Rainmaker

I have several boards I can use, but I intend to use an mATX board for startes to make something compact. I got the external drive enclosure case up and wroking again so there isn't a pressing need for the NAS right now and all. So I'm thinking I'll do a scratch buildt case for it as the year progresses, though I'll need something to use for as a proof of concept first off so the sooner I get the card and can start playing around with it the better. As for how many ports it has, there are 4 ports on the board as of now. Though I have some ATX boards that might have more too, but I need to scrunge up a CPU for those first. So the cheapest option is to just get the HBA then and play around with it.

No I don't have faster than 1gbe, nor do I really need it. I have 300Mbit internet speeds, so if I choose to make my own "cloud" storage at one point that will limit me anyway. 1gbe is also plenty for me on the local network at the moment. If I will go for something faster then I will need more expensive ethernet cards too, so I might as well upgrade the platform at that point as well. As for the card, willl the IBM SAS9223-8I work? There is one of those for sale for about 20$ with the cables needed, so I think that is a decent deal as long as it will do the job.

The thing is, can something like the LSI RAID card still run JBOD? because at the moment I don't have 8 identical drives to run a proper raid setup, but I don't want to buy a card that can't scale with the build as I save up and get ready for something nice either. How about the Supermicro card? is that any worth it, or is there no real point to it? Both are priced about the same used so it matters little which one I bid on. As far as 1Gb speeds, is this for harddrive transfer speeds or the network card? Don't know if you are thinking of the integrated ethernet card as the limiting factor or the CPU speeds here. So I figure I would just get some clarity.

Cool, then I might just try and see what I can do with some old hardware I have stuffed away. It won't see heavy use in either case, but if I do end up needing more power it's not going to be that difficult to just swap the platform and put in something a bit more powerful. For cards though... Unless I want to buy something new there isn't a whole lot to choose from where I live. These are the most promising cards I found for sale atm: Supermicro AOC- SASLP-MV8 (https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/accessories/addon/AOC-SASLP-MV8.php) LSI MegaRaid SAS 8708EM2 (https://docs.broadcom.com/doc/12351895) No idea if those are even the right kinda thing to look for if I'm honest. In any case it's slim pickings here since using something like Ebay would mean I would need import fees and taxes added on top of it all, not to mention international shipping prices.

Hmm... I might as well put something together with some old hardware in that case. How would something like a Core2 work for a NAS? And how would I go about adding more SATA connections? Would a raid card be the best option or something else? And how about software, just run it in Windows? a generic Linux distro? or something that is tailor made for this? Like I said, this isn't something I have worked with at all before so I have no clue.

So... Early last year I bought what could only be discerned as a poor option for a real NAS. What I got was an 8 bay USB 3/eSATA enclosure, and I most definitely overpaid for it on the used market. Now as long as this thing would work properly I wouldn't really have had any issues with this soultion, but it disconnects when using it for any longer periods of time. Lately I don't really have to use it at all for it to crap out on me either. Anyway... Live and learn and all that stuff. So, sadly I don't really have the cash at hand to build anything substantial as a NAS at the moment. I may have some old parts around that I could put together into a computer, but ultimately I am looking to see if there are some compact options like a raspberry pi or a NUC or something that could either work as just local storage or an actual NAS. I know nearly nothing about this topic, but I am willing to tinker with stuff and learn new things. So if anyone has any suggestions for how I could put together a storage solution l the cheap then I would appreciate the input. Currently the case is populated with the following in a JBOD setup: - 3 Seagate Barracuda 4tb drives (holdovers from a previous setup) - 1 Toshiba N300 8tb drive. Eventually I would like to end up with a total setup where I am running raid 1 and have 8 Toshiba N300 8tb drives, or some other NAS drives. But that requires more than 1k $ in just drives so it will have to wait for later, but it would be nice if whatever I end up building now could scale up towards that. Anyway... All input is appreciated, even if it's just a redirection to the correct thread for this sorta thing.

I have had this thread open on a couple of forums so that I would get a lot of different input, and so far it seems as my choice in screens wasn't that far off to begin with. The screen I have been borrowing has started flickering (It may be why my friend stopped using it) so time is again a factor. Since I restricted my budget a lot (need to save as much money I can for school) I will be going for the Dell Ultrasharp u2414h. I thank you all for your help, and although I'm not buying a 1440p monitor as was recommended I am still very grateful that you all answered me on this matter.

