hardware advices needed for budget NAS

[SeriousMeMeat]

Hello there,
I am new on this forum.
I am currently trying to build a (budget) NAS.

 

Here's my basics requirements :
A least gibabyte ethernet connection (125Mo/sec is enough for me).
4 slots for 3.5 drive (for hard drive)
sata1 (at least)
1 user only
RAID1/RAID10 possible with software (as advised by Linus in one video)

 

I think I might found a way to build this NAS with an optiplex 360 from Dell.
But the optiplex 360 got those built'in components:
CORE 2 DUO E7400 2x2,8GHz
HDD 160 GBytes
2GBytes of RAM

Do you think I gonna get a bottleneck effect because of the processor ?
Should I put a small SSD for the OS part ? (I don't know if nas' OS need to keep files' tracks, i don't have any requirement for the startup time)

Sincerely yours,

SeriousMeMeat

[zMeul]

depends what exactly are you going to do with this NAS

 

I built a NAS like PC on a dual-core Celeron, so no .. the CPU won't be a problem

the problem with the Core 2 Duo will be power consumption, they're quire thirsty compared to the new generation

 

for example, the DVR backup I built on a J1800 Celeron is ~5 times more energy efficient, in full load, than my Core 2 based celly

 

---

 

putting the OS on a SSD is bloody useless

if you want a SSD you should look into using it as a temporary cache drive to speed up the writes/reads of most used files

[SeriousMeMeat]

I going to mostly edit files, do some programming and keep backing up some consistent files.

 

But no streaming, dlna, (media server stuff).

So one way will be to replace for a more energy efficient CPU, and that's it ?

Edited February 14, 2016 by SeriousMeMeat

[zMeul]

4 minutes ago, SeriousMeMeat said:

So one way will be to replace for a more energy efficient CPU, and that's it ?

pretty much

 

maybe someone else has a different idea

 

---

 

something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135393&cm_re=j1800-_-13-135-393-_-Product I bought for my DVR back-up

they're really cheap

[SeriousMeMeat]

I just noticed the part for the SSD, got it.

 

So I looked of the intel website:

 

the e7400 is 65W (PDT)

 

http://ark.intel.com/fr/products/36500/Intel-Core2-Duo-Processor-E7400-3M-Cache-2_80-GHz-1066-MHz-FSB

 

The main idea is to pick one in this list:

 

http://ark.intel.com/fr/Search/Advanced?s=t&SocketsSupported=LGA775&MaxTDPMax=64

 

As you mentionned the celeron is in this list. I going to take a look later on.

 

Thanks you !

 

EDIT:

Do you think I can achieve 100MBytes/sec with this ?

Edited February 14, 2016 by SeriousMeMeat

[zMeul]

8 minutes ago, SeriousMeMeat said:

I just noticed the part for the SSD, got it.

 

So I looked of the intel website:

 

the e7400 is 65W (PDT)

 

http://ark.intel.com/fr/products/36500/Intel-Core2-Duo-Processor-E7400-3M-Cache-2_80-GHz-1066-MHz-FSB

 

The main idea is to pick one in this list:

 

http://ark.intel.com/fr/Search/Advanced?s=t&SocketsSupported=LGA775&MaxTDPMax=64

 

As you mentionned the celeron is in this list. I going to take a look later on.

 

Thanks you !

hmm no, the LGA775 platform doesn't have that energy efficient CPUs

you need a new mobo

 

---

 

if you are dead set on using LGA775, the CPU choice won't matter 

[Aekim]

The HP ml10 v2 would be a "cheap" alternative even new

[zMeul]

4 hours ago, Aekim said:

The HP ml10 v2 would be a "cheap" alternative even new

yes, but it lacks SATA ports, he said he'd like a RAID1 or 10 - for RAID1 2 are enough, but for 10 ...

he would need to buy a controller card

[Aekim]

Of course it's not the biggest case but for the price you get an awesome little server.

As far as I know it has 6 sata ports but you have to get a hdd carry for the 5,25" bay.

for raid 10 you need at least 4 drives so it would be possible. but a raid 5 or 6 would be better

[zMeul]

6 hours ago, Aekim said:

but a raid 5 or 6 would be better

RAID 5 became utter useless with high capacity drives

 

a couple of years back, there were some articles debating the usefulness of RAID 5 - the problem is that when a drive in RAID 5 array fails, when you rebuild that array another drive will fail rendering your data unrecoverable

a RAID5 rebuild will take about 24h

[Shura]

Hello, I was in a very similar situation and just got done finalizing my parts for a custom NAS build; hopefully the list can be of some help to you if you are willing to do a custom build. I should mention from the start that I chose not to go with server grade equipment such as ecc ram and so forth; mine is a very budget oriented build and it is used for storing files, backups, owncloud and emby/plex media server. I noticed you didn't mention what kind of OS you would be using, my is built around Openmediavault; an open-source NAS OS by a developer from the FreeNAS team. I find OMV better suited for budget builds since it doesn't have server grade equipment requirements like FreeNAS, but still offers an easy to use interface and plugin support; anyway I only mention OS since it can limit hardware choices when you are on a budget.

