QNAP NAS to Linux

From wikiluntti

Introduction

Old System

QNAP NAS is TS-431P with Annapurna Labs Alpine AL212 Dual-core ARM Cortex A15 @1.7GHz, 1000MB memory. I have 2x953GB and 2x7.28TB with two RAID 1 enclosures.

  • AnnapurnaLabs Alpine AL-212, 2-core ARM Cortex-A15 @ 1.7 GHz
  • 1 GB DDR3 RAM, non-upgradable
  • 512 MB flash, specifically used for the system and dual-boot protection
  • 4 × SATA drive bays
  • 2 × Gigabit Ethernet
  • no internal M.2/SATA SSD system slot.

QNAP explicitly lists the 512 MB flash as “Dual boot OS protection.” So there isn't really a QNAP "system HDD" that you need to replace.

Power consumption

  • 11.65 W with disks in standby
  • 26.7 W typical operating consumption, with all four bays populated
  • 90 W external power adapter
  • 12 VDC fan.


Ideas for the new Processor and motherboard

Use the old laptops

  • ICY BOX IB-3640SU3 for 4-bay JBOD enclosure
  1. Photograph/label the four disks: sda, sdb, sdc, sdd as they are currently identified by QNAP.
  2. Connect the ICY BOX to the Lenovo.
  3. Verify that Linux sees all four disks and their partitions correctly.
  4. Do not format, initialize, or "repair" anything if Linux suggests it.
  5. Assemble the existing md1 and md2 RAID-1 arrays.
  6. Mount them read-only initially.
  7. Check that your photos and directory structure are intact.
  8. Only then start designing the permanent Linux NAS configuration.
  9. Install Immich and let it build its index/face recognition database.
Expensive version
Component Target
CPU Intel N305
Form factor Mini-ITX 17×17 cm
RAM 16 GB minimum, 32 GB preferred
SATA 6 ports
NVMe 2 slots
Network 2.5 GbE
GPU Intel integrated
OS Debian

A small Intel N100/N305-class machine with 8–16 GB RAM is a slow and not that capable for AI indexing.

  • Intel N100/N305
  • 8–16 GB RAM
  • 250–500 GB NVMe/SSD
  • 4+ SATA ports, or
  • one PCIe slot with a proper SATA HBA

Analyzing the old hdd situation

cat /proc/mdstat
Personalities : [linear] [raid0] [raid1] [raid10] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [multipath] 
md2 : active raid1 sda3[0] sdb3[1]
      966808384 blocks super 1.0 [2/2] [UU]
      
md1 : active raid1 sdc3[0] sdd3[1]
      7804071744 blocks super 1.0 [2/2] [UU]
      
md322 : active raid1 sdd5[3](S) sdc5[2](S) sdb5[1] sda5[0]
      6702656 blocks super 1.0 [2/2] [UU]
      bitmap: 0/1 pages [0KB], 65536KB chunk

md256 : active raid1 sdd2[3](S) sdc2[2](S) sdb2[1] sda2[0]
      530112 blocks super 1.0 [2/2] [UU]
      bitmap: 1/1 pages [4KB], 65536KB chunk

md13 : active raid1 sda4[34] sdd4[33] sdc4[32] sdb4[35]
      458880 blocks super 1.0 [32/4] [UUUU____________________________]
      bitmap: 1/1 pages [4KB], 65536KB chunk

md9 : active raid1 sda1[0] sdd1[33] sdc1[32] sdb1[1]
      530048 blocks super 1.0 [32/4] [UUUU____________________________]
      bitmap: 1/1 pages [4KB], 65536KB chunk

