Looking to build a NAS, suggestions

XDroidie626 · May 19, 2016

Hi all,

So I want to build a NAS from parts I have lying around, talking core 2 duo parts and other things.

So I need it for storage of course, remote access to the storage via VPN, streaming video and games (Emulator games so I can access them remotely and play locally), and also backups of my PCs which are a bit more critical.

What suggestions would you have for this?

Thanks

CtrlAltELITE · May 19, 2016

Not sure exactly what you asking for advice about. You can build a NAS with most old PC bits.

Core 2 duo will be enough for basic backup duties, might chug a little if you want to do some home-hosting or video encoding (for something like Plex), as it is an older chip it will also be somewhat innefficient for 24/7 use.

'other things' - well you need a motherboard with an adequate amount of SATA ports. For NAS duties SATA2 should be enough as I doubt any of your HDDs will saturate 3gb/s. Personally the MB im using only has 1 sata3 and 2 sata2 as its salvaged from an old office PC so I use an older 6 port SATA2 PCie adapter, PSU will also need to have adequate molex/sata power. If you are needed to use splitters you are probably overloading the supply, remember HDDs dont pull all of there power from the12v rail which is where most commercial PSUs deliver their power so you may have issues with +5v with a lot of HDDs on a cheap office PSU, my normal estimate is 15-20w each power draw per drive

HDDs - this being the most important part of your NAS, I have used a mish mash of old crap for a while although Im just in the process of upgrading all of mine to refurbed HGST enterprise 2tb units. Personally I cannot recommend using old drives for others as I have had drives fail on me in the past and it is a pain but just do whatever your budget allows for.

XDroidie626 · May 19, 2016

Yeah it's sort of a mish mash of parts from an old PC, may try salvage a core 2 quad if I can and power is good enough.

Basically it will be stored somewhere and I will use my PCs to map to the drive which I plan to have in raid 1, this will have to be done with MB not a raid controller.

i will also be installing a gigabit nic and then static assigning the IPs

i am unsure on what os to use, I have a copy of Windows server essentials from uni and of course there is Linux.