nas Prebuilt vs selfbuild NAS Server?

[MoVo]

Hey guys,

 

I want to install a NAS on my home network, it will be used primarily for storing images, office and audio files, no video transcoding is required. Since there are only going to be 6 devices connected to it, would it make sense to built a small unit by myself or would it be better to buy a Synology system? 

 

Thanks for any help

[r4tch3t]

If you're not worried about redundancy and only need a single drives worth of space I'd suggest a good router with a file sharing USB port (preferably USB 3) and plug an external drive in.

If you wanted more than a single drive/wanted redundancy then a NAS is your best bet.  I haven't have a huge amount of experience with consumer NAS devices but for a home network a low power system with a bunch of SATA ports can make a great NAS but would require a bit more setup.

[Tusk2435]

I would always go with a selfbuilt NAS, because it's cheaper, more reliable, more expandable.

This video should help you a bit and maybe give you some suggestions

[Mi26]

if you know what you are doing then it will be better to built it by yourself , if you are not then buy one will be a better choice.

if something went wrong with the consumer NAS, a call to Synology will solve the issue while if the d.i.y NAS went wrong you have to self solve the issue.

[MoVo]

13 minutes ago, LionSpeck said:

I would always go with a selfbuilt NAS, because it's cheaper, more reliable, more expandable.

This video should help you a bit and maybe give you some suggestions

 

What do you think about a system configured like this one here? Compared to a Synology DS216 2-Bay NAS? 

[Mark77]

Basically, how good is your Unix knowledge?  If its good (or you're willing to learn, and/or have a friend who can help you), then build your own.  Otherwise, buy the "canned" pre-built systems. 

 

[MoVo]

16 minutes ago, Mark77 said:

Basically, how good is your Unix knowledge?  If its good (or you're willing to learn, and/or have a friend who can help you), then build your own.  Otherwise, buy the "canned" pre-built systems. 

 

 

I don't have any problems with using a terminal and CLIs, but I still prefer a GUI if available:D

Thanks for your help guys, I think I'll try to build my own NAS^^ 

[Tusk2435]

1 hour ago, MoVo said:

What do you think about a system configured like this one here? Compared to a Synology DS216 2-Bay NAS? 

That CPU integrated in the mobo is a little scary to me, I would prefer some Xeon ULV (even if they're on the price side), but for the rest it doesn't seem bad; I would also go with a motherboard more on the server side (like Intel mobos), to have better networking, ECC support and more SATA ports...

32 minutes ago, MoVo said:

I don't have any problems with using a terminal and CLIs, but I still prefer a GUI if available:D

Thanks for your help guys, I think I'll try to build my own NAS^^ 

unRAID gives you the best software RAID management (and VMs too, I doubt you'll use them tho) with a GUI (web UI mainly)

[bandon]

You could look at building a nice compact NAS using the ASRock C2550D4I based motherboard (might be more than you need for this particular application) and something like an ICY DOCK ToughArmor 8 x 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 7mm HDD / SSD Cage in 1 x 5.25" bay and some ITX case that can accommodate the 5.25" Icy Dock Cage.

 

That should give you upgradability to up to 7TB of storage with RAID5 with 1TB hard drives and pretty decent compute capability to run other services on the NAS. 

 

I personally am looking at building a NAS based on that motherboard with 2 of the ICY Docks, a slighter larger case that has 2x5.25" bays and an HighPoint RocketRAID 2720SGL 8-Port SAS 6Gb/s PCIe 2.0 x8 RAID HBA, with 8 drives is RAID for storage and the other 8 (running off the motherboard SATA ports) as backup for my primary NAS.

[tt2468]

Honestly, get a synology. Having a homemade NAS is cool, but it really isn't worth your time if there is not a speacial feature that a diy one has. The synology Diskstation Manager software is possibly the best our there when it comes down to ease of use. Having synology boxes instead of normal servers has been best for me, as I don't have hours of time on my hands to be fiddling with a failed server wondering what went wrong. If a synology fails, you can get one from amazon 1 day or your local tech store and just swap the drives from the failed box to the new one. Since even the OS is stored on a raid array, you should be good to go in a few steps.