 

My Build

CPU: AMD Athlon 5350 2.0Ghz Quad-Core 25W (Can be OC'd on certain motherboards)

Mobo: Asrock AM1H-ITX (ITX board with 4 sata3 and pciex4 slot if you want to add a more)

RAM: 8gb gskill(overkill for my needs but cheaper to get 8gb these days)

Case: Coolermaster Elite 110(Cheap, Small ITX case with room for 3x3.5 HDD)

PSU: EVGA 400W 80+ Bronze (something I had)

**The Asrock AM1H-ITX has a DC input, which means you can power the entire system using a 19V DC powerbrick(like the ones from laptops), more energy efficient and less heat inside the system.**

Storage: 2TB WD Drive, 4TB Seagate NAS drive, 150gb laptop HDD for OS and a 5TB USB3 External HDD that syncs/backups the NAS files.

 

In my case I chose the Athlon 5350 since it falls within my budget, uses very little power and strong enough to do 1080p transcoding but if you don't care for transcoding you can look at some other SoCs. The Asrock Q1900-ITX is usually cheaper, has a 2.0Ghz(2.4Ghz Boost) Intel quad core, uses only 10W and has 4 SATA ports; The newer Asrock N37000-ITX is a bit more pricey($10-15 more than the Athlon setup) since it uses new CPU architecture, 1.6Ghz(2.4GHz Boost) Intel Quad-Core and uses only 6W. If you prefer to go Intel, I personally think the Q1900-ITX is better since not only is it faster in most CPU based benchmarks but its also much cheaper than the N3700; I was initially going to go with the Q1900 myself but the Athlon combo was on sale for a bit less and the 5350 scores much higher in CPUbenchmarks and unlike the Intel SoC's the CPU can be OC'd and upgraded if stronger ones are released.

 

Hopefully that Info was somewhat helpful, I spent months doing research on parts and budget nas setups before buying my parts so if you have further questions, I may be of help.

 

P.S. I took the controller board from an old external HDD enclosure, bought a USB to USB Header cable and connected the 150GB OS drive to the USB header on the motherboard. This way I don't use any of the SATA ports for the OS drive. This goes back to the discussion about  what OS you plan to use but most server OS don't need fast drives or use a lot of resources so unless you already own the SSD, spending money on one can be a waste. Many Server OS like freenas and OMV can run off a usb stick, so you don't need to waste a SATA slot. I used the controller board from an old enclosure since I had one but you can find things like SATA to USB and USB to USB header on ebay/amazon for a few dollars.

[SeriousMeMeat]

4 hours ago, zMeul said:

RAID 5 became utter useless with high capacity drives

 

a couple of years back, there were some articles debating the usefulness of RAID 5 - the problem is that when a drive in RAID 5 array fails, when you rebuild that array another drive will fail rendering your data unrecoverable

a RAID5 rebuild will take about 24h

As far I remember the RAID5 limit is about 2 TBytes right ?

 

WOOT: I currently got ISP problem (many disconnections) and it's about to get fix in a week.

[zMeul]

35 minutes ago, SeriousMeMeat said:

As far I remember the RAID5 limit is about 2 TBytes right ?.

as far as I know, bootable partitions are limited to 2Tb for MBR table

[SeriousMeMeat]

1 hour ago, Shura said:

My Build

CPU: AMD Athlon 5350 2.0Ghz Quad-Core 25W (Can be OC'd on certain motherboards)

Mobo: Asrock AM1H-ITX (ITX board with 4 sata3 and pciex4 slot if you want to add a more)

RAM: 8gb gskill(overkill for my needs but cheaper to get 8gb these days)

Case: Coolermaster Elite 110(Cheap, Small ITX case with room for 3x3.5 HDD)

PSU: EVGA 400W 80+ Bronze (something I had)

**The Asrock AM1H-ITX has a DC input, which means you can power the entire system using a 19V DC powerbrick(like the ones from laptops), more energy efficient and less heat inside the system.**

Storage: 2TB WD Drive, 4TB Seagate NAS drive, 150gb laptop HDD for OS and a 5TB USB3 External HDD that syncs/backups the NAS files.

This is quite similar to this article:

 

http://www.htpcbeginner.com/htpc-nas-combo-build-2016/

 

Which is:

AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor

ASRock AM1H-ITX Mini ITX AM1 Motherboard

Mushkin Enhanced Stealth 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3L 1600 (PC3L 12800)

SilverStone Sugo Series SG05BB-LITE Black Mini-ITX Case

 

Even tough I stated before that I would like a budget NAS, I found out that the money which goes to the power will be compensated by the energy saving.

 

So it might be really close from my final choice.

