Transforming my old macbook 2007 into a NAS, Need Advice

[Net1x]

Hi there, (just want to say that English is my second language so sorry for the writing)

I would like some advice regarding my project. Is it doable and is it energy efficient ?

I have an old macbook 2007 lying around (Core2Duo, 4gb ram, 2,16 ghz) and I would like to use it as a NAS.

I dont know which OS i'm gonna go with yet but I would like the macbook to run FlexRaid, a Plex Media Server, a MySQL Library, Share my library across my house with SMB and control torrents downloads (CouchPotato and SickBeard).

I plan to remove the optical drive (Optical Bay) and use the bay to put an SSD and run the OS from there and use the actual hdd spot to connect to the NAS like this : Attaching 3.5" desktop drive to MacBook SATA

I would build the NAS myself with those pieces :

Case : http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B006TVQU6C/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB
PSU : http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B002UOR17Y/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB
5 x SATA Cable : http://www.amazon.ca/GTMax-L-Shape-...TF8&qid=1389105668&sr=1-3&keywords=sata+cable

Port Multiplier : http://www.datoptic.com/ec/sata-5-sil3726-port-multiplier.html
PCI Bracket Adapter : http://www.datoptic.com/ec/pci-to-scsi-1-bracket-adapter.html
eSATA to SATA Cable : http://www.datoptic.com/ec/3ft-esata-to-sata-cable.html

With a 4in3 cage and another port multiplier I could have a total of 10 hdd in this case with enough power cable on the psu.

Total cost with shipping to Montreal = 210$

Thank you all for your advice and help

 

[Net1x]

Here's some question to help you guys guide me through my toughts processs.

1. Will the mac be powerful enough to run a Plex Media Server (Transcoding, Etc..) and do other stuff at the same time ? (Torrents, SMB Share)

2. Will I be able to only run windows from the SSD inside the optical bay without the mac OS X partition ? (Since I would take that out to connect the sata to esata cable)

3. Will it be energy efficient ? I'm doing this because everything is on my gaming rig right now who's running 24/7 at 325 watt.

4. Will the mac be able to detect the 5 hdd's connected to the port multiplier through the sata to esata cable ?

5. Should I sell the mac and just add a motherboard, a processor and run everything out of Ubuntu Stick ? (Never used Ubuntu before) The mac is also in bad shape alot of scratch and you can see wire coming out of the power brick, the battery is also dead.

Thanks for your help guys !

 

[popatim]

I'd sell the macbook and add in a motherbd and cpu to your build and remove the port multiplier thing for now.

 

[Net1x]

Thanks for the feedback popatim !

With a low budget which processor and motherboard would do everything I need ?

 

[FireWire2]

Net1x - Thank you for pm'ing me to anticipate, it means a lot to me, I'll have a beer this week end

Here is it
If a NAS with multiple pieces - MB (MacBook) and external storage - does not bother you then use your MB. Your MB has plenty power to encode on fly, and power efficient

A) OS
I would use the existing MAC OS and load all the plug-in/app that you need.
Here is why
1_ Save Money - don't have to buy Windows license
2_ Pretty safe from Adware, Malware and Viruses
3_ Not getting into a learning curve while there is not enough time to learn, in case of using Linux, FreeNAS
Use built-in "Back to My Mac" to remote access it. You pretty much ready to go

B) Hardware change/mod need
Remove optical drive, attached a SATA to eSATA so it can access external RAID box.

DYI
Get a eSATA to 5x SATA hardware Controller - SPM393
Build a stand-alone RAID5, protected LARGE volume. You can use ANY case that supports 5x HDD and PSU 200W+ up.

Or get a ready build box like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816111169

Connect the hardware RAID to the optical drive's SATA port via SATA to eSATA cable. You can have up to 2.0m cable without worry data integrity issue

Here is the advantage of hardware raid and why
1_ High performance, fully protected for a HDD fail. It has been proven with mine and other member's built
2_ Flex-RAID does not support MAC, and built-in SATA port in MB does not support Port Multiplier, so as most of Mother board's built in SATA ports
3_ You data is very portable, you can plug into ANY MAC OS or Window with 3rd party utility to access you data

Maintenance RAID5 tips
a) In case of a BAD drive - Hot swap the BAD drive do not turn the RAID Box off, just wait for 15~20sec before insert/connect a new drive
b) To make your RAID last for years, mine RAID5 already 4+yrs old and still going
Fact - HDD will develop bad sector, and these BAD sector are not mapped in time, data corrupted is the end result
To control this issue, enterprise RAID, which cost 1000's of dollar, offers scheduling check volume function, it will check every sector of the RAID volume, and mapped our bad sectors.
With the low cost HW raid, you can kind of mimic the same function by force it rebuild the RAID.
Here is how:
Every 3~4 months remove/disconnect a HDD for 15 sec to force rebuilt your RAID volume. Dont worry your data still accessible and it run about 200~250GB/hr

Note: Do not try in software RAID - it takes days to rebuilt

 

[Net1x]

Wow thanks for the complete answer firewire !!

