nas NAS Setup First Time

[nukestye]

Hello!

 

Been looking into getting a NAS setup for a while now and finally decided to go through; and bought an old OptiPlex 9020 MT.

Since this is my first time, I rather not spend a lot of money. So starting small with roughly 4 x 2 TB HDD worth of storage.

Mainly would be used to store media (Jellyfin or personal pictures) alongside running game servers.

 

The OptiPlex Specs:

- CPU: Intel Core i7-4770

- RAM: 32GB (speed unknown till I get it)

- Boot Drive: 256 GB

- 4 x 2 TB

 

For the case, I can fit 3 x 3.5" HDD easily with one of them needing an adaptor. The last HDD might see if I can 3D print something or remove the DVD bay.

 

I just have a few questions that I keep searching, but cannot really find a concrete answer to.

 

- For Jellyfin, would I need a GPU for transcoding? Not going to be watching 4k content for a while.

- For the NAS setup, I'll be using TrueNAS scale. I believe it consumes one of the drive to be parity. So the total storage would then be 6 TB, not 8 TB. Is it possible to get the whole 8 TB, or would you not recommend it.

- Should I get more RAM, well the better question is, Can I get more RAM inside the system?

- Is the system easy to expand from? I just want to know for the future when I do, so then can plan early.

 

The OptiPlex 9020 MT was one of the old systems I could buy quickly and under £100 with the number of bays it has, but right now I have buyer's remorse from just waiting.

This is a new experience for me, so I am expecting a lot of errors and headaches. I have this one guide by Raid Owl that I will be using.

Many thanks for all the answers

Please let me know if you might need any more information.

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

I'd get fewer bigger drives. Maybe something like 2x8TB drives or bigger. Then you use less power,  and don't need the extra drive bays

 

18 minutes ago, nukestye said:

- For Jellyfin, would I need a GPU for transcoding? Not going to be watching 4k content for a while.

iGPU should be fine here, but depends on the codecs your using

 

18 minutes ago, nukestye said:

- For the NAS setup, I'll be using TrueNAS scale. I believe it consumes one of the drive to be parity. So the total storage would then be 6 TB, not 8 TB. Is it possible to get the whole 8 TB, or would you not recommend it.

you can, but then if a single drive dies you lose all the data.

 

Probably want to make sure you have backups in case something goes wrong.

 

19 minutes ago, nukestye said:

- Should I get more RAM, well the better question is, Can I get more RAM inside the system?

32GB should be more than enough here, and I think the max supported on those systems.

 

 

[Dutch_Master]

• I'd suggest adding a GPU, even an old one like a GT560 or older Radeon/AMD card. It's likely the Optiplex won't boot if it detects there's no GPU in it.
• never use RAID0, I doubt TrueNAS even offers that option during installation anyway.
• RAM is fine, if you want more the chance is you'd need 4 new (used!) bigger RAM sticks. TrueNAS loves RAM, but will manage any amount installed. You may run into issues on heavy workloads, but that would be the case anyway as the CPU is essentially e-waste (sorry).
• Expandability is not so good. The only way to bring it up to a reasonable standard is swapping out the mainboard+CPU+RAM for a low-spec AM4 system, but Dell has proprietary power connectors, stand-off layouts and other shenanigans to prevent just that

Basically, write this one off as learning experience (can you get a tax-deduction for that? Worth investigating ) and prep for a new system. AMD AM4 or AM5, Intel 10th gen or better.

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, Dutch_Master said:

I'd suggest adding a GPU, even an old one like a GT560 or older Radeon/AMD card. It's likely the Optiplex won't boot if it detects there's no GPU in it.

The vast majority of the optiplex systems I've used use the iGPU and the 4770 should have that enabled.

[nukestye]

22 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

I'd get fewer bigger drives. Maybe something like 2x8TB drives or bigger. Then you use less power,  and don't need the extra drive bays

 

I'm limited by money constrains, so cannot get 2x8 TB. Current cost of the HDDs is £100, which makes up just one HDD 8TB.

 

22 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

you can, but then if a single drive dies you lose all the data.

 

Probably want to make sure you have backups in case something goes wrong.

Ah, I guess a parity drive is needed then. thankss
 

22 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

iGPU should be fine here, but depends on the codecs your using

I have not familer with any codecs, looks like time for a bit more research.

 

22 minutes ago, Dutch_Master said:

I'd suggest adding a GPU, even an old one like a GT560 or older Radeon/AMD card. It's likely the Optiplex won't boot if it detects there's no GPU in it.

The CPU does have Integrated Graphics, so should be fine. Thanks for the GPUs that I could try out.

22 minutes ago, Dutch_Master said:

Expandability is not so good. The only way to bring it up to a reasonable standard is swapping out the mainboard+CPU+RAM for a low-spec AM4 system, but Dell has proprietary power connectors, stand-off layouts and other shenanigans to prevent just that

ah thats not good to hear but to be expected. I'll remember for future builds.