Using my gaming pc as a NAS?

Quebber · January 23, 2016

I have am planning a new build for a move to a new house with less space for a desk thus my old build in a corsair 750 case is surplus to requirement.

I was going to invest in a Qnap TS-853 (this will be media server and backup storage for two connected houses, with all DVD and blu-ray going into storage after being ripped). running a raid 5.

Now my old build which is still a very powerful pc, Gigabyte g5 z97, i7 4790k, 16gb and super flower platinum psu may be overkill buy is there any reason I can not stick 6 4tb drives into it, install freenas and run a raid 5, the motherboard does support raid 5.

I would remove the nvidia 970 and use the intel on board cpu graphics, case has great cooling and I have a cyberpower ups to cover power outage.

Size of nas case is no problem as it will be inside a spare bedroom.

So is this a good or bad idea ?

DavidTheWin · January 23, 2016

Or you could sell the old build, spend half the proceeds on cheaper parts and have a couple of hundred in cash spare

Oshino Shinobu · January 23, 2016

It sort of depends. If you're going to be using ZFS with apps like Plex, then it will be a beast of a media server and NAS.

What RAID modes the board supports is irrelevant with FreeNAS, as all the drive and volume configuration (including RAID) is done through software. You will need a small drive to install FreeNAS on, as it will take up the entire capacity of the drive, regardless of size (even 6TB, for example).

EDIT: As @DavidTheWin pointed out, another good option would be to sell the parts, then build a decent NAS and have money left over. Or, you could optimise the build with the money you get (ECC RAM [+ board and CPU that support it, of course], high quality drives and such). In either case, make sure you go for drives that are designed for RAID/NAS operation. WD Reds would be my personal choice.

DavidTheWin · January 23, 2016

You will need a small drive to install FreeNAS on, as it will take up the entire capacity of the drive, regardless of size (even 6TB, for example).

You can even install freenas on a bootable usb drive and run it off that.

Quebber · January 23, 2016

I used to have a freenas and used a small thumb drive just wondering if there was any benefits of the qnap over the pc, was going to go with WD reds and plex.