DIY NAS Hardware Selection

[Lochie A]

I'm planning on making a NAS that will mainly just be used for storage for backing up my pc, laptop and phone. I was thinking about buying a premade one such as a synology or qnap but I think I will be able to make one cheaper if I build it myself. I was thinking that I might have a NAS with the capacity of 8 hard drives even if I don't fill it with 8 drives from the beginning. 

 

I currently have ram and a power supply that I could use so that just leaves me with the cpu, motherboard and case. 

For cpu I was thinking the i3-1200 which I can get for $169

For motherboard I was thinking ASUS Prime B660M-A for $169

For case I was thinking the Node 804 which I can get for $165

 

I'd probably end up getting a 10gbe NIC and a HBA card from ebay.

 

I was wondering if these parts seem like they would be alright for a NAS build. There might be some small docker containers that I would also run on it but I can't imagine that they would take alot to run.

 

I also have a 2tb nvme ssd which I could probably use as a cache if I can. I was thinking about using unraid for the operating system as i'd like to be able to add more drives later as I will probably only get 4 drives to begin with.

 

I was also wondering if there would be a cheaper place to buy hard drives in Australia. I don't want really cheap drives that might have a short life but I am on a budget so I wanted to look around first. I was thinking with going with 8tb drives which I can get for $279 each from what I have found. any advice would be appreciated, thanks. 

[MrSimplicity]

29 minutes ago, Lochie A said:

I was wondering if these parts seem like they would be alright for a NAS build

Any computer can be a server as long as you understand the requirements of what you plan on doing with it. Mine is basically just a top of the line gaming PC without the GPU (though it has a 4060 in it). Obviously I haven't run into any issues with performance but I also wouldn't expect it to. So as long as the hardware you choose can run the applications you plan on using it for then there won't be an issue. Though, not sure a 10gb nic would really do you any good here.

 

35 minutes ago, Lochie A said:

cheaper place to buy hard drives

Hard drive prices are ridiculous right now, mine are all 16TB at about $260 USD each (8 drives including parity) but three of them died a little while ago. Got the warranty on them but one of the replacements also died and I haven't been able to replace it yet because the price for the same drive has gone up to about $350. Your best bet is to run Unraid with dual parity and some cheap drives if you are worried about it. If all you're doing is using it as a backup then you really shouldn't need that much space. Just get a few 2TB drives for about $50 each. Unless you actually plan on using it for what the rest of us do.

[Liran017]

Which OS are you planning on using? How will you backup stuff? Automatically or manually? Are you planning on running VMs?

 

Will you use it as a media server (Jelyfin/Plex) as well? Will you need transcoding?

 

If you plan on installing multiple services in the NAS to backup data, play media or any other thing, I think it should be fine but maybe consider also asking in the relevant community for the specific OS you'll be running as well. Also worth noting that each OS has a specific requirement/suggestion for RAM, according to the amount of storage in the NAS.

 

I suggest checking how much you need to add for a board with 6 sata ports, that could be enough for a long time and save you the need for the HBA card. Maybe go with 2.5gbe and save on the NIC as well.

 

In most use cases, 1gbe will be enough for backups (maybe the initial backup will take time) and media. Does your home network support more than that?

[Lochie A]

I'm planning on using unraid but that might change. I'll setup automatic backups for as much as I can and the only other thing that might run on it will be home assistant.

 

I doubt I will use it as a media server, mainly just storage. 

 

I didn't actually realise that the motherboard had 6 sata ports on it so I definitely won't be needing an adapter first up. I don't necessarily need the 10gbe NIC but I have one in my current desktop and I have a 2.5gbe adaptor for my laptop and I can get a 10gbe SFP+ NIC pretty cheap anyway. 

 

As for the hard drives I might just go with 4 4tb drives for now with one for redundancy with the current prices. 

[Liran017]

The motherboard has only 4 sata ports, not 6. I asked why not to spend a few more bucks for it?

 

If you have 4 drives, you're leavion no room for upgrades without an HBA. Also, in some cases, the 2nd NVME comes at the cost of a sata so (e.g. you can plug 1 NVME and 4 HDD or 2 NVME and 3 HDD) I don't see it in the webpage but I suggest looking at the full documentation, usually there's a PDF of the manual with the data.

[Bersella AI]

This is a pretty simple requisition, and I would suggest something refurbished to start with. I have been pleasant with a used commercial PC from HP (EliteDesk 800 G3 SFF), with Pentium G4600, 16GB RAM and 20 TB of storage equipped, and an cost well under 130 AUD (610 in CNY) without storage. It has done well in data backup, media management & transcoding, as well as a dozen of various services; it also came with plenty of bays and slots, including two 3.5' bays, three SATA ports, one M.2 NVMe slot and four PCIe slots.

 

9 hours ago, Lochie A said:

I don't want really cheap drives that might have a short life but I am on a budget so I wanted to look around first.

Then WD Purple or Seagate SkyHawk series would be decent to start with. They are designed for 24/7 deployment in surveillance systems, and all come with CMR recording. Furthermore, the enterprise-grade WD Ultrastar or Seagate Exos series are among the best in durability and performance, with slightly higher pricing.

 

9 hours ago, Lochie A said:

I also have a 2tb nvme ssd which I could probably use as a cache if I can.

An SSD cache is generally intended for concurrent sessions from hundreds of clients, and may not benefit the performance with just one or a few users at home. I would not suggest a cache drive, but a regular storage pool for its use.