It sure does, but at that price I would probably buy a 4k monitor. Besides I sat down and thought it all over and I think I will restrict my price range to that of the Dell 2412m and 2414h. As the extra cash left over would be better spent on better hardware like another ssd or a better gpu the next time I upgrade. My question then would be which Dell screen to choose and perhaps if there are better monitors in the same price range. They may cost slightly more, and that is why I suggested the 1440p monitors as that is at the very end of my budget. I'm liking the 2414h due to its absurdly thin frame. It may be interesting to perhaps get a couple more at a later date for eyefinity.

It sure does look like it could be a good monitor. The only problem is that I have had at least two RMA processes on my older moniors so I would really like to keep the waranty that we have here. I would rather spend a hundred bucks more and get 5 years of warranty versus no warranty from import (or is there some?).

Isn't that the same screen as the previously mentioned X-Star dp2710? At least that is what I could see from all the forums and so in the small time I took to research it.

hmm... I see now that I can get it cheaper, if I declare it before import then I don\t have to pay the toll. I need to pay the taxes though. It all ads up to a total of 372.38 USD with taxes. Compared with 520.92 USD which I would pay for the AOC screen here in Norway. Still I'm unsure about ordering from a foreign country, especially since I don't get the good warranty that we have here. Is the difference really that big from a 1080p 24" screen to a 27" 1440p screen?

Well, unfortunatelly I can't get that brand in my country and I'm not going to import either. Import is simply to expencive and I loose all the consumer rights given by law in my country (like law given warranty of 5 years), not to mention I would hvae to pay for cross atlantic shipping, customs and taxes. That comes to about 100$ in shipping, 40$ in customs fee and a total of 25% extra in import taxes. Simply not worth it from my point of view. I apreciate the thought though. The AOC seems to be my best bet for a 1440p monitor, but my main question is if a 1440p monitor would be worth the extra 33% in price over a good 1080p monitor. I know it's more or less up to me in the end, but some insight from someone with a 1440p monitor would be helpful.

That screen is unfortunatelly outside of my budget and besides at that price I may as well go for the AOC U2868PQU and that one has 4k resolution. Unfortuantelly the budget I have set at the screen is stretched far enough with the 1440p monitors that are mentioned. I will be buying them in my own country so I may get some problems with finding uncommon stuff, and the price may be a bit different. This is the prices for reference: Dell Ultrasharp U2412M costs betweeen 1790NOK and 2000NOK Phillips 272c4qpjkab costs exactly 3000NOK and the AOC q2770pqu costs 3200NOK The Dell Ultrasharp U2723HM costs 4000NOK, the Asus Asus PB278Q that was suggested costs 4000NOK. Then there is the AOC U2868PQU that also costs exactly 4000NOK This is kind of why I'm wondering if it's worth it to actually get a lower end 1440p monitor instead of a mid to high end 1080p/1200p monitor. I'm thankfull for all sugestions though and they do get me to think about what I actually need and want in a screen.

I can afford a 4k monitor but the point is if it's really worth the added price. And anoter question would be if something like a 24" 1080p or 1920x1200 monitor priced at the same level as the 1440p monitors would be better. Or is the resolution really that much of a difference? I did fine with my current screen, so picture quality seems to be my main focus. But then again I'm not doing any massive photo work so maybe it's better with a 1440p monitor?

So I accidentally knocked in to my screen earlier today and I damaged the panel itself. Such a component will very likely be more expencive to fix then to just get a new one, thus I'm looking for a replacement for my monitor. My old screen was an older Samsung model, its one of the business oriented models so it lacks the "bling" of the consumer models. This is a big plus in my book as I prefer a clean look in front of glossy paint. It is the Samsung Syncmaster 2443 with a resolution of 1920x1200 and it's 24" in size. For a new monitor I'm looking forsomething in the same size and resolution but preferably with an IPS panel. I'm also considering making the jump to a 2560x1440 screen as I find that would be my best bet if I want an improvement (that would be a 27" screen though). I have been looking at a lot screens but I will mention a few that I think fit my bill the best for now, if you know of any in the same price range or has any arguments agains them then that would be apreciated. I will most likely make the purchase as soon as possible, so speedy answers are apreciated. I would prefer a speedy answer as I have to use my compuer with an old CRT screen that I found and I really don't enjoy the old 1024x768 reslution. So far the Dell UltraSharp U2412M seems to be my best bet in a 24" screen, but I am unsertain if there are newer contestants on the market that can beat this one on price and quality. As for 2560x1440 monitors, it seems to be the AOC q2770Pqu and the PHILIPS 272C4QPJKAB that are reasonable priced. They do cost 1/3 more then the Dell screen so I'm unsure if it's worth it. As for 4k screens they would be double the price of the dell screen for the cheapest so they are way out of my budget. I would apreciate any input on this matter and if people advice me to look for other alternatives and wait for now, then I will do my best to postpone it when I look for better alternatives.