Basic Free NAS build

maclem8223

maclem8223

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Oct 28, 2013
Messages
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I apologize if this should be in another section but it is a build so I felt it appropriate. I've been doing some research on storage options for my home. Main criteria being I'd like to be able to run Plex media server without issue. I don't need a ton of storage maybe 4TB to start with the ability to expand. I'm happy to fill out the build form if necessary but this seems pretty obvious. Is a budget of 3-$400 possible? I'm near both the Tustin Micro Center and a Fry's. Will buy tomorrow if the price is right. Thanks in advance.
 
No problem:D
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Home server/NAS
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$400 tax included
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
U.S. Mission Viejo, CA
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?
CPU, RAM, CASE, PSU, MOBO, storage.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply
N/A
6) Will you be overclocking? NOPE
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it? 1080p 60"
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? ASAP
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI?. New to the whole NAS thing so I'm not sure, mainly used for media storage, Plex media server...RAID for one
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit? Have a legit copy of windows 7 32 bit and 64.
 
$53 - AMD A6-6400K APU
$64 - Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H AMD A88X mATX Motherboard
$58 - Crucial Ballistix BLS8G3D1609ES2LX0 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$120 - Western Digital Red WD30EFRX 3TB SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$62 - XFX TS Series 550W PSU
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite Black ATX Case
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Total: $407 shipped plus tax

Over budget but that's really the lowest you can go before getting some really crappy parts. The hard drive, case, and PSU will support up to 8 hard drives so you have plenty of expansion room for the future.
 
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Thank you. I'll go back and edit the original but I went digging in the garage; I remembered I had some things laying around. Found my Corsair cx600M psu so that will help. I need to do some research in regards to RAID but is it bad to mix drives? I was thinking about it and the 2TB drive in my main setup is only used for media so that will probably be transferred as well.
 
maclem8223 said:
Thank you. I'll go back and edit the original but I went digging in the garage; I remembered I had some things laying around. Found my Corsair cx600M psu so that will help. I need to do some research in regards to RAID but is it bad to mix drives? I was thinking about it and the 2TB drive in my main setup is only used for media so that will probably be transferred as well.
Click to expand...

To be honest, I'm not quite sure if using the CX600M would be a good idea. HardOCP's review of the CX750 was pretty damning:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/01/21/corsair_cx750_750w_power_supply_review/#.VQ6QbvnF9Aw

As for mixing and matching drives in RAID array, it can and does work but it's kinda not recommended if possible. But if you use that 2TB drive with the 3TB drive I listed in a RAID 1 array, you would only have 2TB of space as RAID uses the size of the smallest drive to determine the RAID array size.

As for which RAID level, personally I recommend RAID 6 or the ZFS equivalent which is RAIDZ2 (which means a minimum of four hard drives) since the stress of a RAID rebuild can cause additional drives to fail the RAID rebuild. With RAID 6, you can suffer two drives failing before the RAID array is dead.

On the other hand, there's also SnapRAID check out as well. A bit less complicated and will let you use different-sized drives with little issues. Not quite as robust as a RAIDZ2 array though.

Didn't know you lived near a Microcenter. You could pick up the A6-7400K + the Gigabyte motherboard I recommended above for about $95 plus tax. It would save you $22 minus any gas cost or time costs.
 
Dangman where do you see the mobo and cpu deal at microcenter? I didn't see it?
Edit: Nevermind found it.
Any other case recommendations?
 
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None really. That Source 210 Elite is really the cheapest case I recommend for file servers. Maybe the Source 220 if the Source 210 Elite is more than $50 shipped and if it is price d at $50 shipped.
 
Ok thanks! Was just curious headed to MC and wanted to knock this out in one stop but they don't have that specific case in stock.
 
All done. Thanks Dangman for your input as always... After selling the wii u which me and my wife never play on CL, the total cost of the home server ran me about $25...not to shabby!!!! lol...now just to figure out how the hell to set it up; looking forward to it!
 
Everything on the list except the case and psu. I can't justify spending money on a new psu when I never even used the cx600 either. It's brand new I'm going to give it a shot. Case wise it was so cheap that I can upgrade later when I want to. Thermaltake V3 vl8000 I think. After rebate $21.00. Oh and I went with a 4TB WD red instead. In store with the cpu/mobo deal at MC I also received an instant $5 extra off the ram:) I'm a happy camper.
 
maclem8223 said:
Everything on the list except the case and psu. I can't justify spending money on a new psu when I never even used the cx600 either. It's brand new I'm going to give it a shot. Case wise it was so cheap that I can upgrade later when I want to. Thermaltake V3 vl8000 I think. After rebate $21.00. Oh and I went with a 4TB WD red instead. In store with the cpu/mobo deal at MC I also received an instant $5 extra off the ram:) I'm a happy camper.
Click to expand...

It's your data man, not mine. Personally would not trust a PSU of questionable quality to power the main repository of my most important data.

As for the case, I actually have that case sitting nearby unused. The quality is so low even at $21 before rebates I wouldn't recommend it. I can guarantee you that once you built the system, you're going to be extremely reluctant in taking apart the server later on for a new case. So I highly doubt you'll end up replacing that crappy case until major hardware changes occur.

In fact that's how I ended up with that case: It was originally for my friend's gaming PC. Told him for years to get a new case but he was reluctant to do so on account of the time and effort that would be required for such a feat. It wasn't until the motherboard died on that gaming PC that I finally convinced him to ditch that case and move on to the NZXT Source 210 Elite.
 
Well, it does not bother me to upgrade the case at a later date or the psu. Thanks again, to each his own. Only thing going on the server for now is media, tv, movies etc...nothing to important to lose until I get freeNAS figured out. Updating the BIOS now
 
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Well this is starting out good, think I got a bad hard drive. Wont' show up in bios on the new server system or on my main pc.
 
Nope, tried 3...and I'm going to sound like I'm 12 but you were right. I don't like this case. The S220 is only $12 more and it looks like I'm going to have to go back anyway. May do something about that PSU as well... You steered me right in my gaming build a while back and I love it.
 
Dangman picked up the source 220 and a new drive. What are your thoughts on the nex650g from evga? Found that in the garage to lol.
 
Yep, up and running. Now to just do a lot of research on how to setup freeNAS for plex and related media plugins
 
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