Cheapest NAS ever...

M76

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So I wanted my storage drives out of my main PC. Actually they were out for a few weeks since I got my new MB/CPU in. And I was getting annoyed of not having those files readily available.

And I decided it was time to get a dedicated NAS. But, the bottom of the barrel for a 8-bay NAS starts around $700.

WTF? Why is an empty box with some embedded cpu cost that much?

I decided that's not gonna stand.

So what do you need, to build an 8 drive NAS on the cheap? Here's my recipe:

  1. HighPoint RocketRAID 2680SGL PCI-Express x4 8 Port SATA SAS RAID Controller Card / $45 shipped from china

  2. Biostar A68N-2100 $55

  3. 4GB DDR3: $15

  4. Mini-SAS -> 4x SATA breakout cable X2: $10

  5. Case: a Node304 will do fine. $80
    I put 9 drives + 1 2.5 SSD in mine.

  6. A PSU: $50
et voila! For less than half of the price you have a NAS, that can literally do anything because it only depends what software you put on it.

And if you're anything like me, you probably come out cheaper, because the only thing I had to buy was the MB, as everything else I had laying around from previous builds.

Now if you want 10Gbe that's an entirely other question. But if you just need a cheap Gigabit NAS, I think this is best.
 
How did you fit 9 drives in the 304? Just curious, I have an ITX board w/ 2500k in the closet doing nothing I'd like to hand off to nas duty. Just need a case and sata raid card and it's off to the races.
 
Why not care about ECC? To be protected against a disk failute, you use Raid. ECC is similar for RAM. Ram errors by chance with a statistical rate can corrupt data on any filesystem. ZFS is not more affected than others, is even better as it reports problems erlier.

Maybe if you build a NAS with a few hundred megabytes of RAM, the probability of ram errors is indeed so low that you must not care about, but with multi gigabyte?

an example what happens with ram problems on ZFS
https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/zfs-checksum-error-on-scrub-–-how-do-i-see-affected-files.24990/

The premium for ECC is around 10-20% for ram and maybe 50 usd/euro for a mainboard as you need a server/workstation chipset with Intel, with amd propably less. Even cheap cpus like celeron or i3 support ecc.
 
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Worrying about ECC amuses me when one is building a server out of spare and/or cheap parts. The curse of the Freenas/ZFS fanatics.

I too am curious about 9 drives in a node 304.
Not worried, just know how these threads go
 
ECC, not required even for ZFS. However, I use it for the peace of mind or maybe that is the 3 separate backups.... Not really sure.

Also, why the nas box with embedded CPU is so expensive? Either it’s a name/software thing (Synology) or it includes some decent hardware (IXSystems).

Additionally, my personal preference, I would not use a mobo without it IPMI for anything outside of my gaming desktop/htpc.
 
So I wanted my storage drives out of my main PC. Actually they were out for a few weeks since I got my new MB/CPU in. And I was getting annoyed of not having those files readily available.

And I decided it was time to get a dedicated NAS. But, the bottom of the barrel for a 8-bay NAS starts around $700.

WTF? Why is an empty box with some embedded cpu cost that much?

I decided that's not gonna stand.

So what do you need, to build an 8 drive NAS on the cheap? Here's my recipe:

  1. HighPoint RocketRAID 2680SGL PCI-Express x4 8 Port SATA SAS RAID Controller Card / $45 shipped from china

  2. Biostar A68N-2100 $55

  3. 4GB DDR3: $15

  4. Mini-SAS -> 4x SATA breakout cable X2: $10

  5. Case: a Node304 will do fine. $80
    I put 9 drives + 1 2.5 SSD in mine.

  6. A PSU: $50
et voila! For less than half of the price you have a NAS, that can literally do anything because it only depends what software you put on it.

And if you're anything like me, you probably come out cheaper, because the only thing I had to buy was the MB, as everything else I had laying around from previous builds.

