NAS - is this the right hardware?

[Knonf]

Hi guys,

I'm planning to build a NAS for general data storage and video streaming (transcoding). Hopefully you guys can help me to choose the right hardware. I have already picked some components but I'm not sure, if they are perfect for a NAS.

I didn't selected ecc hardware. Could it be a problem ?

CASE

Fractal Design Node 304

Motherboard

Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI

I know that it has wifi and Bluetooth and that I won't need those things in a server. But it is the cheapest mini itx board with 6 SATA 6Gb/s ports that I could find. (I want to be able to upgrade the system with more HDDs in the future)

Power supply

be quiet! System Power 7 300W

CPU

Intel Core i3-4160T, 2x 3.10GHz

RAM

G.Skill Value DIMM Kit 8GB, DDR3-1333, CL9-9-9-24

HDDs

2 WD Red 3TB

+ a usb 2.0 stick for the os

OS

Free NAS

[handruin]

Are you ever planning to expand beyond the 2 HDDs in your NAS?  If not, are you going to mirror them or just roll the dice on availability with your data?  For this small (capacity) of a NAS I don't think ECC memory is worth it.  Are you planning to use ZFS under FreeNAS? 

 

What about the SilverStone DS380B for a case?

 

I prefer HGST drives over WD but that could be its own debate.  I opted for the HGST 4TB NAS 7200 RPM drives in my current new NAS I built.

[Captain_WD]

Hi guys,

I'm planning to build a NAS for general data storage and video streaming (transcoding). Hopefully you guys can help me to choose the right hardware. I have already picked some components but I'm not sure, if they are perfect for a NAS.

I didn't selected ecc hardware. Could it be a problem ?

CASE

Fractal Design Node 304

Motherboard

Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI

I know that it has wifi and Bluetooth and that I won't need those things in a server. But it is the cheapest mini itx board with 6 SATA 6Gb/s ports that I could find. (I want to be able to upgrade the system with more HDDs in the future)

Power supply

be quiet! System Power 7 300W

CPU

Intel Core i3-4160T, 2x 3.10GHz

RAM

G.Skill Value DIMM Kit 8GB, DDR3-1333, CL9-9-9-24

HDDs

2 WD Red 3TB

+ a usb 2.0 stick for the os

OS

Free NAS

 

 

Hey chris3196,

 

The parts list looks good. The memory and the CPU should be enough to cover your needs. WD Red are great drives for NAS/RAID environments. How many drives are you planning on putting in the future (since you mentioned 6 SATA ports)? Also what type of RAID are you going for?

 

I would suggest switching the USB stick with a small SSD to handle your OS and have it plugged in internally to avoid accidentally removing the OS storage device. 

 

Captain_WD.

[Knonf]

Are you ever planning to expand beyond the 2 HDDs in your NAS? 

How many drives are you planning on putting in the future (since you mentioned 6 SATA ports)? Also what type of RAID are you going for?

For now I'm plannig to use 2 3TB HDDs in raid 1. But I will definitely add 2 to 4 drives when I need additional space.

Are you planning to use ZFS under FreeNAS? 

Yes.

What about the SilverStone DS380B for a case?

Its a nice case, but its too expensive for me.

[Captain_WD]

For now I'm plannig to use 2 3TB HDDs in raid 1. But I will definitely add 2 to 4 drives when I need additional space.

 

Then you should be fine. Just make sure you configure your RAID setup as expandable, otherwise you would have to backup all data, configure new RAID array and then restore all data on it.

 

Captain_WD.