DIY NAS

[woshiitcy]

Hi guys, I have built some desktop before, and right now I have some budget to build myself a NAS. However... I am not very sure if there is any difference between building a NAS and a Desktop.
1. Does they share the same motherboard?
2. What type of processor should I be using?
3. Is there any software that is needed for the NAS to be working?
4. Can I access my NAS when I am outside of my house for all NAS or selected build only?

thanks

 

[blong]

DIY using PC parts? Of course you can use Desktop stuff.

1. If you want, sure. If they have the specs and the drivers are supported by the NAS Operating System.
2. Most decent desktop processors are more than sufficient.
3. FreeNAS has all you need. There are several other operating systems as well like NAS4free and Openfiler.
4. Not too sure. Perhaps FTP or something, open a port and so on.

 

[Asure7]

If u are not concerned about power consumption, u can also just use a desktop running windows.
Just share your folders and enable remote access.

U can optionally raid your hdds using windows software raid too. Add your own ftp/telnet server if u want. Or even vnc.

The main reason y ppl use dedicated nas is due to low power consumption and to save space. Nothing a regular desktop cannot do. If fact in most situation s a regular desktop is much faster due to more powerful cpu and more RAM.

So if u are concerned about power and size, u will just have to choose your cpu, motherboard etc wisely.

 

[Swiftbladez]

1. more or less, yes.
2. for a simple file system, the cheapest and least power consumption would be the best. something like a intel g1610 or g2010.
3. i would suggest ubuntu server edition. much more versatile and can be expanded for other uses in future.
4. yes should you have the right applications installed on your diy nas.

 

[woshiitcy]

Okay... how about this build?
Rough pricing and picking Picked the most cheapest components(I suppose)

Casing: put $50 aside for my budget
Motherboard + CPU: ASROCK H71M-DGS//G2010 - $105
RAM: KINGSTON4GBDDR3 PC10600 1333MHz - $36
Power supply: CM EXTREME POWER2 475 - $65
HDD: 2 x WD1TB 64MB REDSATA3 - $230 - Setting it on raid0

Total: $436

Question:
1. Would it be enough? or too over powered?
2. Does clock speed and ram affect the transfer speed of the files?
3. Any other more budget build?
4. Suggestions?

 

[blong]

Okay... how about this build?
Rough pricing and picking Picked the most cheapest components(I suppose)

Casing: put $50 aside for my budget
Motherboard + CPU: ASROCK H71M-DGS//G2010 - $105
RAM: KINGSTON4GBDDR3 PC10600 1333MHz - $36
Power supply: CM EXTREME POWER2 475 - $65
HDD: 2 x WD1TB 64MB REDSATA3 - $230 - Setting it on raid0

Total: $436

Question:
1. Would it be enough? or too over powered?
2. Does clock speed and ram affect the transfer speed of the files?
3. Any other more budget build?
4. Suggestions?

What is your main objective? Speed? Reliability? Features? DLNA?

If am not wrong, the mobo only supports software raid right?

 

[Swiftbladez]

Okay... how about this build?
Rough pricing and picking Picked the most cheapest components(I suppose)

Casing: put $50 aside for my budget
Motherboard + CPU: ASROCK H71M-DGS//G2010 - $105
RAM: KINGSTON4GBDDR3 PC10600 1333MHz - $36
Power supply: CM EXTREME POWER2 475 - $65
HDD: 2 x WD1TB 64MB REDSATA3 - $230 - Setting it on raid0

Total: $436

Question:
1. Would it be enough? or too over powered?
2. Does clock speed and ram affect the transfer speed of the files?
3. Any other more budget build?
4. Suggestions?

1. enough. for file server yes overpowered, but thats almost the lowest cpu power you can get.
2. file transfer? no.
3. I would suggest changing the power supply to the fsp 300w one. ensure that it is the one distributed by tech dynamic.
4. raid 0 wouldn't help much unless you're using more than a gigabit network connection. I would rather you use them as itself so if one fails, you won't lose all your data.

 

[yukita]

if its just for 2 slot/hardisk, why not just get Dlink nas? at around $99 the value hard to beat.

 

[blong]

if its just for 2 slot/hardisk, why not just get Dlink nas? at around $99 the value hard to beat.

Yup but it is more fun to set one up yourself. I believe that there is a mainboard that is especially catered to NAS Giada Introduces Mini-ITX Mainboard Designed For NAS Systems - GIADA N70E-DR - Legit Reviews

 

[woshiitcy]

What is your main objective? Speed? Reliability? Features? DLNA?

