First DIY NAS

[JLViCZ]

I am planning to build a NAS and it will be my first time. I am picking up the Dell OPTIPLEX 3020; i5 4590, 4g ram, and 500HDD. 
What OS will you recommend? the OS to use that I know so far is True NAS, are there any other options?

My main goal for this NAS is to store my photos, videos, etc outside my pc and is accessible with my laptop, and phone and could be shared with someone. (ie siblings, partners) 
 

I will upgrade the PC with a 128gb SATA ssd and 2 clone HDDs. Future upgrades would be a GPU (for media server if needed), Ram (if needed), and PSU (if needed)

 

I want to perform as follows:
1. Could access the NAS locally and outside (with my phone or laptop)

2. It is secure

3. RAID 1 for data protection

4. Maybe will run a server (for future projects; Media server, ad block, home automation) 

[tkitch]

make sure you're looking at the Tower version of the 3020, otherwise you won't have much space for drives, or GPU upgrades.

 

are you looking for remote file-level access?  Or like streaming video to your phone / laptop?  
Plex has the ability to remotely access your videos built in, so that's easy.

 

File access requires a bit more work, but it still is doable.

 

TrueNAS has docker for additional features.

[LIGISTX]

2 hours ago, JLViCZ said:

I am planning to build a NAS and it will be my first time. I am picking up the Dell OPTIPLEX 3020; i5 4590, 4g ram, and 500HDD. 
What OS will you recommend? the OS to use that I know so far is True NAS, are there any other options?

My main goal for this NAS is to store my photos, videos, etc outside my pc and is accessible with my laptop, and phone and could be shared with someone. (ie siblings, partners) 
 

I will upgrade the PC with a 128gb SATA ssd and 2 clone HDDs. Future upgrades would be a GPU (for media server if needed), Ram (if needed), and PSU (if needed)

 

I want to perform as follows:
1. Could access the NAS locally and outside (with my phone or laptop)

2. It is secure

3. RAID 1 for data protection

4. Maybe will run a server (for future projects; Media server, ad block, home automation) 

You will need more RAM for truenas, I believe 8 GB is the minimum recommended these days. 
 

If you plan on adding more storage later on, look into unraid instead. Before you do anything, make sure you fully understand the benefits and limitations of ZFS (the file system truenas uses). It’s great, but it’s not friendly to adding storage later on. 

[JLViCZ]

I have my first road block. 
The computer it self only have 2 sata port on the motherboard, which pcie to sata should I get?
I will also add 8gb ram 

[JLViCZ]

3 hours ago, tkitch said:

make sure you're looking at the Tower version of the 3020, otherwise you won't have much space for drives, or GPU upgrades.

 

are you looking for remote file-level access?  Or like streaming video to your phone / laptop?  
Plex has the ability to remotely access your videos built in, so that's easy.

 

File access requires a bit more work, but it still is doable.

 

TrueNAS has docker for additional features.

Yep, my first mistake, I got the small tower, I am looking for an adaptor or a jig for it to support 2 3.5 hdd. I can resell it and get another one if it doesn't work 

[Sjaakie]

On 6/30/2023 at 7:43 PM, JLViCZ said:

Yep, my first mistake, I got the small tower, I am looking for an adaptor or a jig for it to support 2 3.5 hdd. I can resell it and get another one if it doesn't work 

External usb enclosure could be an option. Otherwise I'd resell and get a decent tower with some hdd capacity.