Sharing my experience of building a budget NAS

[This user isnot blocked]

I have an existing NAS bought from QNAP. Although I'm very satisfied with the out of box experience a commercial NAS provide, a two-bay-system such as mine inevitably limits my storage capacity. After the 200th movie downloaded, it was clear that expending my storage system is needed.

Since I didn't want to change my existing setup and only wanted someway to expand my movie folder, my new NAS system's requirement is more focused on aesthetics:

• At least provide an upload speed over 200MBytes
• At least 4 drives
• Less than 350mm in depth and 210mm in height to fit in my shell.
• Quiet

I first tried a SY-N3160 motherboard. Although its super cheap (about 15$ include shipping) and power-efficient, it didn't support my LSI raid card. Since a raid card will enable me to use super cheap used SAS drives, I have no choice but to look for a compatible motherboard. After searching, I found that Asus motherboard provides compatibility report and H310M-D D3 motherboard is compatible with LSI raid card. So my final build is:

• CPU: used i3-6100t, 12$
• Motherboard: used H310M-D D3, 16$
• Cooler: used Cooler Master 2U active cooler without the fan (due to noise), 5$
• System drive: Kingston 64G USB, 3$
• LSI card: used LSI 9217-8i, 8$
• Power supply: Super-flower Bronze King 450W, 38$
• HDD drives: used SAS 6T drives, 40*4$
• Case: non-branded 4U short case K430FB (482*350*178mm), 25$

I was a little bit worried about my CPU temperature since I removed the CPU cooling fan. However, after built, the little air flow created by power supply intake fan is able to control my CPU temperature under 66 degree under heavy load and 45 degree under light load. Since I don't expect my CPU to run any sustained load, I believe this is more than sufficient. And I also strongly recommend using 4U short case instead of NAS case. My case is not only cheaper than similar cases such as SilverStone CS381 or CS380, but also ridiculously rigid. The steel must be at least 0.8mm thick, I even needed a hammer to remove PCIe slot cover.

Finally, my case's final look:

[FI Fheonix]

1 hour ago, This user isnot blocked said:

I have an existing NAS bought from QNAP. Although I'm very satisfied with the out of box experience a commercial NAS provide, a two-bay-system such as mine inevitably limits my storage capacity. After the 200th movie downloaded, it was clear that expending my storage system is needed.

Since I didn't want to change my existing setup and only wanted someway to expand my movie folder, my new NAS system's requirement is more focused on aesthetics:

• At least provide an upload speed over 200MBytes
• At least 4 drives
• Less than 350mm in depth and 210mm in height to fit in my shell.
• Quiet

I first tried a SY-N3160 motherboard. Although its super cheap (about 15$ include shipping) and power-efficient, it didn't support my LSI raid card. Since a raid card will enable me to use super cheap used SAS drives, I have no choice but to look for a compatible motherboard. After searching, I found that Asus motherboard provides compatibility report and H310M-D D3 motherboard is compatible with LSI raid card. So my final build is:

• CPU: used i3-6100t, 12$
• Motherboard: used H310M-D D3, 16$
• Cooler: used Cooler Master 2U active cooler without the fan (due to noise), 5$
• System drive: Kingston 64G USB, 3$
• LSI card: used LSI 9217-8i, 8$
• Power supply: Super-flower Bronze King 450W, 38$
• HDD drives: used SAS 6T drives, 40*4$
• Case: non-branded 4U short case K430FB (482*350*178mm), 25$

I was a little bit worried about my CPU temperature since I removed the CPU cooling fan. However, after built, the little air flow created by power supply intake fan is able to control my CPU temperature under 66 degree under heavy load and 45 degree under light load. Since I don't expect my CPU to run any sustained load, I believe this is more than sufficient. And I also strongly recommend using 4U short case instead of NAS case. My case is not only cheaper than similar cases such as SilverStone CS381 or CS380, but also ridiculously rigid. The steel must be at least 0.8mm thick, I even needed a hammer to remove PCIe slot cover.

Finally, my case's final look:

 

What exactly do you need help with here?

[Valentin17]

41 minutes ago, FI Fheonix said:

What exactly do you need help with here?

He is just sharing his experience of building a cheap NAS.

[This user isnot blocked]

On 5/28/2023 at 12:53 PM, Valentin17 said:

He is just sharing his experience of building a cheap NAS.

Yeah. Sorry I wasn't clear enough.

My main point is sharing two findings:

1. SY-N3160 motherboard isn't compatible with LSI raid card. For whatever reason, LSI raid card would show a normal, green heart beat LED, but doesn't turn on the HDDs, nor shows up in the system. I spent countless hours tring to debug the problem. So do pick your motherboard carefully.
2. Use Short+4U instead of NAS+case to search for NAS case will get you much cheaper and ATX-compatible results. So that's an option for those who doesn't need the smallest case.

PS. Also, if you are buying large volume HDDs, make sure you don't provide 3.3v power. That will shut down the HDDs. Use molex-sata power cable so 3.3v is omitted.

[Mihle]

That is cheap. My NAS obviously cost more than that, but it's smaller.

 

(Lian li PC-Q 25)