UNRaid NAS for under $200

[PenguinMaster]

I want to build a nas out of old computer gear for under $200. I was looking at old consumer gear like fx-8350’s, but they are selling for around $160+ for just the cpu mobo and ram. Plus I would still need to get a nic and an UNRaid license. I was thinking of finding a pc that had a gpu in it, and selling the gpu after and making back most of my money. Does anyone have any good ideas on what parts I should look for?

[jaslion]

An fx8350 for just a nas is really overkill unraid runs fine on really old systems as long as you have a decent bit of ram in it. Also for a nas you want something efficient otherwise you'll end up with a rather large powerbill

[jj9987]

Something like a cheap i3 or Pentium based rig might be enough (plus you have an integrated GPU as well), if storage is your only target. Though in that case, unRAID might be a little overkill and something like FreeNAS might work better.

 

If your budget is 200 dollars, it's gonna be a really tight fit, as you need to buy drives as well. unRAID requires at least 2 drives to get a parity running, if you want data redundancy.

[Windows7ge]

Going off the top of my head I'd look into retired servers on eBay. Pre-builds that come with CPU & RAM. I think that's the only way you're going to get anything half decent for <$200 considering you've stated that budget has to include the UnRAID license.

[Kon-Tiki]

I would personally recommend to use some other Linux distribution like Debian, Ubuntu or openSUSE (or something like FreeNAS) instead of UnRAID, just to save you the money. They should serve you just well. Especially openSUSE comes with quite a bit of GUIs for configuring servers as far as I know.

[PenguinMaster]

1 hour ago, jaslion said:

An fx8350 for just a nas is really overkill unraid runs fine on really old systems as long as you have a decent bit of ram in it. Also for a nas you want something efficient otherwise you'll end up with a rather large powerbill

 

1 hour ago, jj9987 said:

Something like a cheap i3 or Pentium based rig might be enough (plus you have an integrated GPU as well), if storage is your only target. Though in that case, unRAID might be a little overkill and something like FreeNAS might work better.

 

If your budget is 200 dollars, it's gonna be a really tight fit, as you need to buy drives as well. unRAID requires at least 2 drives to get a parity running, if you want data redundancy.

 

52 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Going off the top of my head I'd look into retired servers on eBay. Pre-builds that come with CPU & RAM. I think that's the only way you're going to get anything half decent for <$200 considering you've stated that budget has to include the UnRAID license.

 

48 minutes ago, Kon-Tiki said:

I would personally recommend to use some other Linux distribution like Debian, Ubuntu or openSUSE (or something like FreeNAS) instead of UnRAID, just to save you the money. They should serve you just well. Especially openSUSE comes with quite a bit of GUIs for configuring servers as far as I know.

Ok so I can switch to FreeNAS. I already have most of the drives that I’ll need. I have 3x 1TB 7200rpm HDDs and 1x 500GB 7200rpm HDD, and a 240GB SSD for a cache drive. So I just need a computer and a 4 port gigabit nic for $200. I can just set up vlans after. Thanks! I also will have this in a server rack, so rack-mount is also good, otherwise ill need to get a shelf.

[Windows7ge]

52 minutes ago, Chickenfans said:

Ok so I can switch to FreeNAS. I already have most of the drives that I’ll need. I have 3x 1TB 7200rpm HDDs and 1x 500GB 7200rpm HDD, and a 240GB SSD for a cache drive. So I just need a computer and a 4 port gigabit nic for $200. I can just set up vlans after. Thanks! I also will have this in a server rack, so rack-mount is also good, otherwise ill need to get a shelf.

In FreeNAS there's no point in using a cache drive for read/write unless you plan to use the pool for operations such as databases or virtualization. ZIL/L2ARC devices only act to accelerate synchronous reads/writes. If you just plan to setup a network file share such as SMB cache disks will only operate as fast as the pool itself defeating the purpose. The File System on FreeNAS does not operate under the same principal as UnRAID.

 

Look into retired Supermicro servers. 1U or 2U. Some come fully populated (CPU+RAM) for only $150 or $200.

[PenguinMaster]

On 1/12/2020 at 10:36 AM, Windows7ge said:

In FreeNAS there's no point in using a cache drive for read/write unless you plan to use the pool for operations such as databases or virtualization. ZIL/L2ARC devices only act to accelerate synchronous reads/writes. If you just plan to setup a network file share such as SMB cache disks will only operate as fast as the pool itself defeating the purpose. The File System on FreeNAS does not operate under the same principal as UnRAID.

