I think you mean LGA (Land Grid Array), meaning the pins are on the motherboard. Ball Grid Array (BGA) is used for embedded, non-removable CPUs.

The only thing I’ll add is that RAID is redundancy. Its purpose is to prevent downtime, not data loss.

If you aren’t concerned with downtime, RAID is the wrong solution.

The absolute easiest and simplest would be to modify your grub config to have a longer timer on the boot menu, effectively delaying them until the NAS is up.

That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best option- there are ways to make the actual boot process wait for mounts, or to stagger the WOL signals, or the solutions others have mentioned. But changing grub is quick and easy.

You’re overlooking a very common reason that people setup a homelab - practice for their careers. Many colleges offer a more legitimate setup for the same purpose, and a similar design. But if you’re choosing to learn AD from a free/cheap book instead of a multi-thousand dollar course, you still need a lab to absorb the information and really understand it.

Granted, AD is of limited value to learn these days, but it’s still a backbone for countless other tools that are highly relevant.

Careful with this- since MLC just means multi, I’ve seen drives marketed as “3-bit MLC”, i.e. TLC

That was my line of thinking. However, my subdomain.chickenkiller.com frequently (but but universally) resolves to the IP of regular chickenkiller.com. I don’t believe it’s an issue with my config, since my previous domains (not run by josh) worked just fine until they folded.

Each domain is run independently. Unfortunately, I have the worst luck in choosing them. The past 3 I’ve used have folded, and the one I’m on now (by an established operator) isn’t reliable. Most endpoints fail to resolve the subdomain DNS, instead returning the parent IP.

You know how you need to test any backup solution? This is the same. Have anyone that you’re expecting to do this run through the process entirely from your documentation. If they can’t, adjust the doc/process until they can. Then include that with your will, or with other documents people will be looking through in the event of your death.

The risk was poorly-made power adapters, where 2 pins could short/arc. These cables were almost exclusively injection molded and sold through cut-rate outlets like Ali Express (and Amazon resellers of them).

Technically crimped cables are not immune, but they are rarely seen with such cost cutting. Quality molded cables are also fine, but that is very difficult to recognize or verify after purchase.

The manual should tell you the power limits, and you can cross-reference the power usage of the drives. It’s probably ok for normal consumer drives, but high-draw or enterprise drives could be an issue. You could also (probably) just get power from the PSU.

Just FYI for the future, you can find SATA power extender cables for just a few bucks. Just be careful to get crimped instead of injection molded

If you install fresh using a USB created by the Media Creation Tool, there is one detail you’ll need to know. The install/OOBE setup will still prompt you to enter a key and activate. Just tell it to skip for now/activate later. Once it finishes and goes online, it will activate automatically.

I had a terrible experience with them. They are selling drives that previously failed in the data center, but currently pass manufacturer tests. They also wipe SMART. Or at least, they usually do. That’s how I know the first part. I had 4/3 drives fail on me- all of the original set within my burn-in tests, and 1 replacement (before I returned the others for refund) a year later. The last one was clearly meant to be wiped, but had the error still in the SMART logs.

They did have good customer service at least, but the parts are unreliable garbage that should not be trusted.

The “designed for 24/7” thing is a myth. Yes, some server/enterprise parts have a lower failure rate, but it has nothing to do with 8 hours a day vs 24.

Also, my setup is almost entirely the cheapest consumer drives available, and I’ve never had any significant failure rates outside of the one bad supplier. If you are seeing anything like that, you should examine your setup. I suspect you either have cooling issues or (more likely) vibration that’s causing premature failures.