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I'm curious to see what the cheapest cost of entry to a 4-drive NAS would be. More than 4 SATA ports would be a bonus for future expandability, but if we boot off of something that isn't SATA, I'd entertain only 4.
I have an old P4 box which could work, but it only has 4 SATA ports, has high power draw compared to a modern low power build, and only has 2 GB RAM, sending me back to FreeNAS 7 / NAS4free. If this can be done cheaply, I'd think about doing a new build.
So, how low wattage and low dollars can we go, while still providing a good handful of SATA ports, enough 3.5 bays (between 4 and 8), and a PSU that won't melt down?
Thanks for any suggestions [H]'ers!
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1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
FreeNAS
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Would like to see if it's possible to do this for cheaper than a QNAP or Synology box
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Canada. So, online: newegg.ca, Ncix, etc. Nearby: Canada Computers brick&mortar store
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
Case, PSU, motherboard, RAM, CPU
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
None. Could reuse an old case to shave dollars, but let's ignore that for now
6) Will you be overclocking?
No
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
None
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
No plans yet, just want to see how this option stacks up against pre-built NASes
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? etc.
Lots of SATA ports, to delay the addition of a SATA controller board
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Open source OS
I have an old P4 box which could work, but it only has 4 SATA ports, has high power draw compared to a modern low power build, and only has 2 GB RAM, sending me back to FreeNAS 7 / NAS4free. If this can be done cheaply, I'd think about doing a new build.
So, how low wattage and low dollars can we go, while still providing a good handful of SATA ports, enough 3.5 bays (between 4 and 8), and a PSU that won't melt down?
Thanks for any suggestions [H]'ers!
---
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
FreeNAS
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Would like to see if it's possible to do this for cheaper than a QNAP or Synology box
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Canada. So, online: newegg.ca, Ncix, etc. Nearby: Canada Computers brick&mortar store
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
Case, PSU, motherboard, RAM, CPU
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
None. Could reuse an old case to shave dollars, but let's ignore that for now
6) Will you be overclocking?
No
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
None
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
No plans yet, just want to see how this option stacks up against pre-built NASes
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? etc.
Lots of SATA ports, to delay the addition of a SATA controller board
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Open source OS