NAS advice needed

M

Magnin

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 14, 2001
Messages
191
I'm looking at building a NAS system to stick in a closet with my router (Netgear N600 that has Gigabit Ethernet) to handle my data storage needs. I've tried setting up a Linux box with some drives to handle this in the past, but it's always turned into more work and never really got it up-and-running (or it gets turned off, which negates the purpose)

Desired Req-
  • Fast enough to play HD video over the network
  • Redundancy support (RAID 5?)
  • Decent recovery support if the RAID has issues.
  • Storage Capacity is negotiable, but 2-6TB Total would be nice
  • Reliable
  • Low power usage
  • Easy setup
  • <$1000 (Have to convince the Wife)
 
If you setup a Linux box with software RAID with an existing system, then you'll have a very cheap (almost no cost) setup.

Buying a NAS box is a bad idea unless you spend more money than they are worth, imo. Some of them only transfer at 3Mbps, even when on a gigabit connection. Using Linux, FreeBSD, or any other UNIX-like OS is great, especially with software RAID.
 
for a pure NAS, look at the the HP Proliant Microserver
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1555868

You could add any NAS-OS like any Windows, Linux, BSD or Solaris OS
Personally I would always add a ZFS-OS due to its superiour data security and NAS features.

For Solaris-based ZFS-Systems i have created a online-installer script together with a web-GUI.
You have up and running such a NAS within minutes.
There is also a option from sub.mesa for such a sulution based on free-BSD

But if you want to spend up to 1000$, i would suggest a NAS based on a i3/i5 or best a Xeon.
They are faster and offers the possibilty of fast barebone-virtualization (Xeon only). So you could not only run a NAS on your server but also any other OS like Windows, Linux or others at the same time with speed. Look at my All-In-One concept for more details.

One of the most recommended boards for such a universal-solution could be a SuperMicro X8-SIL-F. Such a system has much more options, remote power on/off capabilities via IPMI and your Browser. More about that board: http://www.servethehome.com/supermicro-x8silf-motherboard-v102-review-whs-v2-diy-server/

more about Solaris based NAS and my All-In-One concept at
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1573272

gea
 
Yes, the HP Proliant is a good choice for a NAS. Also, a good/quick OS to setup is FreeNAS. It has a great web interface and is very easy to setup.
 
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