NAS Recommendation - Build or Buy?

[krusha]

Hi All,

I've been a long time reader of hardforum and have decided to ask the community for some opionions on a storage solution. A few months ago, I picked up (2) 3TB Toshiba SATA Drives (Model: HDKPC08A0A01) with the intention on using them as a RAID 1 addition to my main desktop machine.I was hoping to use as much of the 3TB capacity as possible, with having all data backed up on the second drive so that if one were to fail, I could replace it and not lose the data. The motherboard in my main rig does not support 3TB natively via the Intel Raid Controller so it was seeing the drives as lesser capacity. Windows would detect them as 3TB but seamed to run very slow. Upon further thought I figured it would be a good excuse to finally pursue some sort of NAS solution, and separate these discs from my desktop to be used as a shared storage space, as well as for backups from the various machines on my network (all windows based aside from an older imac).

The priority would be to have redundant storage incase of disc failure. I would like the ability to run a cloud sync, or bit-torrent sync to eventually mirror the NAS drives to a remote location to protect against geographic risk, but this is an aspiration down the line and not needed presently. I've seen quite a few positive reviews of the Synology NAS diskless units, as well as heard people having great luck with a budget mobo + cpu build running FreeNAS. I will be streaming some video from the storage device to 1 or 2 machines.

I would like to have the ability to ad atleast 2 more discs down the line to expand the total storage of the NAS. WIth that said, 4 bay would be the minimum. I am not concerned about power draw a a major determinant of the choice in out of box NAS or build-a-nas. The ability to create "shares" on the NAS is key, as I do not want all my machines to be able to view or write to every directory on the disc (this seams to be a standard feature anyhow on all out of box nas). Would like to keep the hardware budget to <$350 if possible.

With that said, I would love to hear your recommendations for a stable solution, whether it be a build-a-nas using FreeNAS or the like, or a recommendation for a solid out of the box offering. I am looking to pull the trigger in the next 7 days or so, as I have a dire need to backup a machine before reformatting, and these 3tb drives have been collecting dust for 2 months on my desk . As a side note, I have a spare 430 watt generic power supply I picked up for a rebuild and didn't need, as well as a newer Dell Inspiron case (Superstorm Sandy fried the motherboard it seams, not sure if the Core i5 is any good, but in any event its a metal box in case you all have a suggestion on a budget build a NAS).

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. Apologies if I am being too general here, and happy to hone in on needs vs. wants if need be.

 

[ashman]

With a budget of even $400 you are looking at lower end 4 bay synology units with only one LAN connector, such as the DS413j, its a nice unit, but not as fast as the more expensive + units, I have both. The DS413j will do what you need and expand where you need it, its a pretty flexible unit. As for building your own, well I am not into that, but am not against it if its your thing, there are certainly more options available and if you have the time, that's the way I would go. If you don't have the time, and want something thats quick to setup and requires little in the way of care and feeding, then a name brand NAS will suit you.

 

[Grentz]

Personally I like the build it yourself route as you control the components. If a PSU blows up or you have some other issue, it is easy to replace even if the hardware gets out of date or unsupported.

With a prebuilt, it is easier to setup, but less flexible if something happens.

 

[ashman]

Good points, except, in my experience, hardly anything ever goes wrong with pre buily NAS's. In the time I have had all of my NAS's, only my first, and its over 5 yrs old now, blew a power supply in the first two years, out of the other four I have, no problems so far and they are all, with the exception of my 12 bay, over two years old now. That's not to say nothing ever will happen, and sure, its a pain when it does, you have to ship the unit to the manufacturer, no fun at all and not as flexible as DIY solutions.