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VP6600 Component Compatibility (RAM, SSD, etc)
Overview
The VP6600 Series utilizes certain standards of hardware components that may not be found in other Vault or Vault Pro products, so it is important to understand what kinds of components need to be used with the VP6600. For a general overview of the VP6600, check out this link.
The VP6600 will, at the very least, require RAM (memory) and M.2 NVMe or SATA SSD (storage) to function as expected.
Memory
** Important note regarding coreboot and RAM: If you flash your VP6600's firmware to coreboot, it may take up to two minutes for RAM to initialize on the first boot. Please be patient after flashing to coreboot because it may seem like the unit is not actually booting. Please wait at least 2 minutes for the unit to boot. This behavior may also occur when swapping RAM for a different module, or if you are installing your own RAM after purchasing a VP6600 from us with no RAM preinstalled. All subsequent boots after the first one will only take a matter of seconds. **
The VP6600 Series is currently the only product lineup Protectli offers that utilizes the DDR5 SO-DIMM standard. You cannot use older standards of RAM that are found in our other products. RAM can be preinstalled in your VP6600 if purchased directly from us, and we can guarantee that RAM purchased from us will work with the unit. Please check out our component store page for DDR5 RAM available from us.
If you end up sourcing your own RAM for this product, we would absolutely love to hear what brand/model of RAM you have successfully utilized. Feel free to email our support team so we can update this page to help out future customers. We can even give you a shoutout on this page if you would like!
Physical Socket
There are two physical sockets for RAM. It is a 262 pin SO-DIMM for DDR5 memory. There is a notch in the memory module that matches the socket so that only the proper type of memory can be physically inserted into the socket.
Capacity, Increments
SO-DIMM DDR5 comes in increments of 8GB, 16GB, 24GB, 32GB, and 48GB. The maximum amount of RAM that is supported with the VP6600 is 96GB.
Speed
The speed of memory access is determined by the CPU and BIOS settings. It is recommended to use RAM that is rated for at least 4800MHz (the highest speed allowed by the CPU). However, all VP6600 units have been set to use a maximum of 4200MHz in the BIOS. This has been set as the default after being determined to be the most stable and efficient speed for the unit. The setting can be changed by the user in the BIOS to optimize performance for specific DRAM if there are no issues.
RAM Compatibility
DDR5 SO-DIMM that meets the requirements for this product lineup can be found on our components section of the Protectli store. Make sure that you select DDR5 RAM and not another standard if you are purchasing directly from us.
We have successfully tested brands such as Crucial and Kingston. We have not done extensive testing with a wide range of modules at this point, but we plan on adding a list of other compatible models on this page.
RAM Brands/Models That Have Failed Our Tests
The following RAM models have failed our tests and we recommend NOT using these with the VP6600 series. These modules either failed memtest or caused crashing after a period of time.
Mushkin Redline – MRA5S480FGGD48GX2 – PC5-4800 40-39-39 – 48GB Module
Crucial – CT48G56C46S5.M16B1 – PC5-5600 46-45-45 – 48GB Module
Storage
M.2 NVMe SSD
The VP6600 contains a slot on the motherboard that is compatible with M.2 2280 NVMe drives. It can use up to PCIe 3.0 (8 GT/s) speeds. There is very little likelihood of incompatibility with different brands of NVMe drives as long as the form factor is correct. We have used brands such as Kingston and Samsung. You can purchase NVMe drives directly from our components store page. The standard storage capacities of 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, etc are compatible.
SATA SSD
The VP6600 supports up to two 2.5" SATA SSDs. There are two sets of SATA data/power connectors on the board, and a mount that supports two 2.5" SATA SSDs inside of the chassis. These can be used in lieu of an NVMe SSD or in conjunction with an NVMe SSD to maximize storage capacity. The standard SATA storage capacities are supported.
SFP/SFP+ Modules
SFP stands for Small Form-Factor Pluggable. The VP6600 contains two SFP+ cages, which support a wide range of SFP modules. These are used for such things as highspeed 10GbE RJ45 copper inputs or singlemode/multimode fiber optic inputs. You can insert a SFP+ module that supports your needs, leading to additional customizability to perfect your setup. The SFP+ cages conform to the Multi Source Agreement (MSA), so any SFP+ module that conforms to this should realistically be compatible.
Protectli offers a few different kinds of compatible SFP+ modules available at the following links:
Wireless (WiFi Cards)
The VP6600 series support M.2 2230 based WiFi modules. However, be sure to verify driver support for the specific WiFi module with the specific OS such as FreeBSD, pfSense® CE, or Windows, etc. Protectli offers an M.2 802.11ac WiFi module that is available here (not compatible with FreeBSD/OPNsense/pfSense®).