. The project involved extensive modification of the Pelican case, including cutting holes for ports and mounting components, using Loctite 242 threadlocker for security. The final result was a functional, rugged, and portable NAS solution designed to be easily transported to events like Open Sauce.

Context: The video documents the process of building a highly portable, rugged Network Attached Storage (NAS) device for William Osman, designed to be functional immediately upon arrival at events like Open Sauce. The project required integrating high-performance server components, including a server-grade motherboard and a powerful consumer CPU, into a protective Pelican case, necessitating significant custom fabrication using 3D printing.

Detailed Analysis

The project involved building a portable NAS system for William Osman, nicknamed "A.S.S." (Anywhere Storage Server), which had to fit inside a Pelican Air case. The build required significant customization, including cutting holes in the case for ventilation and ports, and using 3D-printed parts for mounting. Key components included an ASRock Rack AM5D4ID-2T server motherboard, allowing the use of a consumer AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D CPU. For storage, four 18TB KIOXIA CD6-R NVMe SSDs were used, providing 61.44TB of usable ZFS storage (though the final usable capacity after Raid Z2 parity was calculated to be 186.05 TiB in the software interface). Cooling was a major concern due to the high-TDP CPU and enclosed environment; a Noctua NH-U9S cooler was used for the CPU, and three Noctua case fans were installed on the rear panel of the case. Power was supplied by a compact HDPLEX 500W GaN ATX Power Supply, secured with custom mounts and Loctite 242 threadlocker on screws to prevent vibration-related failure. The final assembly involved carefully mounting all components inside the case, ensuring proper airflow and securing everything so it could withstand transportation, which was jokingly tested by showing the case being dropped or handled roughly.