Help! NAS: build or buy?

[Anakim]

Hi guys,

I was thinking to get a NAS as a storage for my files instead of installing a HDD in my PC, but i was wondering: what's better?build or buy a prebuilt?

And,what are the pros and cons of both DIY and pre-built NAS?

 

Thank you so much

[Guest]

It's too much to go over without knowing how much storage your going for and your budget.

[BigGummedRetard]

I would say DIY(but dont use new parts either buy a second hand machine or convert an old one you have). But that is what i would use for the files that i want to store and that i only use mine with my Desktop PC or my laptop. An enclosure is good because you can easily access the files on your phone with apps created by the manufacture but you have to check that when buying one. 

[Anakim]

3 hours ago, Den-Fi said:

It's too much to go over without knowing how much storage your going for and your budget.

Maybe just 4-6 TB,

for the budget, i think i can go for about 200-300 euros, but im trying to find the best price to performance solution.

what you think ? I read some bad reviews on prebuilt nas but i wanna know if a DIY could be a real better solution.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Anakim said:

Maybe just 4-6 TB,

for the budget, i think i can go for about 200-300 euros, but im trying to find the best price to performance solution.

what you think ? I read some bad reviews on prebuilt nas but i wanna know if a DIY could be a real better solution.

It all depends on your comfort level with hardware. At that size, build one w/ some used hardware would be ideal. Personally, I use some QNAP NASes, but they were extremely expensive compared to what you can get doing it yourself.

[Anakim]

1 hour ago, BigGummedRetard said:

I would say DIY(but dont use new parts either buy a second hand machine or convert an old one you have). But that is what i would use for the files that i want to store and that i only use mine with my Desktop PC or my laptop. An enclosure is good because you can easily access the files on your phone with apps created by the manufacture but you have to check that when buying one. 

so on a DIY you cant access to your files through your smartphone?

[Anakim]

28 minutes ago, Den-Fi said:

It all depends on your comfort level with hardware. At that size, build one w/ some used hardware would be ideal. Personally, I use some QNAP NASes, but they were extremely expensive compared to what you can get doing it yourself.

is that so different from buildin a pc? cause i saw some videos on youtube and it seems to be kinda simpler than a pc ,

[Olaf6541]

6 minutes ago, Anakim said:

so on a DIY you cant access to your files through your smartphone?

Yes you can but its less convenient.

 

1 minute ago, Anakim said:

is that so different from buildin a pc? cause i saw some videos on youtube and it seems to be kinda simpler than a pc ,

It's more or less the same hardware.

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, Anakim said:

is that so different from buildin a pc? cause i saw some videos on youtube and it seems to be kinda simpler than a pc ,

No, but as previously stated, you don't need much in terms of hardware if all you want is access to your files. So building a new PC would be spending more than you need to in most cases. (I would recommend new hard drives though)

[msknight]

No simple answer. I have a home build NAS and a QNAP.

 

The QNAP is cheap enough if you want to go two drives in a mirrored pair. If you want to go to 4 drives, then the cost of QNAP  (and similar) rises steeply.

 

The home build was on an HP N54L microserver when it was on offer. (In fact, so cheap I got two of them. I have an entire backup server on hand!)  Personally, I run OpenIndiana (fork of OpenSolaris) for the ZFS and direct control. However if you're not used to that level of OS depth then something like FreeNAS would be worth looking at as it is easier to set up and has more powerful features.

 

Conclusion ... The more drives you want in your NAS, then the pre-built units start to become less cost effective. Home builds start to become more attractive then, but require more involvement. If you're thinking of a home build, then find an old machine to load FreeNAS on, and give it a run to make sure it can do what you want it to, and supports the connections/streaming/etc. that you want to run with it.

 

Also, avoid any pre-built NAS which is difficult to recover from. eg. my QNAP is using standard ext4, so if the unit dies I can get at the data easily; whereas a different NAS used proprietary striping, (usually the cheaper units) so when the unit died I couldn't get anything back.  The benefit of ZFS is that the set data is on the drives, so you can install the drives into another unit and it will be able to read the raid set.

