Radxa Penta SATA: Expansion board easily turns the Raspberry Pi 5 and the like into a DIY network storage device

Radxa is likely to be known among consumers for its range of products for hobbyists, offering developer boards and accessories, for example. Radxa's expansion boards are often compatible with the Raspberry Pi in terms of HATs.

The Radxa Penta SATA HAT is one such expansion board, which, according to the manufacturer, is compatible with the Raspberry Pi 5, Rock 5A, Rock 3C, Rock 4A and Rock 4B. Technically, it is a system that turns the PCIe ports into SATA ports. Five SATA ports are available into which 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch hard disks can be inserted. According to Radxa, up to 100 TB of storage can be utilized. An eSATA port is also on board. With an appropriate enclosure, an NAS can be installed with just the board, the Penta HAT and the single-board computer, while the SATA and power connections can also be connected via cable.

The power supply is of course still an issue. The hard disks can be powered via a typical ATX power supply unit, but 2.5-inch drives can apparently powered by a DC input. The Radxa Penta SATA HAT also comes with an expansion port, which can be used to connect a fan for PWM-regulated ventilation as well as an OLED screen. RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 5 are supported.

The board is available at Allnet China at a price of $49, plus shipping costs and import duties.