Building a NAS

[dude112]

Hello all,

I've bought the D-Link 320 and put in 2x2Tb disc in it and the harddrives are filling up ridiculously fast...

That is why I want to build my own NAS capable of holding 6 or 8 hdd's. I will basically only use it to stream movies in JBOD mode. If possible maybe play the movies directly from the NAS through XMBC or something but at the moment it's not really necessary. I've got my current NAS connected to a mediaplayer which plays all files fine... atm that is.

I'm kinda up to date with building a gaming system but a NAS seems like a totally different beast having to keep in mind the low energy cost and all. Formfactor wouldn't be much of an issue since i'd put it out of sight anyways.

I'd like to have Wake on Lan but think that goes through the software?
Low energy usage, especially in standby but guess thats where the WoL would come into play.
What would a diy nas consume in wattage in standby?

Recommendations on a build would be much appreciated.

I found this build:

Intel Celeron G530 Boxed
Fractal Design Define R3 Black Pearl USB 3.0
Seasonic G-serie 360W
Kingston KVR1333D3N9/8G
ASRock B75 Pro3-M

Kind regards,

dude112

 

[Veraster]

I think you should use a Pentium 4 instead of a Celeron. Those Celeron processors were like the worst processors ever made until arm processors were introduced.
A Celeron processor could end up being the bottleneck if you're not careful.
You could also use a 300 watt psu. My Pentium 4 nas has only a 250 watt unit so you could get away with just that.
If you're using integrated video instead of an agp card, it would even run on less than 250 watts but I wouldn't recommend trying it.
I don't know what it would take up during standby, but if it was in standby you won't be able to access it via network which would defeat the purpose of having a nas.

 

[Matt77]

Pentium 4 is still crap, to be honest. Go with at least an i3!

 

[Veraster]

Well yeah and if you're willing to buy a different, more expensive motherboard that supports an i3, get an i5 instead because those are WAY better and don't cost a WHOLE lot more..

 

[Matt77]

Hell, he can get a Core or Nehalem Intel processor while he's at it. A pentium would be too slow for this build.

 

[dude112]

Not really made up my mind yet whether to go full NAS or NAS/HTPC combo. Thought the G530 would play 1080p content just fine with the integrated graphics. So no real reason not to combo.
The jump from g530 to i3 2100 is quite significant from 36 to 103 euro's. The i5 2310 (cheapest ?) would be an even bigger jump to 158 euro's.

My initial thought was to go with the i3 but then read that the g530 would do the same (for my needs). There will be no gaming or anything on this system. Purely NAS and mediaplayer functionality. Would the i3 still be the better chooise?

 

[Veraster]

It took me all day to transfer 7gb worth of files off of my old Celeron computer the other day. This was with a usb connection and usb is less of a bottleneck than lan. So that means it was the processor making it take that long.

 

[Matt77]

The i3 is definitely worth it, but the i5 would be the best option in your situation. Maybe you could upgrade in the future.

 

[dude112]

It took me all day to transfer 7gb worth of files off of my old Celeron computer the other day. This was with a usb connection and usb is less of a bottleneck than lan. So that means it was the processor making it take that long.

Didn't think copying files would be very CPU intensive. Thought it was more dependent on the HDD write and read speeds.

But I think I'll go with a pure NAS. Having HTPC functionalities wouldn't be very beneficial with 3 tv's. Was thinking I could use it on all tv's but forgot... you can't just connect the ethernet cable and be done with it...
For one tv it would be fine and just connect it through HDMI but the others would still need mediaplayers. Also, I'm placing it out of sight so probably wouldn't be very practical operating it. Maybe with an android app or something. Might still go with an I processor just to futureproof though.

 

[Veraster]

Didn't think copying files would be very CPU intensive. Thought it was more dependent on the HDD write and read speeds.

It doesn't take my Pentium D computer which has a HDD that long to copy all that stuff.