Building NAS Server or Buying One?

[sailboatking]

Hi everyone,

 

I was looking into creating a Plex-like server for my home where I can store photos, home videos, movies, etc. I was also thinking I could probably use it host a Minecraft, Teamspeak, etc server but this is more extra stuff than required. I was thinking about building it and the fun of building your own computer (server) but I was also thinking I might just save a huge hassle and buy something from Synology and put two Ironwolf hard drives in there and calling it a day. But the price on those can be expensive compared to building your own. I'm not totally sure which option is the best. I would love to build my own but unlike building a gaming computer I don't know too much about server hardware and what things to buy but I don't mind learning this area! What would you recommend? Building your own or buying a solution from Synology? If you're building your own, where do you start?

 

Thank you all so much in advance!

[Turretgaming]

2 minutes ago, sailboatking said:

Hi everyone,

 

I was looking into creating a Plex-like server for my home where I can store photos, home videos, movies, etc. I was also thinking I could probably use it host a Minecraft, Teamspeak, etc server but this is more extra stuff than required. I was thinking about building it and the fun of building your own computer (server) but I was also thinking I might just save a huge hassle and buy something from Synology and put two Ironwolf hard drives in there and calling it a day. But the price on those can be expensive compared to building your own. I'm not totally sure which option is the best. I would love to build my own but unlike building a gaming computer I don't know too much about server hardware and what things to buy but I don't mind learning this area! What would you recommend? Building your own or buying a solution from Synology? If you're building your own, where do you start?

 

Thank you all so much in advance!

Using FreeNAS is cheaper but you need to be patient and learn how to use it and build your own system. Synology is easier but more expensive and the PSUs are know to fail. Look up GamersNexus Synology

[sailboatking]

2 minutes ago, Turretgaming said:

Using FreeNAS is cheaper but you need to be patient and learn how to use it and build your own system. Synology is easier but more expensive and the PSUs are know to fail. Look up GamersNexus Synology

Yeah I saw the GamersNexus videos on it which makes me skeptical. Do you know where I should start to build your own system?

[Dedayog]

6 minutes ago, sailboatking said:

Hi everyone,

 

I was looking into creating a Plex-like server for my home where I can store photos, home videos, movies, etc. I was also thinking I could probably use it host a Minecraft, Teamspeak, etc server but this is more extra stuff than required. I was thinking about building it and the fun of building your own computer (server) but I was also thinking I might just save a huge hassle and buy something from Synology and put two Ironwolf hard drives in there and calling it a day. But the price on those can be expensive compared to building your own. I'm not totally sure which option is the best. I would love to build my own but unlike building a gaming computer I don't know too much about server hardware and what things to buy but I don't mind learning this area! What would you recommend? Building your own or buying a solution from Synology? If you're building your own, where do you start?

 

Thank you all so much in advance!

Can't you host Minecraft and Teamspeak on a secondary PC?  I used to host them on my main gaming rig as well as Plex, so just build a new a machine for all your needs.

 

Much easier than dealing with server/NAS stuff. no?

[Turretgaming]

4 minutes ago, sailboatking said:

Yeah I saw the GamersNexus videos on it which makes me skeptical. Do you know where I should start to build your own system?

iXSystems web site has the minimum hardware requirements and you can run Minecraft off it too and a VM for teamspeak.

[sailboatking]

5 minutes ago, jstudrawa said:

Can't you host Minecraft and Teamspeak on a secondary PC?  I used to host them on my main gaming rig as well as Plex, so just build a new a machine for all your needs.

 

Much easier than dealing with server/NAS stuff. no?

Well I don't have the capacity to store multiple hard drives on my computer. Plus I don't want to leave my gaming rig running 24/7 either. Minecraft and Teamspeak isn't a priority but more the photos, videos, and movies. That's true it is easier but my router is not in the same room as my computer either.

[sailboatking]

3 minutes ago, Turretgaming said:

iXSystems web site has the minimum hardware requirements and you can run Minecraft off it too and a VM for teamspeak.

Hey, I'm not seeing the minimum hardware requirements on their website. Can you possibly link it?

[Dedayog]

Just now, sailboatking said:

Well I don't have the capacity to store multiple hard drives on my computer. Plus I don't want to leave my gaming rig running 24/7 either. Minecraft and Teamspeak isn't a priority but more the photos, videos, and movies. That's true it is easier but my router is not in the same room as my computer either.

Note I said to build a new machine for all your needs I was saying that since you CAN host MC, TS and Plex on your gaming rig.... why build a real server for them, when a standard PC will work fine?

 

That's what I did.  I built a Ryzen 5 1600 machine to act as my server.  

[sailboatking]

5 minutes ago, jstudrawa said:

Note I said to build a new machine for all your needs I was saying that since you CAN host MC, TS and Plex on your gaming rig.... why build a real server for them, when a standard PC will work fine?

 

That's what I did.  I built a Ryzen 5 1600 machine to act as my server.  

Oh I apologize, I must have read past the second part

Hmmm, a second rig? I could do that, but what about running the software? Did you use FreeNas or just Windows? Did you put NAS like hard drives in it?

Edited April 2, 2019 by sailboatking
Got rid of the word gaming so it's now just a second rig

[Dedayog]

1 minute ago, sailboatking said:

Oh I apologize, I must have read past the second part

Hmmm, a second gaming rig? I could do that, but what about running the software? Did you use FreeNas or just Windows? Did you put NAS like hard drives in it?

