Search the Community

I recently got the idea in my head to think about getting a NAS to use as a plex server/general storage. The two options I'm considering are buying a prebuilt UGreen NAS or DIYing one myself. The DXP4800 Plus: UGreen is currently running a Kickstarter campaign with early bird prices; the DXP4800 Plus comes in at $454 (usd) and is the main reason I started considering getting a NAS in the first place. The general consensus from reviewers is that the hardware is super good at this price point but the software is still half baked. I plan to put TRUENAS on either device so the UGreen software is not a big concern; what I'm mainly interested in is comparing the hardware UGreen is offering vs what I can build myself with old PC parts. The specs are: X86 12th Generation Intel Pentium Gold 5 Cores 6 Threads (potentially this one) 8gb DDR5 (2 slots, 64gb max) 128gb ssd (this one i believe) 2 m.2 slots (2280 i think?) 4 3.5" sata hot swap drive bays 2 ethernet ports (2.5gb/10gb) 5 usb ports: 2x10gb/s, 1x5gb/s, 2 x usb2.0 SD card reader HDMI 4K Also the build quality of the UGreen NAS is quite nice; airflow is well thought out: single fan blowing over all the the HDDs/mainboard and all metal chassis passively cooling the m.2s. I also like the size of it since I plan to put this in my closet where I don't have a lot of space. DIY NAS Build: The parts list for my DIY: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/RyDmh3 I've only got the CPU and some crappy 8gb DDR4 2400 that I'll probably replace since ddr4 3200 16gb is quite cheap. The price is pretty similar here are some of my main concerns though: Stuck on DDR4 vs DDR5 2 free m.2 slots for storage vs only 1 free on the DIY airflow not as nice on the Jonsbo (no fan blowing over the mainboard) Only 2.5 gb lan (not sure if i'll even use 10gb tho) Power consumption? Noise (Jonsbo uses a 120x15mm fan which I've heard is quite loud and it runs on max speed bc it's only a 3pin?) If anyone has any thoughts I'd appreciate it since the Ugreen kickstart is only up till May

Dear Forum, Thank you for reading, hope this message finds you well. This is my first ever post here so apologies if I posted in wrong category. I know there are LTT videos about DIY NAS and DIY router but I was just wondering if I can make a DIY NAS and DIY router using the same windows computer and run it simultaneously? If yes then can I make it work with my old laptop Lenovo G570 running windows 10 with Intel core i5 2430M and 8GB RAM? And I was also wondering how many SATA drives can I connect as there are no m.2 slots. I swapped the CD drive. Thanks.

Hey there, I'am currently building a small DIY NAS for all my files. For Mainboard I wanna use a X570D4U from ASRockRack because its ECC support and IPMI features. At the beginning of the project I bought myself a Noctua NH-D15 SE-AM4, cause I have had very good experience with it on my previous PC build. After I watched some Reviews of the Mobo and looked a little bit deeper into the pics, I saw that the RAM Slots and the CPU Fan mounting brackets are, due to better cooling in server cases turned by 90° on this board. But if I would install my CPU Fan like so, it would ventilate from the bottom of the case to the top or vice versa. So finally, is there anybody out there, who encountered this problem before or know, if I can turn my Fan by 90° degree to align it with the airflow in my case ? Thank You !

Hello, Recently I bought HP Prodesk 400 G1 SFF, I'm trying to figure out motherboards power consumption cuz I wanna do few upgrades. Idk if I don't know how to use google or what, but I can't seem to find any info on the motherboard (model no.: 718414-001). Currently it has 2x4GB ddr3, i3-4160, 120gb SSD and 80+ bronze 240 W active PFC PSU, basically everything is stock. I'm planning to add 3x 1tb wd blacks because I have them just laying around, nvidia quadro p400 2gb gddr5. I ordered pcie controller for two more SATA ports. So motherboards power consumption is my main concern, because I calculated power consumption of this system excluding motherboard, stock PSU should be enough, but it may depend of MB consumption, how much it may differ from regular low power 24pin motherboard. Oh and btw, I'm going to use this pc for plex (doing up to 1x 4k stream and up to 2x 1080p transcoded streams simultaneously) and running one vallheim or mc server at a time. Thank you for all your answers!

