NAS advice needed

[kingenr]

Hello, I have some questions about Network Attached Storage.

For school we have a project where we have to theoratically build a NAS. We have to choose componnents and talk about why we chose them and they need to cover some specific requirements. 

Requirements:

• Safe and redundant storage via RAID (we don't need to know what RAID is, we just have to make sure the system supports it)
• Possibility to attach more storage via USB
• Fast network connection
• Large storage and possibility for later expansion
• Quiet and power efficient
• Possibility to boot from the network (I've heard something about Wake On Lan but I don't really know what it is)
• Limited size
• NO keyboard, mouse or monitor needed
• Budget: €800

We've already tried to get some components together and we came up with this:

• Case: Lian Li PC-A05FNB
• MoBo: MSI FM2-A75MA-E35
• CPU: AMD A4-5300
• CPU cooler: Noctua NH-C14
• RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3-1600 (we didn't know how mucht RAM we needed and why)
• PSU: Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 550W
• HDD: WD Red 4TB
• Fans: We changed the standard 120 mm fans for Noctua NF-F12
• Total price: 706,37

Everything on this list can still change. Because we weren't sure about wether we would meet the requirements I decided to ask some people here who are more experienced here on this forum.

Our biggest problem is probably comming up with a justification for every component.

 

If you happen to know a thing about NASses then we'd really apreciate it if you could leave any tips or helpful responses.

[Vitalius]

Hello, I have some questions about Network Attached Storage.

For school we have a project where we have to theoratically build a NAS. We have to choose componnents and talk about why we chose them and they need to cover some specific requirements. 

 

We've already tried to get some components together and we came up with this:

• Case: Lian Li PC-A05FNB
• MoBo: MSI FM2-A75MA-E35
• CPU: AMD A4-5300
• CPU cooler: Noctua NH-C14
• RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3-1600 (we didn't know how mucht RAM we needed and why)
• PSU: Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 550W
• HDD: WD Red 4TB
• Fans: We changed the standard 120 mm fans for Noctua NF-F12
• Total price: 706,37

Note: Things written in brackets (these things -> [] )are my comments on your build. Not justification you could give for buying it.

Case: Cheapest possible one. It's ugly. It doesn't matter. It's tiny. Has USB ports.

MoBo: Cheapest reliable one to connect everything together. It supports Wake On LAN [i believe all modern motherboards do?] and RAID 0/1/10 as well as JBOD.

CPU: Decently powered (for a NAS) but cheap and power efficient (important for 24/7 rigs).

CPU Cooler: [You don't need one. At all. The stock is fine. You could even underclock the APU if you wanted to keep it cool while making the CPU fan spin slower for sound.]

RAM: 1600MHz is normal. Crucial is a reputable brand. [4GB is the sweet spot imo.] 

PSU: Gold rated PSU means good efficiency. [550w is overkill, but wtv. Anything lower than that is .. questionable.]

HDD: It's a lot of space, reliable (Reds are consumer NAS drives basically), and cheapest TB/$.

Fans: They are expensive, but very quiet and reliable/durable.

SMURG is right however. An Intel Atom would be best for a beginner NAS.

[SMURG]

An Intel Atom CPU would be more than sufficient for a NAS, and would run a lot quieter (passive cooled) and a lot more power efficiently...

[Eric1024]

You don't have any redundancy in your system, and it's hella overpowered. I would go with a last gen supermicro atom board and a pair of 2TB reds in raid1 under freeNAS or something to that affect.

 

The Lian-Li case is a bit on the pricey side for a low budget NAS, but that's somewhat objective.

 

 

Edit:

 

This would be a more appropriate board/CPU. I just picked one up in fact and they kick ass. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182848