 

In the old days, I used cheap RAID cards, (cheap as in, affordable to the home user) but the RAID info was on the card, (and the cheap interface was horrible) so when the card died, that was goodbye to my data.

 

If you want to know more about the N54L build, I do have videos on it, and the OS commands to get it running. But I'm a real rambler, so be prepared to fall asleep watching them.

[BigGummedRetard]

On 8/4/2019 at 6:50 PM, Anakim said:

 so on a DIY you cant access to your files through your smartphone?

You can on a DIY. but if you get something like synology then you know you have a supported app and have support for it.

[Anakim]

7 hours ago, msknight said:

No simple answer. I have a home build NAS and a QNAP.

 

The QNAP is cheap enough if you want to go two drives in a mirrored pair. If you want to go to 4 drives, then the cost of QNAP  (and similar) rises steeply.

 

Conclusion ... The more drives you want in your NAS, then the pre-built units start to become less cost effective. Home builds start to become more attractive then, but require more involvement. If you're thinking of a home build, then find an old machine to load FreeNAS on, and give it a run to make sure it can do what you want it to, and supports the connections/streaming/etc. that you want to run with it.

 

Also, avoid any pre-built NAS which is difficult to recover from. eg. my QNAP is using standard ext4, so if the unit dies I can get at the data easily; whereas a different NAS used proprietary striping, (usually the cheaper units) so when the unit died I couldn't get anything back.  The benefit of ZFS is that the set data is on the drives, so you can install the drives into another unit and it will be able to read the raid set.

 

If you want to know more about the N54L build, I do have videos on it, and the OS commands to get it running. But I'm a real rambler, so be prepared to fall asleep watching them.

Yes actually by now I just want 2 drives(2 to 4 TB) for personal storage with easy access from all platforms, (2 drives in case one dies).

I was already checking the prebuilt options but I was afraid about the performances of the prebuilts for the price i was going to pay..thats why i was considering a DIY instead.

But unfortunately i dont have any old part(just an old Sony Vaio laptop but I already read somewhere that FreeNas and any NAS software are not recommended on laptops) so I have to buy all the parts and i dont know if the total cost of all the components would cost me less than a prebuilt..cause in my country just the enclosure without the HDDs costs around 130 to 150 euros for the "basic" versions and around 300 euros for the high-end 2-bay sinology or qnap .

 

Can I ask you how much did you spent on your N54L builds?(or the list of the components) and also the links of your videos please?
 

And I also have another question about the power consumption difference.

A dyi is technically a "mini" pc, does it consumes a lot more power than a prebuilt nas?

(i mean:we're talking about devices that run 24/7, im a little worried...)

[msknight]

50 minutes ago, Anakim said:

Yes actually by now I just want 2 drives(2 to 4 TB) for personal storage with easy access from all platforms, (2 drives in case one dies).

I was already checking the prebuilt options but I was afraid about the performances of the prebuilts for the price i was going to pay..thats why i was considering a DIY instead.

But unfortunately i dont have any old part(just an old Sony Vaio laptop but I already read somewhere that FreeNas and any NAS software are not recommended on laptops) so I have to buy all the parts and i dont know if the total cost of all the components would cost me less than a prebuilt..cause in my country just the enclosure without the HDDs costs around 130 to 150 euros for the "basic" versions and around 300 euros for the high-end 2-bay sinology or qnap .

 

Can I ask you how much did you spent on your N54L builds?(or the list of the components) and also the links of your videos please?
 

And I also have another question about the power consumption difference.

A dyi is technically a "mini" pc, does it consumes a lot more power than a prebuilt nas?

(i mean:we're talking about devices that run 24/7, im a little worried...)

It's very true that the NAS software solutions are not recommended on laptops, but the trick is to use whatever is at hand to evaluate the system to see if it does what you want. If it does, then you have a basis on which to make a decision.

