NAS/unRAID "Budget" Build

[mattias1172]

Hello,

I am looking for some input on a NAS server build I've been planning for a while now. I plan to use unRAID but may opt for one of the free open source OS such as FreeNas or Nas4Free. This build does take price into consideration, to a point. I am an enthusiast when it comes to PC's so I love things like overclocking and little extras. I realize this could be achieved for less and get similar performance, but like i said, i want to have some extra "tinkering" options, like overclocking. That said, I'm shooting for < $1,000.

 

The primary use is mass storage and light media streaming. I do not plan to run virtual machines or anything of the sorts on this PC. I have a separate desktop I do gaming and other resource intensive tasks on.

I'm open to all input and discussion, please feel free to leave any and all feedback.

 

Thank you.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-7600K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($222.00 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H90 94.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($96.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-Z270N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($149.95 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($67.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung - 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($75.04 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($75.04 @ Amazon) 
Case: Fractal Design - Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($87.95 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($84.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $859.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-18 02:24 EDT-0400

[GalacticRuler]

Here's a build with a much lower power draw, allows for overclocking, and a lot more storage capacity.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD ad9800ahabbox CPU Cooler AMD Socket a12-9800e AM4  ($105.98 @ Newegg) 

CPU Cooler: Corsair - H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($54.99 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Gaming-ITX/ac Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard  ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($67.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung - 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($0.00) 
Storage: Seagate - IronWolf 10TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($347.57 @ Amazon) 
Case: Fractal Design - Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($74.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $840.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-18 02:42 EDT-0400

[porina]

If all you want to do is store and stream, that spec seems overkill.

 

You don't need a SSD for unraid, unless you want to use it as write cache as standard write performance with parity on isn't great. Note unraid only installs on a USB flash drive (which has a unique serial number).

 

On that note, if you do want to use the parity feature for redundancy, keep in mind you need a disk dedicated to it, and your usable capacity are the remaining drives. 

 

CPU power isn't really meaningful here, as that only indicates how much it might take if running flat out. Which it wont be in this use case. In low usage power saving means most modern processors probably don't vary much.

 

My suggestion would be to look at HP, Dell, etc at their entry level tower servers. I can't comment on other regions, but there are often cashback offers on them in the UK, and you can get a system (without drives) for <$300 equivalent. Just add your drives into it, and more ram if really needed. They will include ECC ram which gives a little extra protection for your data. I'm using a HPE ML10 gen9 as the basis of my file server, rehoused into a Fractal Define R5 for more drive bays. The spec is basic (Pentium, 4GB ram) but that's more than enough unless you're doing something more complicated.

[no tech drama]

7 hours ago, mattias1172 said:

Hello,

I am looking for some input on a NAS server build I've been planning for a while now. I plan to use unRAID but may opt for one of the free open source OS such as FreeNas or Nas4Free. This build does take price into consideration, to a point. I am an enthusiast when it comes to PC's so I love things like overclocking and little extras. I realize this could be achieved for less and get similar performance, but like i said, i want to have some extra "tinkering" options, like overclocking. That said, I'm shooting for < $1,000.

 

The primary use is mass storage and light media streaming. I do not plan to run virtual machines or anything of the sorts on this PC. I have a separate desktop I do gaming and other resource intensive tasks on.

I'm open to all input and discussion, please feel free to leave any and all feedback.

 

Thank you.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-7600K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($222.00 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H90 94.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($96.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-Z270N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($149.95 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($67.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung - 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($75.04 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($75.04 @ Amazon) 
Case: Fractal Design - Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($87.95 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($84.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $859.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-18 02:24 EDT-0400

I was looking at a server build for ages... I just ended up buying a second hand HP Proliant MicroServer GEN8... you can find them pretty cheap with a celereon GPU and you can upgrade to an i3...

[GDRRiley]

ok so while it is over it has way more storage, is rack mountable and can hold 12 drives. https://pcpartpicker.com/list/c9Fz4C

[mattias1172]

7 hours ago, GDRRiley said:

ok so while it is over it has way more storage, is rack mountable and can hold 12 drives. https://pcpartpicker.com/list/c9Fz4C

It's a good idea, but this is for home use. I don't have a rack nor want one to mount it on. 

7 hours ago, no tech drama said:

I was looking at a server build for ages... I just ended up buying a second hand HP Proliant MicroServer GEN8... you can find them pretty cheap with a celereon GPU and you can upgrade to an i3...

I enjoy building them myself, I dislike prebuilt computers. But i do appreciate the suggestion. 

15 hours ago, GalacticRuler said:

Here's a build with a much lower power draw, allows for overclocking, and a lot more storage capacity.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD ad9800ahabbox CPU Cooler AMD Socket a12-9800e AM4  ($105.98 @ Newegg) 

CPU Cooler: Corsair - H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($54.99 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Gaming-ITX/ac Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard  ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($67.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung - 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($0.00) 
Storage: Seagate - IronWolf 10TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($347.57 @ Amazon) 
Case: Fractal Design - Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($74.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $840.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-18 02:42 EDT-0400

Thank you, i have taken your points into suggestion. 

14 hours ago, porina said:

If all you want to do is store and stream, that spec seems overkill.

 

You don't need a SSD for unraid, unless you want to use it as write cache as standard write performance with parity on isn't great. Note unraid only installs on a USB flash drive (which has a unique serial number).

 

On that note, if you do want to use the parity feature for redundancy, keep in mind you need a disk dedicated to it, and your usable capacity are the remaining drives. 

 

CPU power isn't really meaningful here, as that only indicates how much it might take if running flat out. Which it wont be in this use case. In low usage power saving means most modern processors probably don't vary much.

 

My suggestion would be to look at HP, Dell, etc at their entry level tower servers. I can't comment on other regions, but there are often cashback offers on them in the UK, and you can get a system (without drives) for <$300 equivalent. Just add your drives into it, and more ram if really needed. They will include ECC ram which gives a little extra protection for your data. I'm using a HPE ML10 gen9 as the basis of my file server, rehoused into a Fractal Define R5 for more drive bays. The spec is basic (Pentium, 4GB ram) but that's more than enough unless you're doing something more complicated.

I have take a lot of your points into suggestion. I have created a new parts list with a cheaper locked cpu and NAS rated drives. The price comparison is close to yours without the drives. I already own the SSD so i will be using it as a cache drive. 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Pentium G4620 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($91.99 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - C7 40.5 CFM CPU Cooler  ($29.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: ASRock - H270M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($110.50 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($67.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung - 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive 
Storage: Seagate - IronWolf 6TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($195.90 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Seagate - IronWolf 6TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($195.90 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Seagate - IronWolf 6TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($195.90 @ Amazon) 
Case: Fractal Design - Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($87.95 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Rosewill - 550W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($74.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1051.11
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-18 17:48 EDT-0400