NAS for Home

[ImperfectSoul47]

Hello There,

 

I am currently attempting to build a file server with the following:

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/imperfectsoul47/saved/Gbfwzy

 

Right now, I have Debian 10 installed (mdadm for RAID, Samba for share, and Plex installed) and RAID 6 only gives me 1 TB total storage. Linear is too slow. I definitely want to add more storage.

 

Does anybody have any suggestions?

 

I am considering the following:

1. Buying 2 x 2TB HDD drives to add, which means I would need to by a PCI-e card to add more SATA ports. (Total cost: ~$140) OR

2. I currently have a 4TB WD Black drive in my gaming rig (https://pcpartpicker.com/user/imperfectsoul47/saved/zJPTJx). So I was considering buying a WD_BLACK external HDD for my games. I would then add the 4TB WD Black HDD to the file server. (total cost: ~$120). Would running games from an external HDD be adequate? OR

3. Buy 2 x 2TB M.2 SATA SSDs for my gaming rig and move the 4TB WD Black drive to the file server (total cost: $400+)

 

Any other suggestions? Is Debian 10 good for a file server?

 

I plan on using the file server for Music, Movies, and some backups

[Windows7ge]

External drives are typically slower than direct SATA connections. I wouldn't run games over USB.

 

What kind of pool resiliency are you aiming for? Are you mixing drives of different capacities?

 

I don't think there's anything wrong with using Debian 10 but I am confused by your choice of using mdadm as oppose to something like BTRFS or ZFS.

[Electronics Wizardy]

13 minutes ago, ImperfectSoul47 said:

) and RAID 6 only gives me 1 TB total storage. Linear is too slow. I definitely want to add more storage.

your running raid 6 with mis matched drive capacties? your wasting a lot of space that way.

 

13 minutes ago, ImperfectSoul47 said:

So I was considering buying a WD_BLACK external HDD for my games.

Stay away from the black externals, just get the cheap externals, they seem to be the same.

 

14 minutes ago, ImperfectSoul47 said:

Any other suggestions? Is Debian 10 good for a file server?

its gonna work like any other linux distro, nothing really good or bad about it

 

14 minutes ago, ImperfectSoul47 said:

I am considering the following:

how much space do you need? Id use somthing like btrfs so you can get more usable space from your drives now.

 

 

[ImperfectSoul47]

7 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

External drives are typically slower than direct SATA connections. I wouldn't run games over USB.

 

What kind of pool resiliency are you aiming for? Are you mixing drives of different capacities?

 

I don't think there's anything wrong with using Debian 10 but I am confused by your choice of using mdadm as oppose to something like BTRFS or ZFS.

I'm new to file servers, so that's why I'm inquiring. I've had a few hard drives of different capacities sitting around, so I was looking for something to do with them. Right now, I'm just playing around with setting it up and looking for the best options.

[ImperfectSoul47]

 

7 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

how much space do you need? Id use somthing like btrfs so you can get more usable space from your drives now.

I will look in btrfs. Thanks!

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, ImperfectSoul47 said:

 

I will look in btrfs. Thanks!

just saying, it has its downfalls, but id give it a shot here, should work pretty well with that weird drive config.