Windows 10 Pro, and a 3TB Toshiba P300 consumer drive.  This was for Plex and Minecraft for my son and his friends.  I can easily run 2 Plex streams and Minecraft on it for 4 players.   It's in my sig.  I'm just using a 19" 4:3 old monitor, and free Dell keyboard and mouse.  Cost me under $250.

 

Anything more than that, you may need to check requirements if you're looking to host outside if just friends.

[sailboatking]

4 minutes ago, jstudrawa said:

Windows 10 Pro, and a 3TB Toshiba P300 consumer drive.  This was for Plex and Minecraft for my son and his friends.  I can easily run 2 Plex streams and Minecraft on it for 4 players. 

  

Anything more than that, you may need to check requirements if you're looking to host outside if just friends.

Hmm any reason why you decided Windows 10 Pro instead of just normal Windows? I want to make sure we have enough space for all of our photos and videos. Did you go with ECC memory instead of standard DDR4? 

[Dedayog]

4 minutes ago, sailboatking said:

Hmm any reason why you decided Windows 10 Pro instead of just normal Windows? I want to make sure we have enough space for all of our photos and videos. Did you go with ECC memory instead of standard DDR4? 

*shrug*  I always go Win 10 Pro vs regular, not sure why.  It's there, I click it.  Probably cuz Pro sounds better? 

 

Yeah, space is all on you.  I don't take many pics, I'm not all that sentimental and I don't take pics of my food or selfies,etc.  I just went DDR4, and in 30 years I've never had an issue with RAM.  A few HDD's maybe and a GPU or PSU here and there, but never RAM causing a big problem.

 

Mine was just a small project to put together for my needs.  If you have family pics or a huge porn collection you want to sell in 50 years as "vintage", you may need more than consumer level stuff.  But for MC, TS and Plex... a low/mid-level PC will be more than enough.

 

Needs vary, these are just mine.

[sailboatking]

5 minutes ago, jstudrawa said:

*shrug*  I always go Win 10 Pro vs regular, not sure why.  It's there, I click it.  Probably cuz Pro sounds better? 

 

Yeah, space is all on you.  I don't take many pics, I'm not all that sentimental and I don't take pics of my food or selfies,etc.  I just went DDR4, and in 30 years I've never had an issue with RAM.  A few HDD's maybe and a GPU or PSU here and there, but never RAM causing a big problem.

 

Mine was just a small project to put together for my needs.  If you have family pics or a huge porn collection you want to sell in 50 years as "vintage", you may need more than consumer level stuff.  But for MC, TS and Plex... a low/mid-level PC will be more than enough.

 

Needs vary, these are just mine.

Hey thank you so much for all your input on this! I might just go this round really. My concern is getting a PSU that can support always being on though. I guess I will try it out! Thank you for your help!

[Dedayog]

Just now, sailboatking said:

Hey thank you so much for all your input on this! I might just go this round really. My concern is getting a PSU that can support always being on though. I guess I will try it out! Thank you for your help!

Glad to help, just sharing what I did   As for PSU always on, I went with inexpensive but okay.  If mine dies, no big deal.  For reliable always on... may want input from @LukeSavenije or someone like @jonnyGURU.

[LukeSavenije]

7 minutes ago, jstudrawa said:

Glad to help, just sharing what I did   As for PSU always on, I went with inexpensive but okay.  If mine dies, no big deal.  For reliable always on... may want input from @LukeSavenije or someone like @jonnyGURU.

masterwatt lite? judges a little bit

[sailboatking]

2 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

masterwatt lite? judges a little bit

I will follow the PSU Tier List!

[Dedayog]

1 minute ago, LukeSavenije said:

masterwatt lite? judges a little bit

Hey, I said I went with "Okay"!!!   Plus it's on the prebuilt replacement section, doesn't that make it halfway decent?

[LukeSavenije]

2 minutes ago, sailboatking said:

I will follow the PSU Tier List!

good... good...

9 minutes ago, jstudrawa said:

Hey, I said I went with "Okay"!!!   Plus it's on the prebuilt replacement section, doesn't that make it halfway decent?

it makes it a good group regulated, which isn't recommended with modern hardware, but tolerated for your use

 

so yes, it's quarterway decent

[BilaKaifa]

Hi, 

I've never used Synology products (or any other ready to run solutions) but I've started with old PC hardware (AMD Athlon XP 2600+ and stuff).
I then moved to a Supermicro mobo, 2x XEON L5420 and 8GB of ECC DDR II.
Old server HW (and cheap, cheap is very important in my case) does it's job just fine.

 

I ran FreeNAS a couple of years but I found that doing something else than what they provide from repository is pretty annoying to setup.
After that and a few failed upgrades I revisited my decision.

 

I now use Debian as OS and ZFS for Debian (yes I kept ZFS just because I like it). 
I use SAMBA (CIFS) for file sharing with my other PC, TVs, phones and tablets.
And I use Docker. 
On dockerhub you'll find ready to run containers for whatever you want. Plex, Emby, Transmission...
You'll have to check for Minecraft and Teamspeak servers, but I doubt there not there.

 

I rarely service the machine. I usually track temps for my HDDs, disk usage and ZFS pool integrity.
My entire house is connected to this machine via Gigabit ethernet and I had no issues over the years (though I'm not streaming 4K... yet)

 

What i want to say is that, in my opinion, ready to run solutions are fast to setup but they are not flexible enough.
I know that setting up your own rig requires knowledge of how to install and use that particular OS or software, but there are a lot of friendly tutorials out there.

 

Last, I just want to point out that Plex had a big privacy scandal a while back, and you might want to look it up.

 

Hope that provides some alternative insight. 

 

Have fun build your NAS/Server/FileServer/MediaCenter thingy.