Leveling up NAS to "homeserver" - feedback on plans, plus a few hardware & software questions

Aleph256 · November 11

As discussed in a previous thread some weeks ago, I've been looking at replacing my Drivestor 4 Pro and its with something a bit more versatile.

I've done a fair bit of research since the last thread, and now have a few approaches I have trouble weighting against each other.

See my train of thought below, and general questions at the bottom.

Requirements:

Max budget : 600€, including the OS and its drive, but not the rest of the storage media
Must fit in a standard IKEA shelf block (335mm width x 335mm height x 390mm depth)
- If we end up with external PSUs, they can be on the next shelf with the UPS
Supports a mix of NVMe and SATA, depending on the intended usecases
- SATA: 4 HDDs in RAID5, at least one cache SSD
- NVMe: One for Linux ISOs sharing machine, one for containers
- Either (depending on the solution): Cache for the HDD pool
2.5GB Ethernet
Not too power-hungry at idle
Ability to spin a few services as VMs or containers (arr stack, NextCloud, VPN, DNS...)
- Of note: it is NOT planned to use it for Plex and transcoding - see below

Nice to have:

Drive trays, not like how Jonsbo does it
New stuff, but I'm willing to buy some used
A nice-looking case, but function takes priority over form

What I already have on hand:

Parts salvaged from my laptop
- Kingston SNS8154P3 256GB (OEM boot drive)
- Samsung 970 EVO 1 TB
- 2x Crucial 8GB DDR4-2400 SODIMM
Nvidia Shield to handle the multimedia part
Eaton UPS (500VA/300W)
Not "on hand" per see but I'll be replacing my 4-port Gigabit switch with a 8-port 2.5G
- There's not much price difference between managed or not
- As such, final decision will be handled by the rest of the planning
- Either way it is not to be considered in the budget

The various options I'm considering:

Fast and easy - buy a prebuilt - I think the Nimbustor 4 Gen 2 might be the best option for that road
- Pros:
  - Not much setup required
  - Already experienced with ADM
  - Could migrate my existing drives without much fuss
- Cons:
  - Probably not the best value
  - Pretty limited when it comes to the apps part
- It also has the benefit of setting a price baseline for the other approaches
Intermediate option - mini PC + DAS box
- Pros:
  - Less assembly required than a full DIY option
  - You can find pretty powerful mini-PCs under the 200€ range
- Cons:
  - DAS enclosures are a pain to find in the EU
  - Not sure how stable a continuous USB link between the DAS and the PC would be
  - Can't seem to be able to get the mini PC barebones, which leads to unecessary costs
Full DIY - aka hell when it comes to comparing specs
- Pros:
  - Most flexibility in what to get
  - Potential for most upgradeability assuming not going for a soldered CPU
  - Probably the cheapest option when the chips are down
- Cons:
  - I'm quite thoroughly lost in what hardware I could/should get here
  - Most risk to do an oopsie somewhere in the build
  - Probably the most time-consuming one

General questions regarding the handsy approaches:

Is it possible to boot from a SSD that is in a PCIE expansion card like this one?
How much of a fire hazard would these adapters be?
Are there benefits to running Proxmox bare metal with a TrueNAS VM for storage, and a Linux VM for containers, compared to TrueNAS bare metal and letting it handle the containers?
- Especially if one of the VMs is handling router duty...
- Side question: any reason most videos I've seen on the matter seem to prefer Debian for the Linux VM?
Do you know of any container that could handle something like a remote-controlled Foobar2k? Or am I doomed to run a VM for that?

I'm probably forgetting some of my questions since I've been staring at this for a bit too long.

Don't hesitate to point out the glaring mistakes I doubtlessly made, and thanks for taking the time to read me.

Bersella AI · November 12

19 hours ago, Aleph256 said:

Fast and easy - buy a prebuilt - I think the Nimbustor 4 Gen 2 might be the best option for that road

Definitely the most convenient and the most time-saving approach. Since it supports Docker, I don't think limitations in apps would become a notable issue. There are some caveats however, including:

Its processor may perform poorly with multiple VMs or services, and is not replaceable.
Although it may reuse RAM kits salvaged from laptop, it only supports up to 16 GB of RAM, which may not be welcomed in VM hosting.