 

Look into retired Supermicro servers. 1U or 2U. Some come fully populated (CPU+RAM) for only $150 or $200.

I’m definitely going to use UNRaid after some further investigation. I definitely want to use a cache drive (SSD) for higher speeds and have regular HDDs for mass storage. I’m thinking of using an AMD Ryzen 3 1200 for the processor. What do you think? I’ve already purchased a 4 port Intel GbE NIC which I’ll use for vlans and since the processor doesn’t output video I’ll just stick an amd Radeon HD 6450 in it. I am going to purchase a 2 U rack mount chassis as I found a cheap reseller of them.

[Windows7ge]

2 minutes ago, Chickenfans said:

I’m definitely going to use UNRaid after some further investigation. I definitely want to use a cache drive (SSD) for higher speeds and have regular HDDs for mass storage. I’m thinking of using an AMD Ryzen 3 1200 for the processor. What do you think? I’ve already purchased a 4 port Intel GbE NIC which I’ll use for vlans and since the processor doesn’t output video I’ll just stick an amd Radeon HD 6450 in it. I am going to purchase a 2 U rack mount chassis as I found a cheap reseller of them.

You can go this route for a home operation. If you plan to do some virtualization I'd recommend 4C/8T and >8GB of RAM (ECC maybe - not a serious requirement). Otherwise it's a good enough plan. How will you power it? Does the 2U include a mini-redundant PSU?

[PenguinMaster]

25 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

You can go this route for a home operation. If you plan to do some virtualization I'd recommend 4C/8T and >8GB of RAM (ECC maybe - not a serious requirement). Otherwise it's a good enough plan. How will you power it? Does the 2U include a mini-redundant PSU?

It doesn’t include the psu so I’d need good recommendations for that too.

[Windows7ge]

1 minute ago, Chickenfans said:

It doesn’t include the psu so I’d need good recommendations for that too.

Most 2U enclosures don't accept a standard ATX PSU so you'll end up either paying a lot for a 2U PSU or having to jerry-rig a ATX, SFX, or FlexATX PSU into it.

[Jarsky]

Just to clarify, UnRAID's cache drive is only used for writes. If your NAS is long term storage and you arent writing large files regularly at a high rate, then theres no performance benefit in having a cache on UnRAID.

 

Why not go something like Rockstor or Ubuntu with Webmin if you just want a basic file server? If you want VM support you can install QEMU & Virt-Manager to make that easier. That way you save the licensing cost which is nearly 1/4 of your budget...

 

[PenguinMaster]

12 hours ago, Jarsky said:

Just to clarify, UnRAID's cache drive is only used for writes. If your NAS is long term storage and you arent writing large files regularly at a high rate, then theres no performance benefit in having a cache on UnRAID.

 

Why not go something like Rockstor or Ubuntu with Webmin if you just want a basic file server? If you want VM support you can install QEMU & Virt-Manager to make that easier. That way you save the licensing cost which is nearly 1/4 of your budget...

 

Ok I’ll look into it.

[PenguinMaster]

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[PenguinMaster]

15 hours ago, Windows7ge said:

Most 2U enclosures don't accept a standard ATX PSU so you'll end up either paying a lot for a 2U PSU or having to jerry-rig a ATX, SFX, or FlexATX PSU into it.

The case I found takes standard atx power supplies, the issue is it can’t take a redundant power supply.

[Windows7ge]

3 hours ago, Chickenfans said:

The case I found takes standard atx power supplies, the issue is it can’t take a redundant power supply.

Make sure you find a PSU that uses rear exhaust and not a side 120mm fan. It'll be choked for air if you don't.

 

16 hours ago, Jarsky said:

If you want VM support you can install QEMU & Virt-Manager to make that easier.

Virt-manager is being discontinued (updates are being cut) and replaced by Cockpit. I wouldn't recommend him software that is near end of support.

[Salacious B Crum]

6 hours ago, Chickenfans said:

The case I found takes standard atx power supplies, the issue is it can’t take a redundant power supply.

If this is a home server there is no need for redundant power supplies get a reputable UPS to protect the system

[Jarsky]

10 hours ago, Windows7ge said:

Virt-manager is being discontinued (updates are being cut) and replaced by Cockpit. I wouldn't recommend him software that is near end of support.