Now if you want 10Gbe that's an entirely other question. But if you just need a cheap Gigabit NAS, I think this is best.

So far, so good. But did I miss the software you are going to install? Is that software free? How much time will you need to spend to install and configure and test the software so that your homeNAS box is production ready? How much is the value of your time?

Just wondering.
 
How did you fit 9 drives in the 304? Just curious, I have an ITX board w/ 2500k in the closet doing nothing I'd like to hand off to nas duty. Just need a case and sata raid card and it's off to the races.
It holds 6 drives by factory, plus I added 3 more on a console above the MB in a transverse configuration. The hard part was stuffing all the cabling into the remaining space. But with the large exhaust fan I never had any temperature troubles. No drives went above 45C° even in the summer and no aircon.

Note: I sold my node304 long ago (and regretted it instantly) this current config is in a re-purposed Shuttle Barebone case.
 
So far, so good. But did I miss the software you are going to install? Is that software free? How much time will you need to spend to install and configure and test the software so that your homeNAS box is production ready? How much is the value of your time?

Just wondering.
Since I don't want it to do anything fancy, anything will do. I was thinking about getting a purpose built linux, but then I decided I'll be lazy and just put windows 10 on it,
I have a few leftover w7 keys that still work, but I didn't even activate it as it makes no difference since I don't even have a display connected to it. And All windows 10 does if it's not activated is display the message in the background and not allow certain UI customizations.
 
Biggest use for ECC IMO is getting rdimm for the higher density. ddr3 you were limited to 32gb of ram unless it was rdimm, and even ddr4 up to the 7th gen intel processors maxed at 64 gb unless it was server rdimm.
I’m using about 100g of ram currently for all my VMs. 128 is my bare minimum
 
Biggest use for ECC IMO is getting rdimm for the higher density. ddr3 you were limited to 32gb of ram unless it was rdimm, and even ddr4 up to the 7th gen intel processors maxed at 64 gb unless it was server rdimm.
I’m using about 100g of ram currently for all my VMs. 128 is my bare minimum
I'm actually running 128GB in a X99 WS. Standard DIMM.
 
HighPoint RocketRAID 2680SGL PCI-Express x4 8 Port SATA SAS RAID Controller Card / $45 shipped from china


where did you find it for this price? i can only find it for 109
 
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I should get off my ass and build a NAS like this. I have a Coolermaster Cosmos II I'm not using and an LSI MegaRAID 8308ELP. I have plenty of motherboards, processors, etc.
 
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I'm actually running 128GB in a X99 WS. Standard DIMM.
You're cheating with your 8 ram slots though :p not to mention thats essentially a server board and can even take rdimm ram with a compatible Xeon.
 
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You're cheating with your 8 ram slots though :p not to mention thats essentially a server board and can even take rdimm ram with a compatible Xeon.

And thats the whole point. It has become a game. You can pontificate endlessly on how ECC is essential and needed desperately for ZFS, talk about only a 10-20% ram price difference (it has not always been that way*), ignoring that server/ws boards are usually required for that reliability with a free OS that ultimately costs as much or more to build and run than off the shelf or hodge podge used/old parts for a cheap NAS box.

If you are a zfs fan that thinks ECC ram is necessary and best policy, do not promote your free OS of choice to people to build a cheap NAS pc box from used or cheap new parts which will likely not support ECC. When you start throwing in ECC ram and server mobos, the only savings one is getting is the free OS that loses its price appeal the first time you spend 2-3 hours troubleshooting a software problem. The benefit you get is a custom system that is likely far more powerful and adaptable than prebuilt systems for maybe less money but more than likely its equal or more money especially if you're looking at small form factor itx sized systems.


In 2015 it cost me $200 minimum for 16GB of reputable ECC ram compared to non ECC ram at $80-100.
 
Jumping a bit quick dude never even mentioned ZFS I said rdimm was great for high density for VMs, I use unraid anyway.
 
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