First NAS Build - Component Help

[Wheeler]

Hey all, 

 

I've been wanting to build myself a NAS for some time now, but I have no knowledge of server component selection. I've built many of my own systems but nothing ever server related. The NAS will be primarily used for images & videos, but I just don't know here to begin.  I don't know what I should be looking for at all component wise. Don't know what features on a motherboard I should be looking for, what CPU and GPU would be adequate, if I'll need an LSI or HBA card (or which one of those to buy if I do), or any other specific components I may need. (i.e, cables, or additional components) It also can't be rack mounted, has to be in a case. I was looking at the Silverstone CS01-HS but would be open to any suggestions. Direct attach would also be nice if possible. As far as software goes, Linus replied to my question during a livestream and said to go with either TrueNAS or Unraid, I'm thinking I'll do Unraid. Any information or suggestions would be very greatly appreciated. Hope you guys could point me in the right direction.

- Wheeler

[LIGISTX]

7 hours ago, Wheeler said:

Hey all, 

 

I've been wanting to build myself a NAS for some time now, but I have no knowledge of server component selection. I've built many of my own systems but nothing ever server related. The NAS will be primarily used for images & videos, but I just don't know here to begin.  I don't know what I should be looking for at all component wise. Don't know what features on a motherboard I should be looking for, what CPU and GPU would be adequate, if I'll need an LSI or HBA card (or which one of those to buy if I do), or any other specific components I may need. (i.e, cables, or additional components) It also can't be rack mounted, has to be in a case. I was looking at the Silverstone CS01-HS but would be open to any suggestions. Direct attach would also be nice if possible. As far as software goes, Linus replied to my question during a livestream and said to go with either TrueNAS or Unraid, I'm thinking I'll do Unraid. Any information or suggestions would be very greatly appreciated. Hope you guys could point me in the right direction.

- Wheeler

Servers are just PC’s, there is more or less no difference. 
 

For a simple home NAS, if you have an old PC laying around, that will do perfect. Or if a family or friend has an old PC, that works too. You don’t need much, just need ~16GB of RAM, any CPU from the past 10 years, and harddrives. 
 

No need for an HBA, just plug straight into mobo. 
 

Id start googling for tutorials and YouTube videos about unraid so you can start learning terminology and use cases. Then go from there. Your on the right path, just need to do more research. Watch YouTube videos to get a better working understanding of what everything is. 

[Bdavis]

What you buy or build will depend on your use case. You don't need anything fancy for one or two users. You may want 2.5gb or 10gb networking especially for video but it can get expensive.

 

Case choice depends on how many drives you want, what your noise tolerance is, and what form factor motherboard you want.