 

Cockpit is still missing a lot of functionality as far as a UI. You need to know what supporting packages to install with the virtual machine plugin as it doesnt install some required dependencies such as libvirtd required to configure storage pools & networks. It doesn't allow you to select BIOS type, it doesn't allow you to remount virtual cdrom/installation media,etc...there are a lot of things that are very cumbersome to do or are just not possible through Cockpit. IMO its probably still another year of development on some of these modules to get it to the point we can discontinue using Virt-Manager, without having to resort to CLI for some QEMU configuration. 

[Windows7ge]

33 minutes ago, Jarsky said:

 

Cockpit is still missing a lot of functionality as far as a UI. You need to know what supporting packages to install with the virtual machine plugin as it doesnt install some required dependencies such as libvirtd required to configure storage pools & networks. It doesn't allow you to select BIOS type, it doesn't allow you to remount virtual cdrom/installation media,etc...there are a lot of things that are very cumbersome to do or are just not possible through Cockpit. IMO its probably still another year of development on some of these modules to get it to the point we can discontinue using Virt-Manager, without having to resort to CLI for some QEMU configuration. 

I have found for some of the VM configuration that even virt-manager lacked the UI for things like CPU pinning and huge pages (from package manager) so you can't get away from the CLI for any particularly advanced configuration anyways. In conversation I've been told that the development of cockpit isn't great on RHEL currently but that it's doing better on Debian. Regardless it's worth letting OP know.

[PenguinMaster]

On 1/16/2020 at 10:57 AM, Windows7ge said:

Make sure you find a PSU that uses rear exhaust and not a side 120mm fan. It'll be choked for air if you don't.

 

Virt-manager is being discontinued (updates are being cut) and replaced by Cockpit. I wouldn't recommend him software that is near end of support.

For ram what speed would you recommend I get? It’s only a Ryzen 3 1200 so I think 3000MHz is excessive.

[Salacious B Crum]

22 minutes ago, Chickenfans said:

For ram what speed would you recommend I get? It’s only a Ryzen 3 1200 so I think 3000MHz is excessive.

I found 3200 was the sweet spot on my 3 Ryzen rigs

[Windows7ge]

25 minutes ago, Chickenfans said:

For ram what speed would you recommend I get? It’s only a Ryzen 3 1200 so I think 3000MHz is excessive.

The RYZEN platform does see a performance boost from higher clocked memory. How well that will translate into a server application I can't say (virtualization may benefit but file sharing not so much when you have very few clients). If you find it cheap enough pick faster memory. If it's all expensive you can use slower memory. Your use case won't see a massive difference.

[PenguinMaster]

19 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

The RYZEN platform does see a performance boost from higher clocked memory. How well that will translate into a server application I can't say (virtualization may benefit but file sharing not so much when you have very few clients). If you find it cheap enough pick faster memory. If it's all expensive you can use slower memory. Your use case won't see a massive difference.

I’ve looked for 3000MHz + Ram with no luck for finding it cheap, but there’s tons of lower clocked ram for cheap on ebay. What would you consider a good range since ddr4 3000 is out of the question. I’ve also scraped the server chassis idea since it would require a special power supply and would end up costing too much. I’ve gone with a regular atx case and am just going to put it on a shelf in the server rack.

[Windows7ge]

4 minutes ago, Chickenfans said:

I’ve looked for 3000MHz + Ram with no luck for finding it cheap, but there’s tons of lower clocked ram for cheap on ebay. What would you consider a good range since ddr4 3000 is out of the question. I’ve also scraped the server chassis idea since it would require a special power supply and would end up costing too much. I’ve gone with a regular atx case and am just going to put it on a shelf in the server rack.

Personally I'm loyal to G.Skill so my method for buying RAM is:

1. Sort by G.Skill
2. Put the max price I'm willing to pay in my head.
3. Sort by capacity I want.
4. Look for the highest clock while staying in my price-point.

Really though I prefer more RAM over faster RAM but that's just because of my use case.

 

There are 4U chassis that accept standard ATX PSUs. You could look into those.

[PenguinMaster]

1 hour ago, Windows7ge said:

Personally I'm loyal to G.Skill so my method for buying RAM is:

1. Sort by G.Skill
2. Put the max price I'm willing to pay in my head.
3. Sort by capacity I want.
4. Look for the highest clock while staying in my price-point.

Really though I prefer more RAM over faster RAM but that's just because of my use case.

 

There are 4U chassis that accept standard ATX PSUs. You could look into those.

I agree with capacity over speed for a NAS. I personally also have GSkill in my Gaming PC so I’ll look at what they have. I looked at 4u’s and they where around $100+ where as the case with shelf option was < $70