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HP Z440 Case Swap Guide + Home NAS Build Guide!

💻How are you meant to store your digital data? Including: Phone Data, 1080p Gaming, Dash Cam, Home Security etc.

🎯 A dedicated Network Attached Storage device (NAS) can work great, but they come at a price and are often under equipped. What if you could create your own Home File Server using an affordable Workstation as the base machine?

🔧 This is my journey for crafting a powerful solution to data storage which I hope will inspire others to build their own NAS system.

🚀 October 2022 – The realisation
HP Z420 Workstation as a powerful file server / NAS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCQYljpl5Ec
I quickly came to realise that the Z420 is going to be limiting for future storage expansion for my NAS.
This was where the refreshed and newer generation - HP Z440 Workstation was ideal to continue the journey.

Released ~6 years ago, the Z440 is loaded with Xeon CPU options from the Haswell and Broadwell generations along with 2133MHz or 2400MHz DDR4 ECC RAM options. In the workstation's natural habitat there was enough storage space for 2x 3.5" HDDs as well as 2x 5.25" Expansion Bays - as well as 6 PCIe slots. For this system to be future proof – it would need to find a new home that could accommodate more HDDs. Where best are we to look for inspirational builds? Linus Tech Tips of-course – and I got my inspiration from their 320TB Fractal Define 7XL Build!
The Z440 has been case transplanted by many - but no one took the time to publish the process with a guide - and the most critical part, the front I/O pinout was not readily available online. This is where I saw an opportunity for an ambitious project, to case swap the Z440 into the Fractal Define 7XL to create a powerful NAS system, while documenting the process so that you can reproduce my efforts in your own system.

💥 February 2023 – Ideal Solution
Entering a new phase - unboxing of the Fractal Define XL R2 (February 2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bav3SKu7HhU - but the case arrived damaged, necessitating the upscale to the more modern Fractal Define 7XL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo2sl-p5KVk

The 7-XL offers a spacious interior, noise-dampening materials, excellent thermal performance, and a range of other features that make it a solid option for an extreme NAS build.
April 2023 – Transplant born!
The Z440 case transplant made progress – with the motherboard quickly coming to life in the Fractal Define 7XL case. https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxQhEIL_TuIsZkX6e-ENe_VbvJoZk0vZqE

🎯 May 2023 – Front I/O Pinout derived!
The multimeter sprang into action – why? – well because no one had published the front I/O pinout for the Z440! The Z440 system came to life with nothing but dust filling the air from the well recycled Seasonic 700W PSU. Shortly after – COVID struck, cough cough – what was in that dust?

🛠 August 2023 – Uphill is the only way.
Lacking inspiration – competing objectives – life getting busy – all while the Z440 was gathering dust in it’s new home – waiting for the hardware it needed. On a rainy day, the Z420 was torn down – and the Z440 was built up. I also made an effort to release the Front I/O pinout to help others get their builds done! https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxYR7uUFh3PiZ-y1OKFxiSiKsuuMH_2-SQ

🛠 Amazon Affiliate Links:
(Please note these will direct you to Amazon.com and I will receive a small commission if a purchase is made through these links. Thank you!)

🛠 Z440 Mobo: https://amzn.to/3G64kbp
🛠 Fractal Define 7XL: https://amzn.to/3G8RnOa
Intel Xeon E5-2697A V4 (16C/32T, 3.6GHz Boost)
🛠 64GB of 2400MHz DDR4 ECC Regulated RAM: https://amzn.to/3uhCWoa
MSI GTX 970 GPU
🛠 Intel H240 HBA with 2x SFF-8087 ports (8x HDDs with the 12Gbps SFF-8087 connections): https://amzn.to/47Gx6va
🛠 Intel X540-T2 10GbE NIC: https://amzn.to/47jKINb
Unify Flex-XG 4 port 10GbE switch.
🛠 Elgato 4K60 Pro for video capture: https://amzn.to/3MPCa8q
HP Z Turbo Drive Quad Pro (4x 1TB)
Z440 PSU Adapter: https://amzn.to/46W8a1M
60TB of HDD storage
2TB of SSD storage
~550MB of SSD storage (TrueNAS Core / Windows 10)
Olmaster 5.25” HDD bays

Index:
0:00 Extended Intro
2:35 Video Sections
3:16 Stage 1A: Z440 Overview
5:10 Stage 1B: Z440 Front I/O
7:01 Stage 2: Mobo Fitment
10:16 Stage 3: PSU (+ Z420 Case Swap tear-down)
11:34 Stage 4: Wiring
13:13 Stage 5: Z440 PCIe Expansion (+ Z420 NAS tear-down)
17:30 Stage 6: Boot Test
18:27 Stage 7: HDD Fitment
22:45 Stage 8: 5.25" Bay Fitment
23:25 Stage 9: Win 10 and TrueNAS + Benching
25:47 Stage 10: Bonus (CPU Guide, RAM, SFF NAS, 7XL Acoustics)

💻 HSPEC DataBase (for parts, upgrades, video summaries and more):
https://www.reddit.com/r/HSpecWorkstations/

🎯 Support: https://buymeacoffee.com/RACERRRZ

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