DIY NAS build

[dmankl]

Hello everyone, 

I am looking to build a small Nas system as a backup using this case https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-Mini-Itx-Computer-DS380B-USA/dp/B07PCH47Z2

I want an 8 bay and if there are other cases like it that are cheaper that is welcome as well. I am unsure of what mobo/cpu that would be best for this. I would like to keep the cost for the system low but do not want to be cheap and lose beneficial features/opportunities. I will be planning on putting a 10g network card in it as I hear I can connect it directly to my plex server. I am looking forward to hearing your advice. 

[Quadrum]

If you are going to use a ten gig Ethernet card, amd has much faster pcie bandwidth so I’d go with amd for the cpu. I would probably go something ryzen 5 as I would assume the cpu does not need to be incredibly powerful. Any msi, or gigabyte board that supports the chipset will work and those brand tend to be both reliable and have cheaper options. I don’t know about cases because there are so many kinds out there and I personally feel that cases are a very personal choice that only the builder should make as only they know their space, their budget, and the aesthetics or lack thereof that they care for. Hope the build goes well!

[dmankl]

Thanks Quadrum! So would you say a ryzen 5 1600 would be good enough in my use case? And do you have any examples of boards that I can connect 8 drives maybe 9 or would you suggest an HBA card? Oh I am planning on using maybe synology dsm - yeah I know lol- or freenas 

[GDRRiley]

there are some AM4 boards that have 8 sata ports but for the price it would be better to get something with 4 or 6 then get a HBA or a raid card it IT mode for the disks.

that leaves you with sata ports for boot SSDs older intel 320 and 710 are common boot drives. assuming linux buy 2 and raid 1 them.

 

1600 is more than enough but you will need a GPU or a motherboard with onboard graphics. there is a few asrock rack server/workstation boards that have that feature but they don't make a ton of sense for your use. a 3400g or any other quad core 8 thread APU would do plenty.

[dmankl]

1 hour ago, GDRRiley said:

there are some AM4 boards that have 8 sata ports but for the price it would be better to get something with 4 or 6 then get a HBA or a raid card it IT mode for the disks.

that leaves you with sata ports for boot SSDs older intel 320 and 710 are common boot drives. assuming linux buy 2 and raid 1 them.

 

1600 is more than enough but you will need a GPU or a motherboard with onboard graphics. there is a few asrock rack server/workstation boards that have that feature but they don't make a ton of sense for your use. a 3400g or any other quad core 8 thread APU would do plenty.

I was thinking amd would be the better cpu, I honestly thought I would have to get a hba for the drives but was hoping someone had a better option. For the OS I was planing on either a sata ssd/nvme/m.2 ssd for a boot device but honestly a USB header to USB would be more than adequate for my purposes. Honestly depending on the power of the Nas I could put in my 960 for a graphics card and run my plex off of it. All depending on how it turns out because I do have a r710 but wanted a better plex/backup system. 

[GDRRiley]

3 minutes ago, dmankl said:

 For the OS I was planing on either a sata ssd/nvme/m.2 ssd for a boot device but honestly a USB header to USB would be more than adequate for my purposes.

the issues around USB is most don't have a very long life if they are used daily.

intel 320 40gb at 10$. 80 are like 15. if they were any more I'd say go grab a new 120gb for 25$

[dmankl]

4 minutes ago, GDRRiley said:

the issues around USB is most don't have a very long life if they are used daily.

intel 320 40gb at 10$. 80 are like 15. if they were any more I'd say go grab a new 120gb for 25$

I think that would be OK but with most micro atx and other boards have a 2 port pcie and I want to say my 960 ftw is a dual pcie card and with a HBA and 10g card would take those up but thankfully I do have a working plwx server so it shouldn't matter too much 

[GDRRiley]

27 minutes ago, dmankl said:

I think that would be OK but with most micro atx and other boards have a 2 port pcie and I want to say my 960 ftw is a dual pcie card and with a HBA and 10g card would take those up but thankfully I do have a working plwx server so it shouldn't matter too much 

I'd just move to a APU

[dmankl]

On 2/20/2020 at 8:01 PM, GDRRiley said:

I'd just move to a APU

Why would you recommend an apu? 

[GDRRiley]

6 minutes ago, dmankl said:

Why would you recommend an apu? 

you then don't need a graphics card but I think you lose out on some PCIE lanes.

the best option would be to grab this asrock board but it isn't cheap as they have a onboard gpu so you can use any CPU. X470D4U or X470D4U2-2T

[ju1ion]

On 2/21/2020 at 3:24 AM, GDRRiley said:

the issues around USB is most don't have a very long life if they are used daily.

Im currently running FreeNAS with 2 USB Sticks running in mirror configuration without any problems, which helps you saving some sata ports as well. There are a lot of tutorials helping you with that.

 

18 minutes ago, dmankl said:

Why would you recommend an apu? 

If im not mistaken, the R5 1600 doesnt have integrated graphics. So you need a seperate graphics card in that case, if you want to access your nas for e.g. installation. If you want to run it just as a backup, there is no need for that much horse power. Maybe a AMD processor with integrated graphics would be the better choice

 

Please also consider using ECC memory.

[GDRRiley]

1 minute ago, ju1ion said:

Im currently running FreeNAS with 2 USB Sticks running in mirror configuration without any problems. There are a lot of tutorials helping you with that.

you can, but given how cheap older used SSDs are it doesn't make a ton of sense

I can get a 160gb for 20$

I an get a 40 or 80gb for 10-12$

[ju1ion]

Prices are higher here  and i'm not a friend of used drives. And if you export your freenas config file (System > General > Save Config) it take max 10-15 min. reinstalling FreeNAS and importing that config file. It also saves up to 2 sata ports. The USB devices are always running mirrored

 

But of course, a ssd should be more durable.

 

[Donut417]

On 2/20/2020 at 3:41 PM, dmankl said:

I will be planning on putting a 10g network card in it as I hear I can connect it directly to my plex server. I am looking forward to hearing your advice. 

 So to be clear your just going to use this as storage for plex and not the acutal Plex server? 

[dmankl]

On 2/22/2020 at 3:47 PM, Donut417 said:

 So to be clear your just going to use this as storage for plex and not the acutal Plex server? 

I'm planning on using this as a Nas not for my plex. 

[Donut417]

2 hours ago, dmankl said:

I'm planning on using this as a Nas not for my plex. 

You won’t need a lot of horsepower then.