NAS/Server Build Help and planning!

[dskissel]

HI everyone, to start off this is my first time working with or thinking about building a NAS. In the next couple of days I need to put together a NAS with a strict budget cap of $2000 to be able to order before Christmas. I need all the help  I can get with this whether you can just suggest parts or a build, or reviews or suggestions for a product that would complete my needs. Currently I am looking at a pre-built synology kit (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1344868-REG/synology_ds1817_8_bay_diskstation_nas.html) and 4 Seagate Ironwolf 8TB NAS hard drives (https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822179003).

 

Budget - Strict $2000 usd

 

Usage - This will be used in a media creation business that works with Premiere Pro, After Effects, Maya, and ProTools primarily. It will be transferring and storing large data files (i.e. 4k video files). I am unsure if I should build my own or if I should purchase a system already built where you just add the drives.

 

Known requirements - I know that I would like to have at least four 8tb drives running in RAID 5. I would also like the ability for this to be expanded in the future as well. I know that with the Synology system linked above, I can upgrade to two more 5 drive enclosures for a total of 18 drives as well as upgrade to 8gb of ram. Finally cloud access is a requirement for this NAS as it would need to be accessed anywhere to be able to be used as a replacement for google drive. This is for my company that currently has three employees. Finally, more perks of the Synology system linked above are the two 10Gb Ethernet ports that come pre-installed which eliminates the need for us to purchase a network switch which would help our budget greatly.

 

Other Notes - I do not remember where to go for this, but as a college student I am fairly sure that I can get Windows Server for free if building my own NAS is the way to go.

 

Thank you for all of your help!

 

Finally, I am unsure if this post belongs in the Servers and NAS forum or the build planning forum, hopefully the admins can help with that  

[kinski]

Can't go wrong with Synology. I've used them for last 10 years and support/features have been excellent, as has the platform.

 

Not to mention the upgrade possibilities (migrating to larger/newer model is as painless as one can hope - drop the storage into new box and thats it for me thusfar).

[WereCatf]

17 minutes ago, dskissel said:

I am unsure if I should build my own or if I should purchase a system already built where you just add the drives.

If it's just used for networked file-storage then there's really no point in going with a self-built one -- you get proper warranty, customer-support and all that with a pre-built one and you have someone else to blame for any issues. Also, you said that it's for business-use and in business-use time is money; you probably do not want to spend your own time or someone else's time on solving issues with a custom-built system, should any arise, and/or on managing it.

[dskissel]

37 minutes ago, kinski said:

Can't go wrong with Synology. I've used them for last 10 years and support/features have been excellent, as has the platform.

 

Not to mention the upgrade possibilities (migrating to larger/newer model is as painless as one can hope - drop the storage into new box and thats it for me thusfar).

Do you use SSD Cache's with your Synology NAS? Right now, I am only planning on using HDD's but is an SSD Cache something I need? If so, How large of an SSD would I need? Do you have any exact product reccomendations?

[kinski]

Have not used SSD Cache on Synology factory boxes, these have been thusfar plain HDD based for me. With the budget you have - i'd put one in anyway. If you're aiming for 10G then SSD is a must.

 

I have an SSD in my i5 Xpenology box, but it's also got 24 gigs of ram which it's quite good at using as cache, so cant comment on any possible speedup purely because of the SSD.

 

 

AFAIK SSD Cache does help in very specific scenarios