SilverStone SST-DC01B Network Data Center Review

Internal Thoughts On The SilverStone SST-DC01B

Following the removal of the four screws at the bottom of the SST-DC01B, the top of the unit simply lifts straight up. Inside the top cover is the array of holes, as mentioned earlier, that are drilled into the metal to provide passive cooling for the internal 2.5 hard drive. Take note that the inside top plate where the holes are located is made of SECC and not aluminum.

The SST-DC01B is powered by a dual-core ARM 11 processor with each core running at 750MHz. This processor is backed up with 256MB DDR2 SDRAM and supplemented with 256MB of NAND flash memory. The heavy lifting performed by the ARM 11 processor and internal memory is more than enough to power the Linux-based GUI that the SST-DC01B relies on for the set up, configuration and utilization of the various features that the NAS offers. The steel hard drive tray allows the installation of one 2.5 9.5mm or 12.5mm thick hard drive.

With the hard drive tray removed and the top of the PCB exposed, we can see that SilverStone uses a single 256MB module of NAND flash for onboard storage of the Linux-based operating system. The NAND flash module is made by Hynix, part number HY27UF082G2B. More information on this NAND can be read HERE. To the left of this is a Realtek RTL8211D Gigabit Ethernet transceiver chip, which provides network connectivity via the 10/100/1000 Gigabit RJ45 jack at the rear of the SST-DC01B.

Turning the PCB over, we get our first look at the brains behind the SST-DC01B. Based on PLX Technologys successful NAS7821 system on a chip (SoC), the ARM 11 processor is a dual-core processor that PLX Technology uses in many of their consumer storage devices. Each core runs at 750MHz, and contains specific hardware engines that cater to specific functions of the SST-DC01B, such as networking, storage and security. This high-level optimization allows the NAS to execute tasks much more efficiently and increases system performance.

Adjacent the processor are two modules of Hynix memory, part number HY5PS1G831C. The SST-DC01B incorporates 256MB of DDR2 SDRAM internal memory to augment the operating system of the NAS.