Q: DIY NAS solution from old hardware OR buy a NAS?

[cbpx]

Hey all,

I just purchased 5 4TB drives (ST4000VN000) and I need a NAS.

I have the option of either building one using my old hardware, or buying something.

Below are the details:

Needs:
- Since I have Seagate drives, notorious for their not so good reliability, I need a RAID capable of handling one drive failure. Raid 10 maybe?
- Need to be able to run Sabnzbd and accompanying applications.

DIY NAS Hardware:
- Motherboard: AsusTek P5K
- CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 @3GHz
- Memory: 4GB DDR2
- PSU: 600W
- Video Card: NVidia GForce 460GTX (might need to downgrade)
- Case: Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case
- Main OS drive: Intel 80GB Gen 2 SSD or 320GB 5400rpm laptop drive
- OS: Anything goes
Kill-A-Watt usage: ~116W without the drives.

If I can use the above, what SATA controller do I need?
What OS do you suggest?
What else do I need?


Would a retail NAS solution be better? If so, what would be there for less than $500? (in Canada)


Thanks,

 

[FireWire2]

Your hardware is way better than ANY commercial NAS out there... These NAS out there wont work with Sabnzbd
Well, not quite correct, but it will be a pain to install Sabnzbd to it

Use Windows, because Sabnzbd

 

[popatim]

I'm not positive that motherboard is compatible with 4tb drives. Please try it out and let us know.
Thanks,
tim

 

[cbpx]

I am also pretty sure it can handle 4TB drives. The thing is that I can't fit 6 drives. Maybe 5 drives. Whatever it may be, I need a SATA expansion card. I've been reading all day and I can't find anything interesting.

Any ideas for a simple, relatively cheap, PCIe SATA II/III expansion card? (PS: Canada)
I will do software raid.

 

[FireWire2]

With Window you can use this PCIe and SATAII or SATAIII Port Multiplier

Host SATA III Port Multiplier aware:
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/temposatapro6gbpcie2.html
http://www.datoptic.com/ec/6gb-dual-sata-port-host-support-pm-mac-windows-linux.html

SATA II Port Multiplier
http://www.amazon.com/Addonics-eSATA-Serial-Multiplier-AD5SARPM-E/dp/B000VEMNAU

SATA III SATA II Port Multiplier:
http://www.datoptic.com/ec/catalogsearch/result/?q=S3PMS3

You can see 10x drives.

Use Stablebit to control your volume - ZFS alike in Windows OS

Or use Hardware RAID
http://www.amazon.com/multiplier-hardware-RAID0-CLONE-Controller/dp/B004JPUZWU

 

[cbpx]

Well,

I just bought a: IO Crest SATA III 4 Port PCI-e 2.0 x1 Card with Low Profile Bracket (SI-PEX40064)
http://www.amazon.com/IO-Crest-Profile-Bracket-SI-PEX40064/dp/B00AZ9T3OU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394332679&sr=8-1&keywords=IO+Crest+SATA+III+4+Port+PCI-e+2.0+x1+Card+with+Low+Profile+Bracket+%28SI-PEX40064%29

I am waiting to be delivered to me. Hopefully it will work nicely.

As for the RAID, I plan on testing with Snapraid with as you say DrivePool.

Thanks guys for the help. I will let you know how it turns out.

 

[FireWire2]

Second though:
Kill-A-Watt usage: ~116W without the drives + 48W (4x Drive) <=== It's a bit too much I think...

Here is my 40TB NAS consume less than 180W, it could be 80TB, if i build with 4TB HDD.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/265641-32-40tb-server-performance-issue

 

[cbpx]

I agree that it will consume a bit more electricity than a normal server/NAS. However, see my calculations below.

Electricity cost is about $0.10/KW.

Buying an energy efficient server will cost about ~$1000, even with a diy like yours.
Assuming a 100Watt difference, between the two rigs, this is roughly $100/year in extra electricity.

I plan on a usable lifetime of about 5 years before the need to upgrade to a better hardware.

 

[FireWire2]

Not really! ITX ATOM MB costs less than $100.00 and consumes about 13~18W.
My 40TB server majority of power goes to HDD. which is 7.5W x20 HDD = 150W, where system (W/O) HDD consume about 18W

BTW the ITX MB is not that costly - here is 4x NIC with ATOM about $100.00
http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Computer-Mini-ITX-Motherboard-MS-9877-D