unused devices: <none>

df -hT
Filesystem           Type            Size      Used Available Use% Mounted on
none                 tmpfs         400.0M    209.3M    190.7M  52% /
devtmpfs             devtmpfs      490.0M      4.0K    490.0M   0% /dev
tmpfs                tmpfs          64.0M      1.5M     62.5M   2% /tmp
tmpfs                tmpfs         500.1M    176.0K    500.0M   0% /dev/shm
tmpfs                tmpfs          16.0M         0     16.0M   0% /share
tmpfs                tmpfs          16.0M         0     16.0M   0% /mnt/snapshot/export
/dev/md9             ext4          493.5M    143.5M    339.6M  30% /mnt/HDA_ROOT
cgroup_root          tmpfs         500.1M         0    500.1M   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/mapper/cachedev1
                     ext4            5.6T      1.3T      4.3T  23% /share/CACHEDEV1_DATA
/dev/md13            ext4          416.7M    299.2M    117.5M  72% /mnt/ext
tmpfs                tmpfs          32.0M     26.7M      5.3M  84% /samba_third_party
tmpfs                tmpfs           4.0K         0      4.0K   0% /tmp/default_dav_root
tmpfs                tmpfs          16.0M     32.0K     16.0M   0% /share/CACHEDEV1_DATA/.samba/lock/msg.lock
tmpfs                tmpfs          16.0M         0     16.0M   0% /mnt/ext/opt/samba/private/msg.sock
tmpfs                tmpfs          30.0M         0     30.0M   0% /tmp/wfm
overlay              overlay         5.6T      1.3T      4.3T  23% /share/CACHEDEV1_DATA/.qpkg/container-station/system-docker/overlay2/b29dcb302ed3bbe82ca37349eae81b4a3fbba90d917a9c950a8f720c2326546f/merged
tmpfs                tmpfs          54.0M     18.8M     35.2M  35% /mnt/ext/opt/FileStation5
/dev/loop0           ext3           54.0M     18.8M     35.2M  35% /mnt/ext/opt/FileStation5

lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,TYPE,FSTYPE,MOUNTPOINT

lsblk does not work in QNAP NAS. 

cat /proc/mdstat
Personalities : [linear] [raid0] [raid1] [raid10] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [multipath] 
md2 : active raid1 sda3[0] sdb3[1]
      966808384 blocks super 1.0 [2/2] [UU]
      
md1 : active raid1 sdc3[0] sdd3[1]
      7804071744 blocks super 1.0 [2/2] [UU]
      
md322 : active raid1 sdd5[3](S) sdc5[2](S) sdb5[1] sda5[0]
      6702656 blocks super 1.0 [2/2] [UU]
      bitmap: 0/1 pages [0KB], 65536KB chunk

md256 : active raid1 sdd2[3](S) sdc2[2](S) sdb2[1] sda2[0]
      530112 blocks super 1.0 [2/2] [UU]
      bitmap: 0/1 pages [0KB], 65536KB chunk

md13 : active raid1 sda4[34] sdd4[33] sdc4[32] sdb4[35]
      458880 blocks super 1.0 [32/4] [UUUU____________________________]
      bitmap: 1/1 pages [4KB], 65536KB chunk

md9 : active raid1 sda1[0] sdd1[33] sdc1[32] sdb1[1]
      530048 blocks super 1.0 [32/4] [UUUU____________________________]
      bitmap: 1/1 pages [4KB], 65536KB chunk

unused devices: <none>

 mdadm --detail --scan
ARRAY /dev/md9 metadata=1.0 name=9 UUID=d61cc9d5:bbb553d5:db500c2c:2501a0eb
ARRAY /dev/md13 metadata=1.0 name=13 UUID=b3b4340b:2ef60331:788b45b8:bfc182a2
ARRAY /dev/md256 metadata=1.0 spares=2 name=256 UUID=d3e3e3bf:4cf14df1:5f23c611:5da6b759
ARRAY /dev/md322 metadata=1.0 spares=2 name=322 UUID=e6ba2f67:2a22c24c:e6026a43:b280a258
ARRAY /dev/md1 metadata=1.0 name=1 UUID=0b22b3d8:e2dc8bb9:17a103e6:da47a16d
ARRAY /dev/md2 metadata=1.0 name=2 UUID=0daee8fd:6dbb9f8a:3ff09b1d:c0affc5f

df -hT
Filesystem           Type            Size      Used Available Use% Mounted on
none                 tmpfs         400.0M    209.1M    190.9M  52% /
devtmpfs             devtmpfs      490.0M      4.0K    490.0M   0% /dev
tmpfs                tmpfs          64.0M      1.4M     62.6M   2% /tmp
tmpfs                tmpfs         500.1M    176.0K    500.0M   0% /dev/shm
tmpfs                tmpfs          16.0M         0     16.0M   0% /share
tmpfs                tmpfs          16.0M         0     16.0M   0% /mnt/snapshot/export
/dev/md9             ext4          493.5M    146.7M    336.4M  30% /mnt/HDA_ROOT
cgroup_root          tmpfs         500.1M         0    500.1M   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/mapper/cachedev1
                     ext4            5.6T      1.3T      4.3T  23% /share/CACHEDEV1_DATA
/dev/md13            ext4          416.7M    299.2M    117.4M  72% /mnt/ext
tmpfs                tmpfs          32.0M     26.7M      5.3M  84% /samba_third_party
tmpfs                tmpfs           4.0K         0      4.0K   0% /tmp/default_dav_root
tmpfs                tmpfs          16.0M     32.0K     16.0M   0% /share/CACHEDEV1_DATA/.samba/lock/msg.lock
tmpfs                tmpfs          16.0M         0     16.0M   0% /mnt/ext/opt/samba/private/msg.sock
tmpfs                tmpfs          54.0M     18.8M     35.2M  35% /mnt/ext/opt/FileStation5
/dev/loop0           ext3           54.0M     18.8M     35.2M  35% /mnt/ext/opt/FileStation5
tmpfs                tmpfs          30.0M         0     30.0M   0% /tmp/wfm
overlay              overlay         5.6T      1.3T      4.3T  23% /share/CACHEDEV1_DATA/.qpkg/container-station/system-docker/overlay2/7e19683c7843f6c851f7fd6c9423a235e7ebf895e61ec0693b1da6c4b7a08365/merged



