Guide to building first NAS

[Smitty07314]

So just over a year ago I built my first computer. Had a blast and really enjoyed the process of learning what all I needed to get and putting it all together. Currently I am using a Corsair Voyager Air as my NAS just because it was simple and effective. Unfortunately I am running out of space and want to give building a NAS a shot but do not have much experience in this field of work. I have done some research such as UnRaid and FreeNas and wanted to see if anyone had some good resources or suggestions for me as I begin this new quest.

 

Looking for something I can run in a RAID set up (Not sure which one yet suggestions would be nice) and that has anywhere from 2-5 TB with room to expand as needed. Also I would have up to three computers linked to it at any one time.

[Oshino Shinobu]

Ideally, you'd want something like RAID 6 for a NAS, but that gets very pricey. 

 

If it's just a NAS, you don't need very powerful hardware, but if you plan on running something like Plex on it as well, you'll want to focus some more on CPU performance. If you're using ZFS on FreeNAS, ECC RAM is a good idea (requires motherboard and CPU that support ECC) as it helps avoid errors when writing data. 

[Smitty07314]

20 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Ideally, you'd want something like RAID 6 for a NAS, but that gets very pricey. 

 

If it's just a NAS, you don't need very powerful hardware, but if you plan on running something like Plex on it as well, you'll want to focus some more on CPU performance. If you're using ZFS on FreeNAS, ECC RAM is a good idea (requires motherboard and CPU that support ECC) as it helps avoid errors when writing data. 

What is Plex, this is the first I have heard of that.

[Oshino Shinobu]

1 minute ago, Smitty07314 said:

What is Plex, this is the first I have heard of that.

It's basically a Media server. It allows you to stream media to various devices through a Netflix like interface. Also allows you to set up remote viewing, so you can access and watch your media from outside of your network. 

https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200288286-What-is-Plex-

[Smitty07314]

5 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

It's basically a Media server. It allows you to stream media to various devices through a Netflix like interface. Also allows you to set up remote viewing, so you can access and watch your media from outside of your network. 

https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200288286-What-is-Plex-

That definitely looks like something I would like to have. I would primarily be using it as a media stream so that would be great. My only question is if this is what I went with can I still just store other files such as word or xcell files and us the NAS as a backup for my computer on top of having the Plex installed? My gf and I are both teachers so we have a ton of files we need to save for our work and want to make sure they are easily accessible and able to save/keep them and reuse them with ease.

[Oshino Shinobu]

1 minute ago, Smitty07314 said:

That definitely looks like something I would like to have. I would primarily be using it as a media stream so that would be great. My only question is if this is what I went with can I still just store other files such as word or xcell files and us the NAS as a backup for my computer on top of having the Plex installed? My gf and I are both teachers so we have a ton of files we need to save for our work and want to make sure they are easily accessible and able to save/keep them and reuse them with ease.

Yes, you can. With FreeNAS (I'm not too familiar with other NAS software), Plex is installed as a plugin, and then the NAS will basically just run the server backend. Managing Plex is mostly done through a web interface from a client device, as is most server type applications. 

The NAS functions as normal, and you basically just tell Plex where to look for the media files. 

[Smitty07314]

48 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Yes, you can. With FreeNAS (I'm not too familiar with other NAS software), Plex is installed as a plugin, and then the NAS will basically just run the server backend. Managing Plex is mostly done through a web interface from a client device, as is most server type applications. 

The NAS functions as normal, and you basically just tell Plex where to look for the media files. 

Ahhh gotcha that makes sense now. Thanks for the information!