[SOLVED] DIY NAS Build questions

[Daosnik]

Hi,

I'm considering a custom DIY NAS build solution and would appreciate your help.

My needs:

• storage for family photos and videos, more than 15 years worth of photos and videos (currently on different external devices, backed up but it is becoming a mess to keep track of everything and control the backups); remote access;
• media centre;
• potentially use as a photo editor;

Note: I will keep external storage for backup;

OS:
- considering FreeNAS - is it adequate for my needs? I understand it can run a plex server; open to suggestions for alternatives;

Hardware I'm currently considering (excluding internal drives, please see below in quesitons): https://pcpartpicker.com/list/CNn9b8
(Would likely use a small m.2 nvme drive for OS)

Questions:

• MotherBoard and Case are MiniITX format; I'm trying to keep size at the minimum for both space and easy to transport reasons;
• I'm considering starting with 4 internal drives in RAID 6 configuration for the ability to withstand up to 2 drives failures; will this motherboard allow RAID 6? (so far I can see in it's specifications Raid 0/1/10 only); would RAID 6 be overkill or would you suggest any other type of RAID?
• should storage space becomes an issue + finances allowing would like the ability to expand the array to 6 internal drives; PROBLEM: whilst case has room for 6x3.5" internal drives the MB has 4 SATA 3 controllers only; if I use a PCIe to SATA controller to expand capacity to 6 internal hard drives, can these 2 later added hard drives be added to the existing RAID 6 array?
• would appreciate internal hard drives recommendations for reliability (thinking of WD Red vs Seagate Ironwolf, but if overkill/better options please feel free to suggest)
• what other options would you suggest for a similar budget (up to $500/£450, excluding internal drives)?

 

[USAFRet]

For this type thing, I am a strong proponent of a prebuilt NAS, vs building one.
QNAP or Synology.
I have a 4 bay QNAP TS-453a.

And RAID of any type is not a substitute for actual backups.

 

[Daosnik]

I am a strong proponent of a prebuilt NAS, vs building one.

Thank you USAFRet. I understand that this would save time, on the other hand I don't mind the DIY project (I've built systems in the past) and for a 4-6 drives NAS option, I think it can also save you some money. The other thing I like about DIY NAS is the ability to easily upgrade/replace a component if it fails and that you definitely end up with a more powerful system.

And RAID of any type is not a substitute for actual backups.

Fully agree, will maintain separate/remote backup options (hence the note in the original post as I was anticipating this 😉). At the same time my reason for RAID 6 is having the option to replace up to 2 failed drives before losing all the data (or in case one drive fails and when replaced and data is rebuilt you end up finding bad/corrupted sectors on a second drive that was still working). Of course would appreciate other suggestions if this is felt to be inadequate or better options exist.

 

[USAFRet]

Its not necessarily a matter of "save time". A DIY box like you propose is but an afternoon of assembly.

Its more hands off stability and feature rich.

Would your parts list work? Sure. Actually, that is very close to what I'm looking into for a custom casemod HTPC build. I'll probably hold off until early next year and the nextgen Ryzen APU.

"more powerful" in a thing like this doesn't really count. You could use any 10 year old PC from craigslist for $50. You're not doing any real processing on it.

But I just put out the QNAP/Synology out there as a similar price option.