I recently saw a video covering a version of this product: https://www.aliexpress.com/i/3256804336030867.html?gatewayAdapt=4itemAdapt While I'm not married to this brand, this does seem like pretty uniquely good for a non-mission critical media NAS and home server: relatively low wattage and heat output compared to a full desktop CPU with similar core and boost specs, more expandability than similarly priced boards from more well known brands with much more anemic CPUs, and fairly inexpensive for what should be basically a full working system sans RAM and cooling. However, there are the obvious issues of relying on components you buy on AliExpress; drivers (especially as someone who refuses to host servers on Windows)/weird BIOS issues/misrepresented or miscommunicated specs/almost certainly zero warranty seem like an issue. Has anyone used one of these for this sort of workcase? Does anyone have particular brands or items they can recommend?

Hi guys, Please take the time to read the whole post before responding. Ok so the basic idea is to get 2 servers (nas) to backup to each other while serving 2 different households. before I start please don't recommend a pre-biult nas Now one of these will be for my Aunty. The only thing she wants from her nas is really fast local and external access and maybe to run 1-2 not very intensive vm's. A ssd cache might be nice and Dayly backups on 1 pc. The files will be many small documents and photos. The other server will be mine. Now this one i want to do quite a bit more, I want fast file transfers, local and external access, 1-2 not very intensive vms, local streaming (plex) the ability to host game servers. Dayly backups on 1 pc and one mac and perhaps a ssd cache. Now the real thing is the backup of each nas to the other. I don't think ecc ram is required since raid will be used and each day the servers will back up to each other. But please help explain how/if I can do it Price: it's not how much I want to spend. It's how much I need to spend to get what I want OS: I'm looking at unraid or free nas I haven't really made a decision yet please help me decide Noise: it would be good if these servers would be quite, (so descriptive) With both servers I want a ups (they will both be running 24/7) and a lot of upgrade ability. Sorry for making you read this super long post but I'm hoping that you can recommend some parts and software. All thanks in advance, BDunkz

Hey all, I completed my first PC build which happens to be a NAS! I'm running FreeNAS-11.3-U4.1 and I'm finding a couple of issues with it: 1. It's not detecting my 10GBe Asus XG-C100C PCIe card. Is this because of a missing driver or plugin? The device does not have an optical drive. Perhaps I should put the card in a PCIe x16 slot rather than an x4 slot? 2. I can't create any pools for some reason. I watched the FreeNAS tutorial about creating pools, ensured I was following the naming conventions correctly, and still no luck. Screenshot coped below: I don't have any ZFS volumes because well... These are blank drives! This is also my first time installing something other than Windows or Ubuntu on a machine, so any help would be appreciated! System spec: CPU | AMD Ryzen 3200G MoBo | Gigabyte B450M DS3H RAM | Crucial Ballistix 2x 4GB Storage | Crucial BX500 (120GB) (OS drive) WD Caviar (250GB) WD Caviar (250GB) Networking | Asus XG-C100C

Need a powerful home diy NAS in RAID 5. Will this work? https://pcpartpicker.com/list/tbWV4q Thanks for the tips guys. Going to use FreeNAS and ZFS. Will upgrade the RAM and CPU.

Hi there again Linus Tech Tips forum type of persons. I recently made a post regarding new pc build, which got me thinking. A NAS would be nice for delivering files to SPMC (KODI branch) on my Nvidia Shield TV - I don’t have any special requirements as movie storage will be its primary function – maybe sharing some other files to the home network and ftp also. I have looked at the ASUSTOR AS3102T , but are currently leaning more towards the simpler (and much cheaper) WD My Cloud Mirror Gen 2. That being said, my new build will leave me with some spare parts, more specifically an i5-2500k, GeForce GTX 580, 8 GB Corsair Vengeance, AsRock P67 Extreme6 and PSU I don't remember at the moment. So the age old question: could this be used for a DIY NAS, or is it, regardless of parts, impossible to match the wattage/form factor/price of the prebuild systems, e.g. the My Cloud Mirror Xoxo Cherry Dude

