Help deciding on a NAS (DIY or Prebuilt)

[TheKahuna]

HI everyone, I've been looking for this information for a long time, between this forum, reddit and youtube, and I'm still at a loss, so maybe you can help?
NAS Function:

• to have a backup of all the devices at home (3 computers and 3 mobile devices), mainly photos and videos that are already have a backup in the cloud
• plex server to see some movies on the tv
• still need to check what is correct RAID that I need to do, but mainly I want a RAID where of one disk fails, the data is still safe (Yes, I know that I need to learn a lot about this)
• Maybe running some docker images in the future, with a big maybe.

What I'm looking for:

• something as quiet as possible since I don't have a dedicated space for the NAS
• a small form factor would be good for the same reason as above, example: the JONSBO N1 from LTT video seems like a good compromise between size and scalability for the future
• to have a good balance between energy efficiency and performance

I would prefer DIY just for the upgradability and also because I like messing around with tech, and learn something new, but open to ideas.

I don't have a budget, but I would like to keep as low as possible, the synology ones that I've been seeing are around 600€, so anything bellow that value would be great (Without hard drives)

 

I live in Portugal, I can by from another EU countries, and the currency is Euros (I know these are important information's to consider). 

 

Thank you for all the help!

 

 

 

[shoutingsteve]

I built a  TruNAS server for myself and I really like it.  I am not sure about plex, because I use VLC which does basically the same thing.

[OhioYJ]

You saying you want the ability to upgrade and learn, already leans towards DIY. The prebuilts will be easier, likely more energy efficient, and sometimes cheaper.  

 

The nail in the coffin for the prebuilts for me was the OEMs that have been releasing updates only allowing specific hard drives in their NASs. 

 

In the end I was glad I went DIY anyways, as I've upgraded several times, and it went fairly easily. I started out with four drives. Then went to 8 with a case replacement, and just moved my NAS to a different room. Then again replaced the case, and upgraded to 16 drives. Being a DIY system, I've kept the same CPU, MB, etc the entire time. 

[TheKahuna]

And what hardware do you advise? I've seen that ecc memory is important (is it that important?), and since I want a plex server in there, I should have at least a cpu with integrated gpu for transcoding (maybe it's not necessary?)

When looking for cpu information, I get a ton of info about gaming cpu's, but for NAS is kinda scarse...

[ToboRobot]

For small size and compact, it will be hard to compete with a NAS appliance like Synology. 

 

I built a full tower system with a 12400 for fairly inexpensive, for the same basic use case.

 

Pick a Synology that is within your budget and fits your needs, then go and try to price out a system that is comparable.  It's harder and more expensive to built a system with compact motherboards and cases, especially for this use case.  

And then there is the aspect of time and skill.  Do you have the time and linux skills to not just setup the system and get it working, but maintain it and keep everything up to date?  When a OS update breaks PiHole or your essential services, do you have the skills and ability to fix it?  

For some people a DIY linux NAS works, but for many other people, buying an appliance and having a good backup services is so simple and easy that it's the better option, even though it's more expensive and less flexible.

 

[OhioYJ]

1 hour ago, TheKahuna said:

And what hardware do you advise? I've seen that ecc memory is important (is it that important?), and since I want a plex server in there, I should have at least a cpu with integrated gpu for transcoding (maybe it's not necessary?)

I don't run ECC memory. I would consider it a nice to have, not a must have in personal NAS build in most cases. Many prebuilt consumer style NAS that you would look at that wouldn't have ECC memory. 

 

ECC would add to your costs. There quite a few videos that talk about the pros and cons to this. Lawrence Systems has a couple on this.