Raspberry Pi project spawns a portable storage device, removing the need for a heavy laptop
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Trying to make traveling easier for photographers, videographers, and the like, one user on Hackster has made a new Raspberry Pi project to reduce the need for carrying all that equipment with you. Anguraja Renganathan has created the NanoVault to act as a pocket-friendly, compact, and high-speed backup storage device.
Acting as a portable NAS, the Raspberry Pi 5 project aims to reduce the need for carrying a whole laptop that significantly adds to your carry weight. Instead, you can create this project that will provide all you need from a small enclosure.
As Anguraja writes, they were inspired by their brother packing for another photography travel trip. Using the mobile laptop as a backup to store the images on another device and in the cloud. To help their brother, the NanoVault project was born to simplify and ease things.
NanoVault requirements and features
To create the NanoVault yourself, it takes some bits of kit and skills to get it all done, including having to order your own PCB for the NVMe interface and controls. So with an intermediate difficulty and with some budget required, it’s not the solution for everyone, as you’ll find in the requirements below.
| Hardware | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Raspberry Pi Compute 5 Core Component of the Project | 1 |
| GL3224USB 3.1 Card Reader IC to Interface with SD Cards | 1 |
| SPI Flash memory – For Storing Firmware For GL3224 Card Reader IC | 1 |
| Texas Instruments ESD_DIODE – Protection ESD Diodes for HDMI, USB Type C, and USB b Micro | 7 |
| Buffer, 74VHC1G07 | 2 |
| Power Switch | 1 |
| Texas Instruments Buck Converter – 12V to 5V Buck Converter for Raspberry Pi CM5 Supply 12V to 3.3V Buck Converter for m.2 NVMe Memory Supply | 2 |
| Load Switch | 1 |
| onsemi NCP110 | 1 |
| 25MHz Clock oscillator for the Card Reader IC Reference Clock | 1 |
| 32.768KHz Oscillator NVME Reference Clock | 1 |
| Slide Switch For Controlling Power to Raspberry Pi – ON/OFF Switch | 1 |
| Push Button Switch – For Shutting down Raspberry Pi CM5 | 1 |
| FAN Connector Connecting Fan for Cooling Purposes | 1 |
| HDMI Connector – HDMI Connector for Display | 1 |
| USB_C Receptacle – Connecting to USB Type C SSD, Keyboard, Mouse Connection | 1 |
| USB_B MicroUSB B For Debugging | 1 |
| TE Connectivity M.2 M KEY NVMe Connector – m.2 m KEY SSD 2230 Interfacing | 1 |
| 15 PIN DSI ConnecDSI Display Interfacing (Waveshare 2.8 inch With Touch Screen) | 1 |
| 12V DC JACK – Input Power Supply 12V | 1 |
| SD CARD ConnectorSDXC / SDHC Card Interfacing | 1 |
| Resistor | 32 |
| Capacitors | 45 |
| 10uH Inductor+5V Buck Converter Inductor | 1 |
| 8.2uH Induct+3.3V_nvme Buck Converter Inductor | 1 |
| 2.8 inch DSI Display – Displaying Status and Touch Screen interface | 1 |
| SSD M.2 M KEY 2230 Gen 3 | 1 |
| Machine Screw, M2.5 | 4 |
| 3D Printed Top and Bottom case | 1 |
Software & online services
- Raspberry Pi Raspbian – Raspberry Pi CM5 Operating System
- CustomTkinter Python – Python Programming for GUI
Hand tools and machinery
- 3D Printer (generic)
- Soldering iron (generic)
- Digilent Mastech MS8217 Autorange Digital Multimeter
NanoVault Raspberry Pi and screen, Source Anguraja Renganathan, Hackster IO
NanoVault file backup, Source Anguraja Renganathan, Hackster IO
There are quite a few steps to get through to assemble the portable NAS. But once you have it all set up, the NanoVault allows you to transfer and back up data without the need for a laptop. Instead, you can use an NVMe SSD, an external SSD, and cloud storage for high-speed transfers, whichever way you want.
With an internal battery and onboard WiFi, it removes the need for a laptop or PC to do the same job. Instead, you can do it all on the go with something of similar size to a phone. All quite likely to still come in cheaper and more efficiently, no matter which method you choose to use, resulting in an amazing-looking device.
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