I currently have a total of 6 drives connected to my router (3 are NAS and 3 are USB) currently (I had a total of 9 drives - 5 of them were NAS boxes - these were bought used and 4 USB that some I'm trying to recover data from). This is/was my NAS setup.I'm looking at buying parts (when I can and building my own). The parts I'm looking at are:1.) a Silverstone DS380 (http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=452) or Fractal design node 804 case (http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/node-s...)I like the Fractal design for the part that it has separate areas for the drives and a separate area for the motherboard, and the filter mesh on the fans, etc. But, I like the drive bays on the Silverstone case as they are in the front (hot swapable) and easier to replace a failed drive as drives are more likely to go than hardware (most of the time). I do know someone who is selling a Fractal 804 case for $40.2.) ASRock Rack C2750 (http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Mod...) as it has 12 onboard SATA ports and a gigabit ethernet port3.) Corsair CX600 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply (http://www.corsair.com/en-us/cx600-80-plusr-bronze-cert...) - The person selling the Fractal 804 case has a Silverstone Strider 500 Watt 80+ Gold Power Supply for sale as well, is 500 W enough power for up to 12 drives, RAM, motherboard, etc.?4.) Crucial 16 GB (8 GB x 2) DDR3/DDR3L-1600 MT/s PC3-12800 ECC UDIMM Server Memory (https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-DDR3L-1600MT-PC3-12800-C...)5.) WD Red drives (thinking 6 or 8 TB Red Drives).I'm thinking of using a minimum of a RAID 5 for the setup, so I can all but 1 drive space available as useable space and be able to lose one drive and be able to recover data/RAID (a.k.a.: rebuilding).I'm looking to mostly use it to clone all my (1,500 +) DVD's/Movie collection and clone my (1,500 +) CD collection as the main part, but would also like to have a central file storage location, as well as backups.Now my questions are:1.) Which of the cases listed would you pick, and why? Or is there a small form case that kind of has both of the listed likes on each case as one?2.) What type of NAS program/OS (FreeNAS, etc) would you use? And would this allow setup of a RAID 5 or a RAID 6 to allow for a replacement of a failed drive (allowing 11 drives of usable space in a 12 drive case for a RAID 5 or 10 drives of usable space in a 12 drive case for a RAID 6)?3.) Is there a way of adding drives to a RAID 5 or RAID 6 to increase the size without having to recreate the whole set by erasing all the data and then adding it? (I'm looking to stagger the implimintation of drives for a couple reasons, one of course is cost factor and two to keep from having all the drives the same age, which should be better, correct? So is it possible to have like 3 drives in the unit, with like 2 drives full of data, be able to add a 4 drive to add to the available space without losing the data or moving the data to another drive and building a new RAID array set, or would this not even be possible?)4.) Is it possible to save/clone/backup my current OS's and programs (and activated programs - i.e.: activated Microsoft Office 2010, etc.) to this new NAS device? (i.e.: Clone the OS and programs to be able to populate a new drive or drive set - I don't know where my Office 2010 key code is, so reactivation would be something I'd rather not deal with, but rather have a back up that I can put on a new drive (or drive set) and have it work just like the originals and all programs copied to a new drive in their activated status (same machine, just new drives) - currently my desktop running Windows XP 32 bit is set up in a RAID 0 with 2 drives in that array, but looking to change/merge to a single (possibly an SSD drive - of course turning off things like indexing, defrag, etc. and using it only to boot the OS). I like the desktop and mostly only use it for the entertainment creation programs (DVD creator and CD creator programs). But would like to have a backup of all the (activated) programs and OS where I can recreate a new drive(s) in case of a failure in those drives).5.) What setup - NAS program/OS should I use to ensure I can recover the data in case of a hardware failure? (i.e.: if the motherboard dies, one where I can replace the motherboard with one of the same kind or different kind and be able to get data back - or a set up where I can connect the drives to another computer to copy over the data)? I believe that FreeNAS uses ZFS format, is this something that Windows can read (I currently have a Windows XP 32 bit desktop and a Windows 7 notebook)?6.) Is there a setup where files I put on the NAS can be cloned/synched to a cloud drive automatically? And is there a service that'll allow a large storage back up (of up to 40 + TB's if I decide to upload all this to a cloud storage) without costing an arm and a leg? I know Pogoplug offers unlimited storage for $50 a year, but I don't know how (or if it's possible) to set up a folder to where all the contents are copied/synched to the Pogoplug account. The thought is to have 2 folders as the main tree where one wouldn't automatically copy/synch/upload to a cloud service and the other one would. Something like the One Drive app/program for Windows 7, anything that's added to that folder on my notebook or changed in it or deleted gets synched automatically to One Drive, is there a similar service like One Drive I can set up to automatically do this to a reasonable flat rate cloud storage as an off site backup?7.) Once this is (bought in the case of the one for sale) or built, what would be the best way to populate data on the drives to stress them out less, i.e.: a little over a longer course of time, or a few large chunks?Like I said earlier in this post I currently have 6 drives that are connected to my router (either via network or USB) that are getting old, and have dumped files from a small USB portable drive (a 320 GB drive) onto my NAS drives to make room for projects, etc. for work when I didn't have time to sort to folders, etc. ... however now I have music, movie, Office, data files mixed in all over the place on different drives (my OCD likes all the music in a music folder on one drive, movies, in a movie folder, etc.), so I figure I can slowly move (or copy then delete) the files from all the current drives file by file sorting to correct folders, etc. on this new setup and this would be better for the drives, than just copying over the whole drive at once, correct?My current drive setup on my router is:Drive letter - Size - ConnectionN - 298 GB - connected via USBS - 278 GB - connected via cat 5 (mostly music)T - 279 GB - connected via USBU - 913 GB - connected via cat 5W - 1.81 TB - connected via USBZ - 7.15 TB - connected via cat 5 (this is a WD Sharespace 4 drive RAID 0)Most of what's on these are around 70% video projects, movies, DVD's, around 20 % music files and the rest is data files, images, etc.What would be the best set up to maximize usable space with some redundancy and be able to set up automatic cloning/syncing select files/folders, etc to a (reasonable) flat rate cloud storage for an addition backup, be able to keep a copy of my OS's and programs to be able to restore to a new drive (if needed), be able to retrieve the data from the drives in case of a hardware (motherboard) failure all in a small (but well cooled) case?What would you set up for this? Also one that doesn't have a drive size cap like Windows XP does with anything over 2 TB, as I'm thinking of a using a minimum of 4 TB red drives.Thanks for reading the long post and any help/suggestions/answers given.

