Home-lab hardware procurement — open questions

project: hinata-infrastructurestatus: scopingowner: michael + jimmy-neutroncreated: 2026-05-26 Captured 2026-05-26 evening as Michael was working through the cabling + sourcing decisions for the Z2 / Pi / external HDD / future NAS topology. Each question below is a real gap — collated here so the answers land in one doc rather than fragmenting across telegrams.

End-state cabling diagram (canonical)

Every device powers locally, joins the LAN over Cat 6 Ethernet, and reaches the outside world via Cloudflare tunnels. Tailscale is the private overlay for SSH + NFS/SMB between Mac + Pi + Z2 + NAS + iPhone — never exposed to the public internet.

Topology summary:

• Power layer: Z2 (19V/4.74A barrel-jack PSU) + Pi (5.1V micro-USB or USB-C depending on model) + 3.5" Dock (12V wall PSU) + Future NAS (integrated PSU)

• LAN layer: Mac, Pi, Z2, NAS all connect via Cat 6 to existing switch/router

• Storage: 3.5" HDD → SABRENT EC-DFLT dock → USB-C/USB-A 3.0 data → Z2

• WAN: Only studio.michael-engineer.dev (Pages) and api.michael-engineer.dev (cloudflared tunnel) are public. Everything else Tailscale-only.

• iPhone: reaches Z2, Pi, Mac via Tailscale magic DNS

Cable shopping list (concrete)

ItemSpecQtySourceNotes

Cat 6 patch cable1m / 2m / 5m mix4-5Lindy / StarTech / CableMattersNo need to chase a premium brand for sub-10m runs 3.5" HDD dockSABRENT EC-DFLT (or equivalent with bundled 12V PSU + USB-C/USB-A 3.0 out)1Amazon / ScanMUST have its own PSU; do NOT buy a USB-C-to-SATA cable for 3.5" drives Pi power PSU5.1V/2.5A micro-USB (Pi 3-class) OR 5.1V/3A USB-C (Pi 4+)1Official RPiConfirm Pi model via cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep Model before ordering Z2 power PSU19V/4.74A barrel jack (HP)—bundled with Z2no purchase needed 10TB+ 3.5" HDDenterprise-grade refurb (WD Gold / Seagate Exos / HGST)1researcher pipeline #840057flag <£150, enhanced <£100

Cable shopping anti-list (what NOT to buy)

• USB-C to SATA cable advertised for 2.5" drives — won't power a 3.5" drive

• Premium-brand Ethernet cables for runs under 10m — wasted money

• Generic "USB-C to USB-C" cable for Pi 3 power — wrong connector

• Direct Z2↔Pi crossover cable — the switch handles routing

Cabling questions answered

#QuestionAnswer

Q1What cables to connect HDD to Z2 mini?Use an external dock with its own PSU. USB-C-to-USB-A 3.0 cable from dock to Z2's USB-A port for fastest hop. Q2Can SATA cable fit a 3.5" HDD externally?No — SATA data cable is internal-spec only; 3.5" drives need their own 12V + 5V power rail. Use a dock/enclosure with its own PSU. Q5GREEN SATA-to-USB-C adapter — would this work with 3.5" SATA drives?NO — the product says "for 2.5 Disk" — 2.5" drives only. 3.5" drives need separate 12V from a wall PSU. Use a SABRENT-style dock instead. Q6SABRENT EC-DFLT — how does it deal with power?Ships with its own 12V wall PSU (barrel jack into the dock); the dock supplies both 5V + 12V to the drive. USB-C / USB-A cable to host carries data only. Verdict: YES, suitable. Q9Dutevolns Ethernet 4.6m — best in class?Brand obscure. For 1Gb runs anything Cat 6 will saturate. Any quality Cat 6 patch (Lindy / StarTech / CableMatters) is fine. Verdict: no need to chase a premium brand for sub-10m home runs. Q10Is Pi 3 USB-C? Pi 3+?No — both Pi 3 and Pi 3 B+ use micro-USB power input. USB-C only arrived with the Pi 4. Confirm model via cat /proc/cpuinfo → "Model" line.

Next actions

* Confirm Pi model so Q10 closes.

* Order: 3.5" dock + Cat 6 patch cables × 3.

* HDD itself comes from the `hdd-sourcing-researcher.md` pipeline (#840057).

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