Building a Photography Studio Workstation/NAS Combo

[Cal-GGMU]

Budget (including currency): $1700 USD

Country: US, SoFlo

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Photoshop, Premiere, PTGui, Photmatix Pro, Blender, Maya

Other details:
So I work at a small photography studio, most of the work is 90% CPU intensive, we need a new workstation desperately. Convinced my boss to let me build a workstation that will also double as a NAS so that other people can access the same files, or storage at the same time (most often it will be just accessing the same storage at the same time) The work mainly consists of importing in the photos, raws, etc running them through our pipeline and creating the product. Then it is all stored away in the case that we ever need to retouch, or re-use the work. (90% of the time its never touched again)

I've decided on a Ryzen 7 5800X based system, as its going to future proof the studio for a long time, a 570X board, with ample PCIe lanes, Sata, and Ram capacity, and also importantly, I've decided on the Define 7 XL case featured in this LTT video because of its sheer amount of storage slots.

The rest of my parts list is here:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor	Purchased For $0.00
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-U9S 46.44 CFM CPU Cooler	Purchased For $0.00
Motherboard	Asus PRIME X570-P ATX AM4 Motherboard	Purchased For $0.00
Memory	OLOy 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory
Storage	Western Digital Blue SN550 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$54.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1650 4 GB OC Low Profile Video Card	Purchased For $0.00
Case	Fractal Design Define 7 XL ATX Full Tower Case	$209.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	SeaSonic S12III 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$64.99 @ B&H
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 10 Pro French CDN - DVD 64-bit	$15.00
Wireless Network Adapter	Ziyituod ZYT-AX200 PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax Wi-Fi Adapter	$29.99 @ Amazon
Case Fan	be quiet! Pure Wings 2 61.2 CFM 140 mm Fan	$12.90 @ Amazon
Case Accessory	Vantec UGT-CR935 Card Reader	$33.00
External Storage	Western Digital easystore 14 TB External Hard Drive	Purchased For $0.00
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$420.85
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-12-02 19:51 EST-0500

CPU, Mobo, Cooler, GPU, and HDD have all been purchased already, waiting on the money for the rest.

Here's my question(s):
I have never messed around with network storage, would it be best to simply partition the attached HDDs as regular drives and "share" them with the network? I would ideally like to set them up to be accessible outside of the local network as well, so we can work from home in 'rona times, is this something possible for free or cheap (software that is)?

Should I follow what Linus and the gang did for that video? I dont really have the budget for $1000 sata controller tbh, otherwise i would just push for a prebuilt NAS.

Would it also be possible to set up 2 virtual machines and share/split the CPU? Would/could they be accessible remotely (Work from home situations)?

 

P.S. if anyone has any of my missing parts and is selling them, lets get in touch

[Electronics Wizardy]

Id really just get a nas if you can, much less hassle and potiental issues.

 

No need for virtual machines, just setup file shares in windows. Go under folder, then properties, then sharing, then you can mount it on other systems.

 

Working over a wan is gonna be really slow, and your gonna want something like a vpn to allow them to connect. Might be easier to let them remote into anouther onsite workstation if they ahve to work remotly.

[Cal-GGMU]

4 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Id really just get a nas if you can, much less hassle and potiental issues.

 

No need for virtual machines, just setup file shares in windows. Go under folder, then properties, then sharing, then you can mount it on other systems.

 

Working over a wan is gonna be really slow, and your gonna want something like a vpn to allow them to connect. Might be easier to let them remote into anouther onsite workstation if they ahve to work remotly.

I agree with you, but the goal is to improve the studio's pipeline and bring it into the current era, while also preparing for a future where the studio keeps growing.

What potential issues do you see in this sort of system?

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, Cal-GGMU said:

I agree with you, but the goal is to improve the studio's pipeline and bring it into the current era, while also preparing for a future where the studio keeps growing.

What potential issues do you see in this sort of system?

Whats your backup plan for these photos? I worry bout some issue where you lose them all.

 

Also if a user shuts down the workstation, it stops all the file sharing, won't be a issue with a nas in a closet. Also the nas units normally have vpn servers for remote access built in, and a nice easy to use interface.

[Cal-GGMU]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Whats your backup plan for these photos? I worry bout some issue where you lose them all.

 

Also if a user shuts down the workstation, it stops all the file sharing, won't be a issue with a nas in a closet. Also the nas units normally have vpn servers for remote access built in, and a nice easy to use interface.

atm no backup plan for the storage, but was hoping to tackle it in the near future. Once these drives are full, they will most likely never be spun up minus the rarest of occasions.
Im thinking just a regular backup drive for the OS and programs.
Would something like FreeNAS provide me similar interface to access the folders? What access speeds are we talking about over WAN? Would it depend on our internet speeds at the studio and home stations?

[brob]

As others have suggested, get a NAS for shared storage. Hosting shared storage in a workstation will only lead to headaches. 

 

As to the op build:

 

The cpu cooler is marginal for a 105W TDP cpu. Consider the NH-D15 (or NH-D15S if using taller memory modules).

