NAS/unRaid Server Build

[mattias1172]

Hello,
I am looking for some input on a NAS server build I've been planning for a while now. I plan to use unRAID but may opt for one of the free open source OS such as FreeNas or Nas4Free. This build does take price into consideration, to a point. I am an enthusiast when it comes to PC's so I love things like overclocking and little extras. I realize this could be achieved for less and get similar performance, but like i said, i want to have some extra "tinkering" options, like overclocking. That said, I'm shooting for < $1,000.

The primary use is mass storage and light media streaming. I do not plan to run virtual machines or anything of the sorts on this PC. I have a separate desktop I do gaming and other resource intensive tasks on.
I'm open to all input and discussion, please feel free to leave any and all feedback.

Thank you.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-7600K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($222.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H90 94.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($96.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-Z270N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($149.95 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($67.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung - 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($75.04 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($75.04 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design - Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case ($87.95 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $859.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-18 02:24 EDT-0400

 

[13thmonkey]

NAS's need to be rock solid, OCing, whilst quite safe and stable, would not be ideal, i really wouldn't even consider it.

Freenas, if you have done your research, strongly suggests ECC memory as it holds the file locations in ram, and you can lose everything if there is a memory error (another reason to not OC, a BSOD is a pain but ultimately recoverable, losing your file structure is a different story).

The OS disk is way too big as any 'wasted' space is truly wasted. 2 SSD's might be better, a tiny one for the OS (Freenas suggests a USB stick is fine) and a larger one for caching, should this ever benefit you.

Get Red/NAS disks and no just plain HDD's, the TLER will be optimised, amongst other things, so that disks don't drop out of the array if they are sleeping/struggling etc.

Whilst you are building a fairly powerful machine, and that can be interesting, you are not planning on doing anything to use that power, so either get a plan to use it (or plan for re-purposing in the future) or consider the challenge of a very low power machine, which can be an interesting challenge. I'm using an Athlon II dual core on my 2016R2 server and can serve up full HD with it not noticing, it's not got the grunt for transcoding but that's fine by me.

Currently I'd estimate your usage to be about 100W, absolute peak, probably 40-60W most of the time, reconsider your PSU unless you are re-purposing it from an older build.