If am not wrong, the mobo only supports software raid right?

I would say, reliability being the first priority
Speed being the second one, must be able to stream over full HD video, without any choppy-ness

 

[woshiitcy]

1. enough. for file server yes overpowered, but thats almost the lowest cpu power you can get.
2. file transfer? no.
3. I would suggest changing the power supply to the fsp 300w one. ensure that it is the one distributed by tech dynamic.
4. raid 0 wouldn't help much unless you're using more than a gigabit network connection. I would rather you use them as itself so if one fails, you won't lose all your data.

1. Okay, will try to get a more lower powered CPU Is there any minimum specification?

2. If that is the case, why people suggest for 4gb ram? why not go with 2gb?

3. Okay, noted Thanks

4. How about raid 1?

Anyway, I did some readings over the net against Raid 5 and 6 ... still dont really get what they are, it is not as simple as raid 1, 0, 10 :/
what's the parity?

Thank you very much

 

[woshiitcy]

Yup but it is more fun to set one up yourself. I believe that there is a mainboard that is especially catered to NAS Giada Introduces Mini-ITX Mainboard Designed For NAS Systems - GIADA N70E-DR - Legit Reviews

if its just for 2 slot/hardisk, why not just get Dlink nas? at around $99 the value hard to beat.

Yup, wanted it to be fun Also, I would know how the system work and stuff also, I can do a upgrade by myself in the future
Thank you for your suggestion too

 

[woshiitcy]

Yup but it is more fun to set one up yourself. I believe that there is a mainboard that is especially catered to NAS Giada Introduces Mini-ITX Mainboard Designed For NAS Systems - GIADA N70E-DR - Legit Reviews

One question, how does the dual gigabit connection work? connect two of the Ethernet cable to my router? to get higher speed? Do I need to play with the settings? thank you very much

 

[woshiitcy]

Oh ya, what if I want it to double up as a media player, am I able to use those low powered processor that was designed for NAS to play my full HD video?

If there is any suggestion, I would like to have a board that have slots for upgrade so that in the future I can have a slot for sound card

 

[blong]

I would say, reliability being the first priority
Speed being the second one, must be able to stream over full HD video, without any choppy-ness

Ya, then RAID 1 is your way. Speed wise, with gigabit lan I think if you use 7200rpm HDDs, there should not be any problem with streaming. Or try RAID 10 if your mobo supports it.

Don't forget about casing too.

 

[blong]

One question, how does the dual gigabit connection work? connect two of the Ethernet cable to my router? to get higher speed? Do I need to play with the settings? thank you very much

If your switch supports link aggregation (802.3ad), enable it on the switch and then you will have better speeds. If not, then it just acts as a load balance and failover (software dependent).

What operating system are you planning to use for your NAS?

 

[Swiftbladez]

With 2 hdd, raid 1 would be ok. If budget allows, getting one more hdd would allow for raid 5 which will allow more space to be utilized.

Remember that raid is not a backup solution. If you would like you can use one hdd purely for backup and the other for working.

2g of ram will work fine as well.

Don't bother with dual gigabit ports. No point if you're doing such basic things. It is much more complicated then just having a server and switch that supports it. Your cilent much support it and if you're going to get all the different components to support it it's going to cost a bomb.

 

[yukita]

Yup but it is more fun to set one up yourself. I believe that there is a mainboard that is especially catered to NAS Giada Introduces Mini-ITX Mainboard Designed For NAS Systems - GIADA N70E-DR - Legit Reviews

Yup, wanted it to be fun Also, I would know how the system work and stuff also, I can do a upgrade by myself in the future
Thank you for your suggestion too

Understood... Im going to build one also. Got the first and most important part for beginning: the hardisk controller a IBM serve raid m5014 which i flash to LSI 9260. Can connect 8 hardisk with 256mb cache....

 

[woshiitcy]

Ya, then RAID 1 is your way. Speed wise, with gigabit lan I think if you use 7200rpm HDDs, there should not be any problem with streaming. Or try RAID 10 if your mobo supports it.

Don't forget about casing too.

If your switch supports link aggregation (802.3ad), enable it on the switch and then you will have better speeds. If not, then it just acts as a load balance and failover (software dependent).

What operating system are you planning to use for your NAS?

Alright, noted
Thank you very much for your help

 

[woshiitcy]

Understood... Im going to build one also. Got the first and most important part for beginning: the hardisk controller a IBM serve raid m5014 which i flash to LSI 9260. Can connect 8 hardisk with 256mb cache....

What does the 256mb cache does, pardon me for my absence of knowledge