 

I'd suggest after memory, 

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Yg3mP6/corsair-vengeance-lpx-32-gb-2-x-16-gb-ddr4-3600-memory-cmk32gx4m2d3600c18.

 

Consider a good B550 motherboard. I'd suggest one with Wi-Fi. Something like https://pcpartpicker.com/product/ZyjNnQ/asus-tuf-gaming-b550-plus-wi-fi-atx-am4-motherboard-tuf-gaming-b550-plus-wi-fi.

 

The psu is an older design lacking protections found in newer models.

[Cal-GGMU]

12 minutes ago, brob said:

As others have suggested, get a NAS for shared storage. Hosting shared storage in a workstation will only lead to headaches. 

 

As to the op build:

 

The cpu cooler is marginal for a 105W TDP cpu. Consider the NH-D15 (or NH-D15S if using taller memory modules).

 

I'd suggest after memory, 

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Yg3mP6/corsair-vengeance-lpx-32-gb-2-x-16-gb-ddr4-3600-memory-cmk32gx4m2d3600c18.

 

Consider a good B550 motherboard. I'd suggest one with Wi-Fi. Something like https://pcpartpicker.com/product/ZyjNnQ/asus-tuf-gaming-b550-plus-wi-fi-atx-am4-motherboard-tuf-gaming-b550-plus-wi-fi.

 

The psu is an older design lacking protections found in newer models.

Thanks for the suggestions, I've already purchased the cooler and mobo.

Im hoping to integrate a NAS into this system for saving money. Which is why im using the Define 7 XL with its 18 bays.
Whats the best method?

[brob]

36 minutes ago, Cal-GGMU said:

Thanks for the suggestions, I've already purchased the cooler and mobo.

Im hoping to integrate a NAS into this system for saving money. Which is why im using the Define 7 XL with its 18 bays.
Whats the best method?

 

The motherboard only has six SATA ports. 

 

The reason for separating the hardware is that otherwise all storage users are dependant on the workstation user and vice versa. In order to reboot the workstation one would have to check with all users. If there is a hardware failure, all users are affected. 

 

If you are committed to a single machine get a case that can handle six 3.5" drives . Buy four and create a raid 10 array. Or buy two and use a raid 1 array. Make sure the hdd are NAS models, e.g. Seagate IronWolf (Pro), WD Red (Plus, Pro). Unless there is a lot of traffic, simply share the array using Windows.

[Electronics Wizardy]

2 hours ago, Cal-GGMU said:

atm no backup plan for the storage, but was hoping to tackle it in the near future. Once these drives are full, they will most likely never be spun up minus the rarest of occasions.
Im thinking just a regular backup drive for the OS and programs.
Would something like FreeNAS provide me similar interface to access the folders? What access speeds are we talking about over WAN? Would it depend on our internet speeds at the studio and home stations?

get that backup plan first so you don't lose all the photos.

 

What wan speeds do you have?

 

Id get a cloud backup or a offsite nas, don't really want the backup onsite.

[Cal-GGMU]

On 12/2/2020 at 11:02 PM, Electronics Wizardy said:

get that backup plan first so you don't lose all the photos.

 

What wan speeds do you have?

 

Id get a cloud backup or a offsite nas, don't really want the backup onsite.

I like the idea of cloud back up. google offers archival storage that sounds like could work for us.

Our internet speeds are something like 100mbps download, 100mbps upload. At our homes it varies, I have fiber

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 hour ago, Cal-GGMU said:

I like the idea of cloud back up. google offers archival storage that sounds like could work for us.

Our internet speeds are something like 100mbps download, 100mbps upload. At our homes it varies, I have fiber

Id say those speeds are way to slow to be working on files remotly. Id just setup remote destop sessions to local worksttions.

 

[Cal-GGMU]

On 12/2/2020 at 9:50 PM, brob said:

As to the op build:

 

The cpu cooler is marginal for a 105W TDP cpu. Consider the NH-D15 (or NH-D15S if using taller memory modules).

 

The psu is an older design lacking protections found in newer models.

Is the CPU cooler going to bottleneck the machine you think? would getting a second fan on the other side of the fin tower solve my problem? Or just go to another cooler

Im was also considering a better PSU tbh, because this machine will be on ALL the time, plus a powerbank to protect against surges and blackouts

[Cal-GGMU]

Whats a good price range I should be looking at as far as PSUs? Im guessing gold or platinum rated right?

[Cal-GGMU]

16 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Id say those speeds are way to slow to be working on files remotly. Id just setup remote destop sessions to local worksttions.

 

Probably the plan, until we move offices to a better location with better internet.

[brob]

According to Noctua the NH-U9S has low turbo / overclocking potential.

 

Seasonic psu models to consider Focus GX-650 or GX-760, Prime GX-650 or GX-750. Corsair psu models RM650X, RM760X, and HX750. There are others if none of these are available or in budget.

 

Generally the price differential of 80+ Platinum vs Gold does not justify the better electrical efficiency.