 

In your case, I'd go for the QNAP type solution. You might want to "mimick" a failure to ensure you can get data off if the QNAP itself fails. ie. put two drives in, set it up in a basic fashion, then take one drive out and see if you can get the data off it.

 

In many things I write, I save time by not mentioning the fact that I have dual off-site copies of all my data... I don't rely on raid alone.

 

Cost was only a couple of hundred per server as I got them during an HP offer.

 

The power consumption was initially dealt with by using a PicoPSU, where the transformer was outside the case and pumped 12V DC into the PC to a distribution board that also cut down some voltages to 5V, etc. however, over the years the external transformer proved to be the weak point and I had to revert to the original PSU, but it still chews less than 60W at normal operation when loaded with a small SSD for the OS and three WD spinning rust.

 

Here are the videos, in sequence ... but I did warn you that they are long and boring and you need to have an understanding of Solaris which is slightly different to the average Linux kernel... and you can start at video number 3 without missing much. Note that my videos are NOT monetised and you should not see any adverts. I pay for my video hosting myself.

https://vimeo.com/112991027

https://vimeo.com/112991141

https://vimeo.com/112991164

https://vimeo.com/112991241

https://vimeo.com/112991304

https://vimeo.com/112991353

https://vimeo.com/112991386

 

The build is from 2014 and the HP server noted in the video is still running. (except the power supply as I mentioned) There are scripts and extra information noted in the descriptions of some of the videos, but it takes you from the whole thing to why I built it, all the way to mirroring the boot drive (including the boot partition so that if one drive failed, the system would still boot) and everything needed.

[Anakim]

11 hours ago, msknight said:

It's very true that the NAS software solutions are not recommended on laptops, but the trick is to use whatever is at hand to evaluate the system to see if it does what you want. If it does, then you have a basis on which to make a decision.

 

In your case, I'd go for the QNAP type solution. You might want to "mimick" a failure to ensure you can get data off if the QNAP itself fails. ie. put two drives in, set it up in a basic fashion, then take one drive out and see if you can get the data off it.

 

In many things I write, I save time by not mentioning the fact that I have dual off-site copies of all my data... I don't rely on raid alone.

 

Cost was only a couple of hundred per server as I got them during an HP offer.

 

The power consumption was initially dealt with by using a PicoPSU, where the transformer was outside the case and pumped 12V DC into the PC to a distribution board that also cut down some voltages to 5V, etc. however, over the years the external transformer proved to be the weak point and I had to revert to the original PSU, but it still chews less than 60W at normal operation when loaded with a small SSD for the OS and three WD spinning rust.

 

Here are the videos, in sequence ... but I did warn you that they are long and boring and you need to have an understanding of Solaris which is slightly different to the average Linux kernel... and you can start at video number 3 without missing much.

https://vimeo.com/112991027

https://vimeo.com/112991141

https://vimeo.com/112991164

https://vimeo.com/112991241

https://vimeo.com/112991304

https://vimeo.com/112991353

https://vimeo.com/112991386

 

The build is from 2014 and the HP server noted in the video is still running. (except the power supply as I mentioned) There are scripts and extra information noted in the descriptions of some of the videos, but it takes you from the whole thing to why I built it, all the way to mirroring the boot drive (including the boot partition so that if one drive failed, the system would still boot) and everything needed.

Thank you so much for your time, all the complete informations and suggestions,I also took note of all your tips, very helpful for a newbie like me! i'll take a look at your videos too in case i will switch for a "more than 2 drives" option, i like to learn new things in the hardware field.

[msknight]

1 hour ago, Anakim said:

Thank you so much for your time, all the complete informations and suggestions,I also took note of all your tips, very helpful for a newbie like me! i'll take a look at your videos too in case i will switch for a "more than 2 drives" option, i like to learn new things in the hardware field.

You're welcome. I've been putting a chunk of my knowledge on videos over the years. There's never really a single right answer for anything, it's a case of learning the different tools and then working out how to make them work for you.