[~] # pvs
  PV         VG   Fmt  Attr PSize   PFree
  /dev/md1   vg1  lvm2 a--    7.27t    0 
  /dev/md2   vg2  lvm2 a--  922.02g    0 
[~] # vgs
  VG   #PV #LV #SN Attr   VSize   VFree
  vg1    1   3   0 wz--n-   7.27t    0 
  vg2    1   2   0 wz--n- 922.02g    0 
[~] # lvs
  LV    VG   Attr       LSize   Pool Origin Data%  Meta%  Move Log Cpy%Sync Convert
  lv1   vg1  Vwi-aot---   5.67t tp1         100.00                                 
  lv544 vg1  -wi-------  74.42g                                                    
  tp1   vg1  twi-aot---   7.13t             79.51  0.57                            
  lv545 vg2  -wi-------   9.22g                                                    
  tp2   vg2  twi-aot--- 847.23g             0.00   0.01


Migrating to Debian

LVM metadata is intact, but the actual tp1 → tp1_tierdata_2 chain requires QNAP's flashcache target, which Debian kernel does not provide. The QNAP itself, however, should know how to read it.

The data on NAS is at /share/CACHEDEV1_DATA/Public

Creating larger system

A proper SATA/SAS HBA can connect the Linux machine to additional drive shelves/enclosures.

With the current four slot machine

  • Replace the 7.28 TB pair with larger disks. Current 8 TB + 8 TB → RAID 1 → ~8 TB can be changed to eg 16 TB + 16 TB → RAID 1 → ~16 TB. Raid is done such that one disk at a time can be replaced (the RAID rebuild in between).
  • Turn the 8 TB RAID-1 into RAID 5. RAID 1 → RAID 5 by adding a disk

The Linux server

AI Image indexing

Use some old laptop as a dedicated remote ML worker. Immich supports configuring separate machine-learning servers. The AI system should never become the owner of your originals.

Immich

  • face recognition — identify and group people
  • semantic/smart search — e.g. search for concepts rather than just filenames
  • automatic photo/video indexing
  • mobile apps and automatic phone backup
  • albums and sharing
  • metadata/EXIF handling
  • timeline-based browsing
  • Docker deployment
  • local machine-learning models, so your photos don't have to be sent to a cloud service

[ttps://www.photoprism.app Photoprism]

  • facial recognition
  • image classification
  • labels
  • locations
  • metadata handling
  • RAW support
  • computer vision
  • optional AI-generated captions/labels



500 GB–1 TB NVMe SSD

  • Linux
  • Docker
  • Immich database
  • thumbnails
  • ML models
  • application data

