4×2.5G LAN + 4×NVMe mini PC setup for NAS + router – anyone running similar?

I’ve been testing a compact setup combining NAS + routing on a single system.

Main idea was to simplify my setup and avoid running separate devices.

Hardware layout:

• 4 × 2.5G LAN (Intel I226-V)
• 4 × M.2 NVMe
• low-power x86 CPU

Network setup:

• WAN → internet
• LAN → client devices
• dedicated interface for storage traffic

Separating NAS traffic from LAN actually made a noticeable difference during large transfers.

Storage layout:

• 1 NVMe for OS
• 2 NVMe for data
• 1 NVMe as cache

This reduced I/O contention compared to a single pool setup.

Running:

• pfSense (routing)
• NAS services
• Docker containers

on the same system. using a Qotom Q31100G4-type system

Curious if anyone here is doing something similar:

• multi-LAN NAS setups
• NVMe-based storage instead of SATA

How are you handling network separation?