Need advice on NAS build

JeffJ · August 23, 2017

I'm putting together my first custom NAS. I'm intending to run FreeNAS on it from a flash drive, and its primary purpose will be video and music streaming in 1080p over WiFi - I also plan to stream from WAN when I'm outside the country.

Now I don't really have any experience with building a NAS (but I don't have any interest in a premade one) so I tried to go by the recommended minimum specs stated on the FreeNAS website.

I have made 2 different builds so far, one using ECC memory and the other using non-ECC memory. Basically I have 2 questions.

Question 1

Are either of these 2 builds too little or too much for my purposes? Is there something I can do better or cheaper? I don't want to overkill for my intentions, but I also don't want to underbuild.

Build 1 (Non-ECC):

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Thaudal/saved/kCzKZL

Build 2 (ECC):

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Thaudal/saved/XW48K8

Question 2

I'm leaning towards build 1 myself, because it's cheaper, the CPU is better, and it's more aesthetic to me (blue RAM for the blue light in the case)

However, the only reason why I built the second one is because I read about some horror stories using non-ECC memory on a ZFS based OS. How crucial is it? Is it worth paying $100+ more for an uglier build and slower CPU that is in turn ECC? And will the CPU in the ECC build still be sufficient?

I'd love any feedback and advice on my builds, as this is completely new to me.

EDIT

Doing some more digging, I have a third question;

Would something like unraid be a better alternative? Looking around, I see lots of people saying that ZFS is the way to go, but I can't really find any distinct reason why. Does it have any significant advantage over other file systems that I should know of?
As far as I can tell, using urnaid won't require me to use ECC memory in the same way FreeNAS, Nas4Free or similar would, and it's also more scalable and easier to add a single drive more later on if I want.
If the $60 license isn't a problem for me, is there any reason why I shouldn't use unraid over FreenAS?

IBM_THINKPAD_R51 · August 23, 2017

Number one, Try to use a HDD with 7,200RPM as you will notice a much better performance improvment and its around the same price as a HDD at 5,400RPM.

You will not notice the difference in RAM speed in this case.

The CPU won't make a big difference either.

A corrupted bit (or bits) is very rare, but IF it does happen, ECC will be a life saver ( Base this off how long you are planning to run the NAS )

Try to use a wired connection, but if you have to use WIFI, use a WIFI card, like this one

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wireless-PCI-Express-Adapter-TL-WN781ND/dp/B0036AFAEW/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1503455763&sr=1-1&keywords=WIFI+card&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_three_browse-bin%3A6011949011

IBM_THINKPAD_R51 · August 23, 2017

And For the ECC route, Use 2 8GB sticks not one 16GB stick.

Running RAM in dual channel is always better than single channel.

JeffJ · August 23, 2017

Thanks for your reply!

So as I will be running it 24/7, it sounds like I really should consider ECC?

I've looked a bit more into unraid as an option, and although they seem to say the same thing about ECC, it looks like the hardware requirements aren't nearly as high, so I'd be able to build a much cheaper NAS if I go with unraid instead of FreeNAS. Would this be correct?

And if so, what are the pros/cons with each system?
Again, media streaming is my primary intention. I'd also like to be able to purchase more WD Reds down the line and easily add to the existing setup.

Ginz · August 23, 2017

You could always run ZFS on Linux (ZOL) and spin up some containers or vms to handle file sharing, vpn, reverse proxy, media streaming, cloud storage.

Proxmox would be an easy solution for this, and it's fun to learn how to do all these things.