Hatchet80

I really appreciate your guidance. I will install TrueNAS since I will be using multiple drives. Is there a problem with adding multiple drives at a later date once the initial storage isn't enough? I didn't know that devices could have issues even though Plex is installed. I will need to do a LOT more research!

This thread is to help with OS decision, I'm hoping to get drawbacks to the OSes. I can find the benefits easily enough. People are happy enough to list benefits, but no one seems to talk about the drawbacks of the OSes they like. I appreciate the cache advice, I was planning on using the SSDs from the gaming rig. I'll be glad to put them to use in my new gaming rig. Right now, the media is still on the Blu-rays and DVDs. After looking into it, if I want 4k content, MP4 or MKV using H265 and MPEG4 codecs. For lower resolutions I can use H264.

The cache was supposed to help with writing to the disks as far as I know. I'm slowly upgrading my network to be 2.5 Gbe minimum, but that part is requiring more investment than initially anticipated, so might skip to 5 Gbe or higher. As far as transcoding, H264 was suggested so it would work with more devices, but H265 is what I'm eyeing since I'm told it's better for 4k. Truth be told, I have don't have much knowledge about that aspect, and planned to do the research after the NAS is built and configured. The ideal scenario is that we will be able to stream to both 4k TVs simultaneously without issues. That is a major part of my final goal. Hopefully I was able to give the information needed to help me.

So we've established that my old graphics card won't work with transcoding. No input on resolving the OS question nor whether or not I should try to grab a more recent old graphics card, probably gtx 900 series if I have to. I'm particularly interested in how much of a pain it is to just add drives. I know with some OS offerings, it is easier to replace drives with bigger ones, than just to add drives.

I'm willing to invest in an older GPU and Plex Pass if I need to since I'm not sure if my processor will be able to keep up with max use case. I just don't know since I have 0 experience yet. From what I understand, said lappy is at a max of 1080p, but it's feedback from someone who knows less about computers than I do.

Are you seeing any lights on the Mobo? If not, check power switch on power supply, and the power cable running from the wall or strip to power supply and make sure both ends are plugged in securely..

Oh, I'm sorry! My clarification wasn't good enough. 2 concurrent 4k streams usual use case. When it maxes out at 4 or 5, it will be 2 at 4k, the others will be mobile devices (phones, tablets, a laptop would have the highest resolution and will not be at 4k, but to my knowledge only one laptop on top of the 2 streams at 4k at max usage)

Ok, planning on a usual use case of 2 concurrent 4k video streams, maxing out at 4 or 5 concurrent streams. Hopefully that info helps with guidance on whether or not I should invest in an old GPU to help the processor with transcoding.

I have a parts list for a DIY NAS ,and I still haven't decided on an OS yet. The uses have changed since my last NAS post. The NAS will be a media server using Plex, editing and storing photos, security camera recording is no longer a requirement (we got a stand alone solution for surveillance), backup scheduling, we plan on letting visitors peruse photos and do their own photo editing on the server so permission granularity is a must, and will be on 24/7. Here's the hardware I will be using which is from an old gaming PC: CPU: Intel Core I7 3930K Mobo: Rampage IV Formula PSU: Cooler Master Silent Pro Hybrid RS-850-SPHA-D3 850W Video card: Geforce GTX 560 Ti? (To help with transcoding...I hope but may be too old? Would definitely like feedback on this!) 1 SSD for metadata for making perusing media on Plex responsive. 32 GB of non ECC ram (haven't researched if Mobo can take ECC memory yet) At least 2 SSDs for cache drives in raid 1 to ensure that data is written on spinning rust without data degradation (to help since there's no ECC memory, I know it won't replace ECC memory, but to my understanding will help mitigate damage to data). Planning on a minimum of 15 TB of Iron Wolf (maybe Pro?) of spinning rust due to size of media library. I chose Iron Wolf to avoid the WD SMR debacle. I want to be able to easily add drives when needs change. I would prefer to use ZFS, since BTRFS is still in its infancy (or so a lot of people claim). I do know that some OSs have plugins that can use that non-natively. I still haven't been able to make a choice because I only see positives about specific OSs by people who love their OS, but don't discuss drawbacks. Nothing is clear and concise without bias. I would love to know the drawbacks for each OS so I know beforehand what kind of struggles I may be facing. Currently the front runners seem to be TrueNAS, UnRaid, Open Media Vault, and Rockstar.

Ok, so making sure I understand correctly. Do upgrade now in old puter, finish new build, do clean install and will still be able to use old Windows 7 Pro key on fresh install?

I am currently using Windows 7 Pro on a machine that rarely get internet access. I'm currently building a replacement that will have a Ryzen 9 5900X. To my knowledge, I'll need to upgrade to Windows 10 for better core scheduling for my processor. Should I do the upgrade before or after the new build is completed? As of about a couple months ago I could still do the free upgrade to Windows 10 for free, and want the transition to be as painless as possible (excluding that it's Windows 10 and moving to that OS will be painful anyway).

I appreciate all the feedback in this topic! You all are fantastic for providing the information requested, and I will mull over the documented pros and cons with your feedback to try and make the right decision for my household.

Hi, I've been researching for the last few days about building a NAS. My primary questions are as follows; I am going to build it based on uses, but can't find an OS for my uses and needs, and can someone help me figure out which OS I should use? The other question is I would either love a case that tells me if a drive is going bad or if nothing exists....can I configure it to text/email/or audibly screams at me if a drive goes bad? Other info that is needed, I'm not afraid of research, but can get overwhelmed with conflicting info. I am somewhere between novice to amateur Linux user. Uses for NAS are media streaming of DVDs and Blu-ray, picture storage, backup of important files (preferably done with a scheduler), and we are going to have a surveillance system with 3-5 cameras. HDDs will be added in clumps as expendable capital becomes available.