 

1 hour ago, Shura said:

Hello, I was in a very similar situation and just got done finalizing my parts for a custom NAS build; hopefully the list can be of some help to you if you are willing to do a custom build. I should mention from the start that I chose not to go with server grade equipment such as ecc ram and so forth; mine is a very budget oriented build and it is used for storing files, backups, owncloud and emby/plex media server. I noticed you didn't mention what kind of OS you would be using, my is built around Openmediavault; an open-source NAS OS by a developer from the FreeNAS team. I find OMV better suited for budget builds since it doesn't have server grade equipment requirements like FreeNAS, but still offers an easy to use interface and plugin support; anyway I only mention OS since it can limit hardware choices when you are on a budget.

[...]

 

P.S. I took the controller board from an old external HDD enclosure, bought a USB to USB Header cable and connected the 150GB OS drive to the USB header on the motherboard. This way I don't use any of the SATA ports for the OS drive. This goes back to the discussion about  what OS you plan to use but most server OS don't need fast drives or use a lot of resources so unless you already own the SSD, spending money on one can be a waste. Many Server OS like freenas and OMV can run off a usb stick, so you don't need to waste a SATA slot. I used the controller board from an old enclosure since I had one but you can find things like SATA to USB and USB to USB header on ebay/amazon for a few dollars.

 

I going to check for power comsumption in idle to see if am gonna use powerbrick or PSU.

 

I am going to check this (when the ISP g*d will be with me, and yet I know the title is at list about the consumption under load):

 

 

Does Luke talk about the comsumption when components are on idle ?

 

 

Good advice about the sata port usage for the OS, I already got the external hard drive (320go hatichi 5400rpm). And some zip tie will do the trick.

 

Another solution (very lazy one) is to buy the 'buffalo linkstation 441D' but I am really affraid of hardware failure (doesn't happen a lot, but it really s***s when it happen).

 

I going to download both OpenMediaVault, Frenass and fire those up in virtual box.

Edited February 15, 2016 by SeriousMeMeat

[Aekim]

You could look into the ASRock C70M1, very cheap and about 20w idle with a bronze PSU.

Typical for the psu get a low wattage but good rating, the price difference to high wattage ones would be too large to cover it with the 5w you save. The Video is only for high wattage use (350w+) and not about idle

 

[Mark chang]

if you hope to keep all SATAs to work you can check out linux distro tiny linux core which boots from usb drive and runs all in ram so it does not occupy a SATA port and does not sacrifice on speeds

[SeriousMeMeat]

Hey there,

I finally setup my nas for more than one year, i thought I'll share with you guys.

 

Here all relevants information about my build (some are in french but it was name from the listings. :))

 

Main parts:
PC DELL OPTIPLEX 580 AMD ATHLON II X2 B26 2GB 250GB DVD±RW TOWER WINDOWS 7 PRO x1 61 eur

-HDD Disque SEAGATE Constellation 1Tb SATA II 7,2k - 3,5" 3.0Gb/s - ST31000524NS x1 21.50eur
-1 tb from hard disk external case 65 eur
-1 tb from hard disk external case 90 eur

-SanDisk 16GB CRUZER FIT USB Memory Stick Flash Pen Drive Tiny Small Black x1 5.99 gpb
-SanDisk 16GB CRUZER FIT USB Memory Stick Flash Pen Drive Tiny Small Black x1 6.49 gpb

accessories:
-2pc Kit de montage Adaptateur Support 3.5 " HDD Vers 5.25" disque dur sac PC x2 4.86 eur
-CADDY RACK HDD DISQUE DUR 3.5 SATA DELL OPTIPLEX 740 380 YJ221 x1 6.9 gpb
-90cm LONG Serial ATA SATA 2 3GB Data Cable Lead Right Angled Locking Clips latch x3 3.4 gpb
-Sata Male to 3 Way Sata Female Power Connector Splitter Cable Hard Drive HDD x4 5.72 gpb
-4 SATA Disque Dur pour PC,série ATA,PCI carte de contrôle,logiciels RAID GFY x1 11.47 eur

-500 gb cost ?

Total cost about 282.35 eur

OS:
-Freenas 9.10

Performance:
113Mb/sec read
98Mb/sec write

Tweaks made:
(freenas) raid1 1tb x3 on MAIN
(freenas) snapshot every 4 hours on MAIN
(freenas) triple snapshot on midnight 1 am 2 am
(freenas) rollback possible to 2months (on active disk)
(freenas) daily backup form the MAIN to the BACKUP
(freenas) snapshot to 3 months on BACKUP
(freenas) snapshot to 2 months on MAIN
(freenas) automatic shudown at 4 am

Comments:
raid1 x3 with different brand to avoid the likeliness of concurrent failures
automatic shudown at 4 am: GREAT for power saving and power surge causing the power grid to go off and start the UPS
snapsots are a great way to rollback the whole filesystem but not so great when it comes to a single file.

To be added:
Check onto the UPS state and issue a shutdown command to avoid complete drain of the UPS batteries.

Edited April 3, 2018 by SeriousMeMeat