Existing HDD RAID

  • Original photos
  • Videos
  • RAW files
  • Archives

Old Laptops

  • Intel i3-7020U — 2 cores / 4 threads, 2.3 GHz
  • 8 GB RAM
  • Intel HD Graphics 620
  • AVX2
  • Intel VT-x
  • likely Gigabit Ethernet
lscpu
Architecture:                x86_64
  CPU op-mode(s):            32-bit, 64-bit
  Address sizes:             39 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
  Byte Order:                Little Endian
CPU(s):                      4
  On-line CPU(s) list:       0-3
Vendor ID:                   GenuineIntel
  Model name:                Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-7020U CPU @ 2.30GHz
    CPU family:              6
    Model:                   142
    Thread(s) per core:      2
    Core(s) per socket:      2
    Socket(s):               1
    Stepping:                10
    CPU(s) scaling MHz:      35%
    CPU max MHz:             2300.0000
    CPU min MHz:             400.0000
    BogoMIPS:                4599.93
    Flags:                   fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflu
                             sh dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm const
                             ant_tsc art arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc cpuid a
                             perfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx16
                              xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsav
                             e avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm 3dnowprefetch cpuid_fault epb pti ssbd ibrs ibp
                             b stibp tpr_shadow flexpriority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase tsc_adjust sgx bmi1 
                             avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpcid mpx rdseed adx smap clflushopt intel_pt xsaveopt 
                             xsavec xgetbv1 xsaves dtherm arat pln pts hwp hwp_notify hwp_act_window hwp_e
                             pp vnmi md_clear flush_l1d arch_capabilities
Virtualization features:     
  Virtualization:            VT-x
Caches (sum of all):         
  L1d:                       64 KiB (2 instances)
  L1i:                       64 KiB (2 instances)
  L2:                        512 KiB (2 instances)
  L3:                        3 MiB (1 instance)
NUMA:                        
  NUMA node(s):              1
  NUMA node0 CPU(s):         0-3
Vulnerabilities:             
  Gather data sampling:      Vulnerable
  Ghostwrite:                Not affected
  Indirect target selection: Not affected
  Itlb multihit:             KVM: Mitigation: Split huge pages
  L1tf:                      Mitigation; PTE Inversion; VMX conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable
  Mds:                       Mitigation; Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Meltdown:                  Mitigation; PTI
  Mmio stale data:           Mitigation; Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Old microcode:             Not affected
  Reg file data sampling:    Not affected
  Retbleed:                  Mitigation; IBRS
  Spec rstack overflow:      Not affected
  Spec store bypass:         Mitigation; Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
  Spectre v1:                Mitigation; usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Spectre v2:                Mitigation; IBRS; IBPB conditional; STIBP conditional; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIB
                             RS Not affected; BHI Not affected
  Srbds:                     Mitigation; Microcode
  Tsa:                       Not affected
  Tsx async abort:           Not affected
  Vmscape:                   Mitigation; IBPB before exit to userspace

free -h
               total        used        free      shared  buff/cache   available
Mem:           7.1Gi       1.8Gi       1.6Gi       403Mi       4.3Gi       5.3Gi
Swap:          4.0Gi       364Ki       4.0Gi

lspci | grep -Ei 'vga|3d|display'
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation HD Graphics 620 (rev 07)

Immich

External Libraries

Docker. Find the Docker path 

docker compose ls

Edit docker-compose.yml to add new folders: 

immich-server:
  ...
  volumes:
    - ${UPLOAD_LOCATION}:/data
    - /media/nap/HDD8TB/Photos:/mnt/external/HDD8TB:ro

docker compose up -d

docker exec -it immich_server ls -la /mnt/external/HDD8TB

Static IP

Also set the hostname to clients /etc/hosts. No need to Avahi. 

192.168.8.194 nap nap.local

Syncthing-fork

Use Syncthing for transferring images from the Android phone directly to the Immich server's hdd. 

ssh -N -L 8384:127.0.0.1:8384 nap@nap

Mounting the hdds

NFS file server. Check exports 

sudo exportfs -v

(and if needed, reload those 

sudo exportfs -ra

and check it again. Also /etc/exports 

/media/nap/HDD1    192.168.8.0/24(rw,sync,no_subtree_check)
/media/nap/HDD2    192.168.8.0/24(rw,sync,no_subtree_check)
/media/nap/HDD8TB  192.168.8.0/24(rw,sync,no_subtree_check)

and client's /etc/fstab 

nap.local:/media/nap/HDD1    /mnt/icebox/HDD1    nfs4  _netdev,nofail  0  0
nap.local:/media/nap/HDD2    /mnt/icebox/HDD2    nfs4  _netdev,nofail  0  0
nap.local:/media/nap/HDD8TB  /mnt/icebox/HDD8TB  nfs4  _netdev,nofail  0  0

lsblk -o NAME,PATH,SIZE,FSTYPE,LABEL,UUID,MOUNTPOINTS,MODEL,SERIAL

Check the /etc/fstab.

Desktop (xfce) automount is giving problems. Settings Manager → Removable Drives and Media. Under Storage, disable:

  • Mount removable drives when hot-plugged
  • Mount removable media when inserted

You can also run: 

xfconf-query -c thunar-volman -p /automount-drives/enabled -s false
xfconf-query -c thunar-volman -p /automount-media/enabled -s false
xfconf-query -c thunar-volman -p /autobrowse/enabled -s false
xfconf-query -c thunar-volman -p /autoopen/enabled -s false

Client mount points: 

findmnt -t nfs,nfs4


References

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