I got more question for you tho,

What's the difference between the SPM 393 and SPM 3726?

I would really like to use FlexRaid since I've never use any type of raid before.. I already have a valid purchase of Windows so I think i'm gonna use bootcamp on my mac drive and just instal windows and run everything from there.

I absolutely need to connect the port multiplier to the optical drive sata ? Unless it won't work right ?

Would this model work ? http://www.datoptic.com/ec/6gb-sataiii-to-five-sataiii-port-multiplier-panel-mount-able-es3pms3s.html (Rebate and free shipping)

 

[popatim]

I dont beleive you old MB would be able to transcode a live 1080p stream. If you saved your media in formats directly playable by all your devices then transcoding wouldn't be an issue (thats what i do) and it would likely make a fine file server. Mine is an athlon2 x2 240 and is able to stream several 1080 movies at once (but dont ask it to transcode. LOL)

Whats your total budget?
What devices/formats will you need?

 

[Net1x]

For now I don't download 1080p movie since my tv is only 720p.. yeah.. (2009 tv). I wont transcode to alot of device at once.. maximum 2 and even then. Only 1 normally.

My total budget is 300$

(I dont get the other question.. sorry)

 

[popatim]

What devices might you be streaming to. List them all and perhaps a compatible format can be found that they all share like 720p. If we can save the file in something that can be played by all then your wont need to transcode on the fly. You will just send the file like you would transfer a file over the network.

 

[Net1x]

Oh.. it's a Samsung Galaxy S4 and an Iphone5 that both use PLEX

 

[FireWire2]

Your best solution is using MAC's Plex Media to stream to
Windows is a heavy load OS compare to MAC and Linux...
You can always try it with boot camp to test out the Windows solution.
Don't take any advice seriously, including mine. We all make mistakes

Test those solutions, before commit to one

As far as storage solution from a single SATA port to a huge storage space, and decent performance. There is nothing can compare to the solution that I mention.

I may re-edit my post, cuz moderator think i'm bias and spam... Well you can't win all

 

[Net1x]

Thank for your answers Firewire ! Really appreciated !

I must use the optical drive sata port so the port multiplier can work ?

What's the difference between SPM393 and this : http://www.datoptic.com/ec/sata-5-sil3726-port-multipli...

And I would like to use FlexRaid since i've never used any kind of raid before.. I already have a flexraid licence and a valid windows licence.. I could run window from bootcamp on my mac and run everything from there? What do you think ?

Is that the same thing as SPM393 ? : http://www.datoptic.com/ec/6gb-sataiii-to-five-sataiii-... (Free Shipping and -15$ off, I live in Canada)

 

[FireWire2]

I'm afraid the the built-in SATA port, whether of 2.5" HDD or Optical drive in your case, and most of the motherboard out there will not support port multiplier technology.
So just a PM bridge it wont work
The SPM393 is a SPM3726 - both are Port Multiplier bridge, but SPM39 has a RISC I/O processor to run the RAID engine, where SPM3726 does not.

For learn more you can go here:
http://www.jmicron.com/Product_JMB393.htm <-- SPM393
http://www.ioisata.com/products/Port-Multiplier/spmh3726-se.htm <-- SPM3726

Is that the same thing as SPM393 ? : http://www.datoptic.com/ec/6gb-sataiii-to-five-sataiii-... (Free Shipping and -15$ off, I live in Canada)

Those are not the same, the link you posted is a SATAIII 6Gb/s port multiplier bridge - there is no RAID build in and I do not know if there ANY PM RAID @ SATAIII, I would hope in near future, such device available, that would be cool

 

[Net1x]

Can I use FlexRaid with the SPM393 or I must use raid5 ? (Holy Crap SPM393 is expensive..)

 

[popatim]

Neither. the macbooks optical bay is PATA not Sata.
Just sell it and add that to your budget.

It looks like both your devices support h.264 @ 1080 so a 720 rip should be fine.

Do you prefer AMD or Intel ?
Do you have any spare pcie videos cards? even a really old one will do.
Do you have an old case that could be used?

 

[Net1x]

Just dug out an old pc from my wife parent's home.

Can I do something with this :

AMD Athlon XP 3000+
2.10 GHz, 512 mo RAM (1 slot open)
Radeon 9250
Asus Kelut KM400 VT8327 (found that online : http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/chipsets/k7-series/kn400/) it is not the + version but there is 2 sata port on the motherboard.. actual HDD is connected via ide.