19 hours ago, Aleph256 said:

Intermediate option - mini PC + DAS box

A workaround for unavailability of DAS boxes is to search for an M.2 to SATA adapter card, which usually comes with an ASM1116 controller and 5~6 SATA ports. However, since it does not have any room for 3.5-inch spinners, you have to make a suitable enclosure and SATA power cables (including 12V & 5V rails) for them by yourself, and disassemble the whole PC (warranty may be avoided). This approach may also have drawbacks similar to the pre-built solution above.

19 hours ago, Aleph256 said:

Full DIY - aka hell when it comes to comparing specs

First of all, even though there may be no needs for transcoding, an integrated GPU would still help in initialization and troubleshooting, and would be essential if you do not have any spare GPU for those operations.

Then I'd like to share my thoughts regarding the last general questions before making recommendations.

This card requires the PCIe bifurcation feature being enabled in motherboard's BIOS, which may not be supported natively or has limitations. Consider other cards that have only one M.2 slot to adapt from PCIe x4/x1.
Essentially safe from fire hazards, since these cards do not have any component soldered other than a SODIMM slot.
Yes, Proxmox is intended for management of VMs and has better performance as well as features when compared to TrueNAS Scale bare-metal. However, I have no experience with Proxmox, and answers from someone else would be more convincing.
Debian is considered one of the most stable and reliable Linux distros, which makes it favorable in choices of host systems.
The app Navidrome may be preferred in music management. It can be installed as a Docker container, and has third-party clients for various platforms to stream your own music.

The last is hardware selections:

Processor: Start with Core i3-12100.
Motherboard: Start with B660/B760 and with at least 4 DDR4 slots (reducing costs), two M.2 slots as well as 2.5Gb Ethernet. Plenty of options available. Those two salvaged SSDs would be reusable.
RAM: Start from 32 GB. Those SODIMM kits are not immediately reusable and require adapter cards as questioned before.
Chassis: Consider those from Fractal Design with enough drive bays.

Aleph256 · November 13

Bless thee for this very exhaustive answer.

14 hours ago, Bersella AI said:

There are some caveats however

Yeah that's why I was iffy about just throwing money at the turn-key solution. I don't think the 16GB limitation would be that much of an issue for my use case.
... But then again I didn't think I would need more than 2GB when I got the current one so...

14 hours ago, Bersella AI said:

you have to make a suitable enclosure and SATA power cables (including 12V & 5V rails) for them by yourself

I'm a good hand at CAD and have a pair of printers I could use at work, so I've considered printing a case.

But if I went that route I'd probably use our Lord and Savior the CM3588 as the brains. A standard PSU to power the spinners (and maybe the board itself, pretty sure an adapter from standard plugs to DC barrel jack can be found if I look hard enough). SATA data cables and even MOLEX-powered backplanes can be found on Ali for not that much.

Aaaaaand at that point we'd be in full-DIY mode anyway so...

14 hours ago, Bersella AI said:

Consider other cards that have only one M.2 slot to adapt from PCIe x4/x1.

I was only considering it in the scenario the motherboard wouldn't have enough NVMe slots but a full-size PCIe slot (I've seen some cheaper ITX board like that).

Thanks for the Navidrome recommendation - I've looked it up quickly, but I'm not sure it will fit my needs (idea would be to be able to play music from the container directly to a soundbar). I'll dig more later.

I've thrown together a parts list with your recommendations.

Add 10 bucks for 8 SATA data cables, 16 bucks for a HBA to add 4 more SATA connections.

I'll likely be reusing my existing RAM so throw 10 more bucks for the pair of adapters.

36 more for a dual-port NIC and we're pretty much on budget.

Sadly cases that fit my requirements are far and few - Fractal Node 804 almost made the cut but it's a teeny bit too wide. Jonsbo it is I guess. I've found this thread mentionning heating issues but that can be fixed aesthetically with some printing.

Looking good to you?