Diy nas

[jfromeo]

Hello all.

Another DIY NAS builder here. I am looking for a future-proof rig, based on modularity and expandability. That is why I have decided to build an own NAS rig from scratch instead of buying a comercial solution.

Characteristic of the rig:

Main use: Homeserver for streaming music (flac), videos (mkv) and games (7z)
Budget: ~700-800? (HDDs not included)
Hard disks: 8xHitachi 7K4000 4TB
RAID: 5 or 6 (not decided yet)
SO: FreeNAS 9.1 x64

Main specifications of the system:

CPU:Intel Core i3-3220T (~115?)
MB: Asrock H77M-I (~90?)
RAM: 2x4GB Samsung DDR3-1600 CL9 Low Voltage (~60?)
SSD: Crucial M4 64GB (~75?)
HDD: 8xHitachi 7K4000 4TB
PSU: Seasonic SS-300SFD (40?)
FANS: 2xGentle Typhoon 120mm@800rpm (~25?)
RAID: ? (~150??)
CASE: SilverStone DS380 (not released yet) (~200??)

An image of the case from SilverStone to be released:


I have several questions about some components.

Regarding the RAID card, I need an 8 internal SATA3 PCI-e card with RAID 5 and 6 capabilities. I have done some research and there are some cheap cards for 100?-150? with 8 internal ports and RAID 5 capability, but for those with RAID 6, the price goes all up to 400-500? (checked RocketRAID, 3Ware, LSI, Adaptec, Areca...). Why is this feature so pricey? Which one would you recommend for a home DIY NAS?

Regarding the RAM, does the low voltage sticks (1.35v) make a difference in power consumption with usual voltage rated ones (1.5v)? Is 2x4GB overkill for a NAS, or worth given the little difference in price with a 2x2GB set?

And finally, concerning the SSD, is 64gb enough for running FreeNAS with this setup?

Feel free to change any component

Thanks a lot in advance.

[Jansa]

Tag
Similar idea, lets see what good advices here coming
For myself I have not figured out if I would like to have fast connection between two desktop computers what type of connection is optimal. Not cost an arm and a leg and capable not slow down LSI 9265-8i with CacheCade Pro 2.0 (SSD cache).

For PSU I would go with PicoPSU as it goes much lower when system idle. Even with GA-Z77MX-D3H and 3570K it was able to idle less than 10W (6-9W if I could believe my energy meter).

[SteveRo]

I bot one of these for ~770.00 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16816151124

Areca sataII raid cards are almost as good -I also have an Areca 1261-2GB card - something like this might work well for you also. Double check to make sure your drives have no problem with whatever card you pick - BEFORE - you buy it.

[Levish]

I think its important to consider the use of the system you are building, a $450+ RAID HBA in a box doing nothing but storing files in a home media server environment doesn't get you much for your money, you'd be better off investing in additional capacity.

With a media server use in mind, could do software RAID if the machine will serve only as a NAS and just get entry level HBAs with sufficient ports if the motherboard you are selecting does not have sufficient ports.

PCI-e 3.0 version http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16816118182

this would be the next step up but still considered budget and would do hardware raid:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16816118127

this is a more middle ground level card, still fairly budget friendly
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16816118104

All of those typically suggest / require a additional battery backup kit if you want to enable write caching which is important if your use would be seeing heavy write traffic instead of the more common 70-80% read traffic for home users (or more).