4 x 3.5in slot in the case and 2 x 5.25in

Edit :

Here is the exact PC : http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00215416&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&product=429076

250w PSU with 1 molex free (I could trash out one of the cd-rom since there's already one dvd-r in it that I could maybe use sometime to free another molex) and use 1 molex to 2 sata x2.

The specs says there's only 2 3.5inch bays but if I take out the multi-card reader I could fit easily 3 drive in there + one in the 5.25 bay.

I got alot of room underneath the 3.5inch cage bay but I can't seem to find a rack expender.. something that I could screw underneath the case cage that could hold 3.5inch drive.

I could get 2x1gb ddr1 (Motherboard Specs says it can go up to 2gb but manufacturer says 1g max ??)

About the SATA slot tho .. got no idea.. have 2 on the motherboard 1.5 gbs of course.. (is that slower then usb 2.0 ?) and that post scared me : http://forums.speedguide.net/showthread.php?202256-SATA-Support-Question

 

[popatim]

To be honest I wouldnt use that. The case doesnt even sound worth gutting and keeping.

Do you have a used pc store in your area? You might want to overlook their selection.

Dont get me wrong you can try that pc but the 100mb/s network port would restrict you to about 10MB/s transfer speeds. The sata ports might or might not work with modern sata harddrives. And that system has a pci bus which wont work with the current pci-e cards. So you'd have to spend just to get it up to snuff that I'd rather see just spend on a new board.
$13 pci gigabit nic: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166017
$35 pci sata controller: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816124028
$70 embedded http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135342
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128597

Not that I'm recommending these, just listing them for comparison. Both are gigabit plus have at least 4 sata ports

 

[Net1x]

I do have a used pc store right around the corner of my house.. what would be the minimum that I should look for ?

Thanks for your input Popatim.. I think this pc is a no go.. too much thing to do..

 

[popatim]

I would look for something with 6 or more sata2 ports, you'll eventually want to increase your storage space and thats easy to do with lots of ports.
Also look for pci-e and maybe built in graphics though thats not real important
Processor-wise almost anything can stream files

See what they will give you for the Macbook

 

[Net1x]

Any thoughs?

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/Netix/saved/3roB

 

[FireWire2]

There are many horror story of software RAID5 - Motherboard's RAID
Like this: http://forums.seagate.com/t5/Desktop-HDD-Desktop-SSHD/Raid-5-with-Seagate-ST4000DM000/td-p/201211
Or you can use ZFS, but not MB's RAID5

 

[FireWire2]

Can I use FlexRaid with the SPM393 or I must use raid5 ? (Holy Crap SPM393 is expensive..)

In your Mac Book, SPM393 must be configure as RAID, because macbook does not support PM

Holy Crap SPM393 is expensive..

I guess good thing costs money. LoL

 

[popatim]

Any thoughs?

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/Netix/saved/3roB

Nice selection!
I have two recommendations:
1 - swap the 2x2 ram for a single stick of 4gb to allow an easy upgrade to 8 should you need it, which if you run some raidz/z2 or flexraid you probably will as you expand.

2 - SSD's are nice but not needed in a home server.


Have you decided which OS you are going to run? Freenas for instance will run off a usb flashdrive and Plex can run on Freenas

 

[Net1x]

So i've look around for Freenas and i'm not really sure I want to go that way.. My drive are full and I don't have anywhere I could empty them 1 by 1. You can't take out a drive from the array on Freenas.. you can in FlexRaid (unless i'm mistaken). I'm more comfortable with windows, never used any kind of console OS before..

I've swapped the ram like you said and i've changed the case to a more convenient one for 1$ more :

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Celeron G1620 2.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($49.00 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: ASRock B75M-GL R2.0 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($70.00 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Corsair 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($42.87 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Sandisk 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($63.07 @ DirectCanada)
Case: BitFenix Merc Alpha (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($45.53 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 380W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($53.98 @ Amazon Canada)
Total: $324.45
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-16 14:01 EST-0500)

Any thoughts about the mobo/cpu ? Should I go for amd instead and save a couple bucks ?

I really want something that is power efficient since everything is on my gaming ring right now which is running at 350w (In Quebec running this thing 24/7 7/7 cost me 233$/year)

 

[Net1x]

I would look for something with 6 or more sata2 ports, you'll eventually want to increase your storage space and thats easy to do with lots of ports.
Also look for pci-e and maybe built in graphics though thats not real important
Processor-wise almost anything can stream files

See what they will give you for the Macbook

Any thoughts on that Popatim : http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&docname=c01830732#N199

I could have this for 100$

5x 3.5tb, there's enough room so I can fix an SSD. The guy changed the psu for a 550w but still have the original 250w would it be better for power consumption ?