I recently been running out of space on both my main editing and gaming rig as well as my lap top. I thought that a NAS would be a good idea for mass storage and back up. (and i hate just buying things when i can make them which is so much more fun ) 1) first question I still live with my family and was hoping the NAS could be my own. I was wondering if i could use FreeNAS and use it offline (without cnnecting it to my router) or could i create a mini network within my room) (In short can use my NAS without connecting to a router?) The Specifications for the Nas Price (In AUD) Case Fractal Design Node 804 (Because it looks cool and offer 8X 3.5" bays) $149 Motherboard Asrock C2550D4I (Because of the Price the 12 stata connections) $ 438.51 Power-Supply Corsair VS350 (Because i have read and seen alotof people use it in DIY NAS) $49 Hard-Drive 4X WD red 3TB (I was planing to use 3 in RAID 5 then one for backups) $676 Ram G.skill 2X8GB DDR3 (It Is ecc and ddr3) $109 Total $1,421.51 Questions 2) Does the Hard-drive configuration work/ is good 3) Is their anything I have overlook and or any tips/advice you could offer Thank in advance for you response Regards Epic_smile

Okay, so I'm looking into what it would be like to build my own NAS server, for storing files at home, and fast access. Currenty looking at ASRock AM1B-ITX How do you know, if a motherboard supports raid or not? I'm going in as cheap as possible. -what do people do about the powersupply for a nas?? Is there some kind of guide here on linustechtips? How do you pick the parts? What are the minimums? How cheap can I make one? How do you know which sockets and form factors you can combine here? (Cases)?