DIY-NAS/Homeserver

[YoonAddicting]

Hello!

Lately I have been looking at buying a NAS, although the more I have looked into it, the more I have realized that not a lot of the commercial NAS' fulfil my requirements.

 

I am looking to build at NAS, capable of running Plex and transcoding 720p 3000 kbit/s videos for the most and on rare occasions 1080p videos. I thought that I might as well build my own NAS now that I am up in the ranger where it is possible.
 

So far I have made this list of components on PCPartPicker.com: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/YoonAddicting/saved/T8P9TW

I have never build a PC before, although I think I got the skill required to do so, but I don't know if the components is a bit overkill since the cost of it currently is a bit over what I would prefer to spend on it, but if it can't go lower than this, then so be it.
 

The price of the components in the above mentioned link is 5220 DKK or 875 USD in Danish stores.

 

As mentioned before the primary use of the PC is going to be running Plex on some sort of Linux, at the moment I am considering Ubuntu.

 

I would appreciate some suggestions for improvement in the performance, but also to reduce the price a bit without sacrificing too much performance.

[ShadowCaptain]

SNIP

Plex makes no use of GPU, so an APU is completely pointless

 

This is probably what I would build (based a little bit off my own server) and a really cheap SSD for the OS

 

I would suggest maybe FREENAS for the OS

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.99 @ NCIX US) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($26.75 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: MSI B85-G41 PC Mate ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Amazon) 

Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: A-Data Premier Pro SP600 32GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($41.29 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($114.00 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($114.00 @ Amazon) 

Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($31.98 @ OutletPC) 

Power Supply: Corsair CSM 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 

Total: $702.98

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-16 06:32 EST-0500

[YoonAddicting]

 

SNIP

 

The reason for the choice of the CPU, wasn't because of the fact it was an APU. Actually I didn't even realize, but more because it should be fast enough to handle the transcoding, and it one of the cheaper options around here.

I choose the Node 304 case because it is small enough for it to stand in my shelf underneath my TV, and is quite clean looking. Naturally it is my own fault for not mentioning that, but I do prefer to stay in the M-ITX form factor.

[ShadowCaptain]

The reason for the choice of the CPU, wasn't because of the fact it was an APU. Actually I didn't even realize, but more because it should be fast enough to handle the transcoding, and it one of the cheaper options around here.

I choose the Node 304 case because it is small enough for it to stand in my shelf underneath my TV, and is quite clean looking. Naturally it is my own fault for not mentioning that, but I do prefer to stay in the M-ITX form factor.

 

 

The a4 is a really pants CPU, for transcoding PLEX you really need a strong CPU, the i5 is also more energy efficient (an i3 could be a good option too and half the price)

 

I dont think its something you should cheap out on IMO, you can get a rough idea you can see how they processors stack up, an A4 would be way below this

 

If you want to stick AMD, maybe the FX4100 or 6100, or the newer a10s

 

http://www.guru3d.com/index.php?ct=articles&action=file&id=10837&admin=0a8fcaad6b03da6a6895d1ada2e171002a287bc1

 

I agree about ITX, wasnt sure if you wanted it to stay that way or not

[YoonAddicting]

I have used a few weeks to rethink this again, and I have upped my budget a bit.
 
Currently this the parts I plan on using:
 

CPU: AMD A8-7600 @3.1 GHz (PCMark score - According to the Plex forums, every 2000 score in PCMark counts for one 1080p live transcode)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+ (This motherboard has 6 SATA 6Gb/s ports, which matches with the six 3.5" slots in the Node 304 case, has a mSATA port for a boot SSD.)
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini-ITX (Perfect small case, reviews say that it is quiet even when packed with HDDs and has room for six 3.5")
RAM: 1x8GB Crucial DDR3 1600MHz (Should be enough for this build, and if I need more I can always add another stick)
Boot SSD: Kingston SSDNow mS200 60GB (Small and cheap SSD, but still enough storage if I need to put something on it)
Storage HDDs: 2x Western Digital Red 3TB (NAS HDDs, plan to add more once I get money)
PSU: Corsair CX430m (It is one of the more quiet PSUs for the price and in general there is very few low wattage PSUs)
Required extras: 
  1 PWM to 4 PWM fan splitter (Since the board only has 1 CPU fan port and 1 case fan port, I will need one for the two front 92mm fans in the case)
 
Later upgrades:
CPU Cooling: Noctua NH-L9a

Case Cooling Upgrades: 

• Noctua NF-A14 FLX 140mm 
• 2x Noctua NF-A9 FLX 92mm

Additional HDDs: 2x Western Digital Red 3TB

 

How does this sound? Personally I think it is fine my needs and should be quite quiet.

[YoonAddicting]

So a few weeks ago I build the PC, but not until now have I gotten to function correctly due to some missing functions in the linux driver for the ethernet card and crappy raid documentation (and software). I ended up scrapping Ubuntu 14.04.1 for Windows Server 2012 which I got for free because I am a student and poof, gone are all of my problems and my server was set-up in less than 24 hours... 

Unfortunately I managed to break the front USB3 header on the motherboard (might be able to bend the pin back once I get time) during cable management, so now I am officially a part of the "I hate USB3.0 front header"-club.  :unsure:

 

I also ended up not buying the 1 PWM to 4 PWM fan splitter since i found out the case included a 3-speed fan control for the 3 fans (molex), although it was rather crappy quality since I managed to push out a few of the pins when trying to plug in the connector.

 

But now I am really happy with the system. Really quiet, got remote desktop working, Wake on lan is working, hardware raid 1 is working