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Building a Home Server/NAS

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Filesystem-level software RAID (Btrfs, ZFS, etc) is always preferable to chipset-driven pseudo-hardware RAID, because if anything happens to your hardware you can easily import the array/pool into another OS that recognizes that filesystem.

 

Download TrueNAS Scale or Unraid and give them a test drive. It won't cost you anything but time just to kick the tires. There are plenty of channels out there like Craft Computing that can walk you through the setup process. Play with it and experiment before putting any data you care about onto it, though!

 

Once you've picked which one you want to use, you might want to get a cheap 32 or 64 gig Optane SSD as your boot drive. Generally you want to keep your boot volume separate from your data.

Hi guys, first time post. Just really looking for any pointers, general advice and possible pit falls of building a home server.

 

I have the following sitting around doing nothing and would like to expand my experience/knowledge and try build a home server/NAS.

 

ASUS Z270 Maximus MoBo

Core i7 7700K (AiO or air cooled options)

32GB Corsair 2666 DDR4 (4x8GB)

750W PSU (might be a bit suspect)

512 GB m.2 SSD

a few 1TB HDD's

Fractal Design Define 5 Case

Windows 10 Home licence from old Laptop.

 

I understand the MoBo supports various raid combinations 0, 1, 5, & 10. This might seem like complete overkill and with a graphics card could make a semi decent PC but I see it as a good way to learn a new skill. 

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Edited by manicseamonkey
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Id install a nas os like unraid or true nas, and then you can setup the network shares and raid from there. You almost never want to use the raid included on the motherboard. Then in those oses, you can setup programs for things like plex or vms for game servers.

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Filesystem-level software RAID (Btrfs, ZFS, etc) is always preferable to chipset-driven pseudo-hardware RAID, because if anything happens to your hardware you can easily import the array/pool into another OS that recognizes that filesystem.

 

Download TrueNAS Scale or Unraid and give them a test drive. It won't cost you anything but time just to kick the tires. There are plenty of channels out there like Craft Computing that can walk you through the setup process. Play with it and experiment before putting any data you care about onto it, though!

 

Once you've picked which one you want to use, you might want to get a cheap 32 or 64 gig Optane SSD as your boot drive. Generally you want to keep your boot volume separate from your data.

I sold my soul for ProSupport.

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7 hours ago, Needfuldoer said:

Filesystem-level software RAID (Btrfs, ZFS, etc) is always preferable to chipset-driven pseudo-hardware RAID, because if anything happens to your hardware you can easily import the array/pool into another OS that recognizes that filesystem.

 

Download TrueNAS Scale or Unraid and give them a test drive. It won't cost you anything but time just to kick the tires. There are plenty of channels out there like Craft Computing that can walk you through the setup process. Play with it and experiment before putting any data you care about onto it, though!

 

Once you've picked which one you want to use, you might want to get a cheap 32 or 64 gig Optane SSD as your boot drive. Generally you want to keep your boot volume separate from your data.

So an octane module is preferable to an M.2 SSD? I have a spare one to boot off.

 

I've been looking at hardware raid cards but am left a little confused.  I'd like to try running raid 1 (data same on both drives?) and have a incremental backup going to an external drive. 

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12 hours ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Id install a nas os like unraid or true nas, and then you can setup the network shares and raid from there. You almost never want to use the raid included on the motherboard. Then in those oses, you can setup programs for things like plex or vms for game servers.

Would these setups require a add in card?

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3 hours ago, manicseamonkey said:

So an octane module is preferable to an M.2 SSD? I have a spare one to boot off.

 

I've been looking at hardware raid cards but am left a little confused.  I'd like to try running raid 1 (data same on both drives?) and have a incremental backup going to an external drive. 

You have six SATA ports already, no need for a raid card if you are using software based raid.

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