Best Home Server Solution for Visual Effects Production?

timdenby · February 15, 2014

We are a group of visual effects artists working in a home environment. We have four computers, two are running off wireless at the moment, we only have a 3-Ethernet-Port Modem/Router

We will soon have for four 3TB drives and we will be adding another four drives at a later date (Not sure which brand or type to get yet) as we are working independently on the effects shots of an undisclosed film. We need a fast way to work off large files from a single location or group of HDDs, without copying anything anywhere, how would you do it? Is home sharing fast enough? Is a NAS fast enough to be worth the money? Would a Gigabit Switch lower network speeds enough to be noticeable?

We also have a case that can fit eight 3.5" drives, and a GA-X58A-UD5 motherboard with 10 SATA ports (possible home server?).

We are trying to avoid a big spend-up, but if we can't get the performance and stream-lined work flow that we need on a budget, we will fork out for a decent set-up.